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ALBANY — They come around now, glad-handing, wanting to be seated at the best tables, telling Glenn, Glenn II and Tandra Singfield how beautiful their Flint restaurant is.

But the Singfields aren’t fooled. They knew when they put “a major investment in Albany, Georgia” on the line six months ago to get The Flint open, there were doubters. Some doubted an upscale restaurant could hold its own in a city overrun with fast-food chain restaurants. And some doubted, more quietly, that the Singfield family could pull it off.

But six months into its existence, the Flint — located next to the Pretoria Fields Brewery on Pine Avenue in downtown Albany — is not only holding its own, it’s become one of only a handful of high-end dining establishments in southwest Georgia that is consistently bringing in clientele for meals and events.

“I’m encouraged because we’re growing every day,” Glenn II — the master of the kitchen better known to the public as “Chef G” and to his family as, simply, “Deuce” — said before whipping up one of his specialty meals. “We’ve had parties here every day during the Christmas season, and we’re getting more dining customers every week.”

The general mood in the city when the Singfields, who own and operate the successful Albany Fish Company in northwest Albany, announced plans to open The Flint was that theirs was a risk only someone looking at the region through rose-colored glasses would make. Downtown had long been in shambles, with more closed storefronts than open, and even though the Pretoria Fields Brewery went over well and developer Pace Burt had success with his Flats at 249, a mixed-use development at nearby 249 Pine Ave., the Singfield family’s announced business plan left observers shaking their heads in doubt.

“What people didn’t take into account was the love this family has for Albany,” Glenn Singfield Sr., a principal in the successful Artesian Contracting Co. business, said. “People thought this was some kind of get-rich-quick scheme. But this is not the kind of business where you do that. We knew that going in.

“But we decided to make this kind of investment in Albany because Albany has been good to this family, and we believe in this city. We were willing to make a serious and substantial financial obligation because Albany has always supported us. We wanted to support our city in return.”

The genesis of The Flint actually occurred years ago, before Glenn II was even Chef G and before Glenn Sr. considered making a leap into the food industry.

“Deuce actually scribbled a rendering on a piece of paper of what his ideal restaurant would look like,” Glenn Sr. said. “I saw it one day when we were getting ready to open the Fish Company, and kind of filed it away. When we started talking about opening a restaurant downtown, I went back to it.”

But the location where The Flint now sits, a hallmark of elegance and architectural splendor, initially looked nothing like anybody’s idea of a high-end restaurant.

“It was a warehouse,” Glenn Sr. said. “Deuce and I walked in here, and we knew right away everything had to be done: the roof, the walls, the floor. There was no electricity, no utilities, no infrastructure.

“But we looked a little deeper, took a couple of the ceiling tiles down, looked behind the Sheetrock on the walls. What we saw were good bones. The more we looked, the more we thought we might have come upon a hidden gem.”

When the Singfields made a commitment to the Pine Avenue location and to downtown, they went whole-hog.

“The city of Albany asked us to re-use anything that was usable, and we made a commitment to using local companies and local products,” Glenn Sr. said.

That commitment is all over The Flint: In the brick walls firmed up by the city as it got the structure “white-box ready;” in the steel that frames the ceiling and is incorporated into the design of the interior with hurricane bracing; in the floors that were shaved to reveal some of the river rock taken from the nearby Flint River to shore up original concrete; in the hand-crafted tables, signage and other woodwork created by Jen Gordon and Kristin Smith with PD & Product, and even in the deer trophies hanging on various walls.

“I hired a company to, essentially, take Deuce’s design and make it reality,” Glenn Sr. said. “Except for a few changes, it’s his plan.”

Chef G looks over the restaurant proper — the unique bar design with the television “cube” hanging down over a lovely display of libations, the “cloud” sound system that keeps music played at a listenable but not distracting level, at the special events rooms — and it’s obvious he’s proud of what he and his family have built. But Chef G is, after all, a man in his element when he’s in the kitchen.

“I love working in this space; it has everything just the way I wanted it,” Glenn II said. “It’s something of a challenge moving back and forth from here to the Fish Company, keeping the things I have to do at each straight, but we have such a good staff, they help me pull it off.”

In keeping with the in-house aesthetic, it was Tandra Singfield who decorated The Flint, meshing the colors and lighting in an inviting environment that Glenn Sr. calls “Industrial Mobster Chic.”

“This is a family business,” the Singfield matriarch said. “It was important to us from the beginning that we do as much as possible here because it’s our family’s name that is associated with the restaurant. We’ve managed to build something that we’re proud of and that we believe the people of Albany can be proud of. And things have gotten a little better each week.”

Glenn Sr., admitting his relationship with Deuce is “like oil and water,” says that it’s Tandra who is the “glue that holds this thing together.”

“The reaction we’ve gotten from the public has just blown us away,” Glenn Sr. said. “I think it’s the quality of the food and the customer service our staff provides that have really stood out. We expect the best from our staff — many of them who have lived their lives ‘among the least of us’ and have never been given a chance. We’re giving them a chance, and they either shine right away or they’re removed from the team. And, trust me, you go through hell in Deuce’s kitchen.

“There’s no long-term strategy in place for us. Life is too volatile for that. We’re just happy to be in a position to do something for the city that has done so much for us. We’re here. And despite those who doubted us, we’re happy to be here. And we plan on being here for a while.”

File Photo: Carlton Fletcher
Staff Photo: Carlton Fletcher