CLARKESVILLE — A heartwarming bowl of squash bisque on a chilly winter night might make your mouth water. Especially when you add some heavy cream, roasted peppers, a little onion and a Gruyere cheese crouton on top.

It’s not the typical squash soup spiced with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg — instead, it’s seasoned with garlic, thyme and sage.

The Winter Squash Bisque with Gruyere Croutons served at Glen-Ella Springs Inn will be one of the offerings at their annual Thanksgiving dinner, a sold-out event that brings people back from year to year.

"Ginger and cinnamon doesn’t work for me," said David Knopp, the chef at Glen-Ella Springs Inn. "People expect that to be in desserts and I wanted to go with sage. We need a fresh flavor that no one expects."

The cream, he said, also makes a difference.

"It’s a bisque with heavy cream...I wanted to make it a soup and not a bisque," Knopp said. "But yesterday I said, what it needs is the heavy cream."

Knopp added that all the vegetables are local and the "only thing that didn’t come out of the garden was the thyme and sage."

The bisque, which can be made ahead of time, includes acorn and butternut squash and you could add a little pumpkin for color. The squash is first prepared by boiling it on the stove.

"If you are going to puree it you don’t have to cut it up in little tiny pieces; it’s real easy," Knopp said. "Once you get it peeled and cored, you cut it in half and throw it in there and the water will take care of it."

The squash — a pound and a half of both acorn and butternut — can be peeled with a potato peeler.

"It has to be sharp — you can’t use an old rusty peeler out of the drawer," Knopp said. "That is what I ended up doing. The acorn (squash) are sometimes a little tough."

To begin, roast the bell pepper and tomato with olive oil in the oven. Then, melt butter in a large pot over medium heat and saute garlic and onion about 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, all squash and herbs and bring up to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.

The bisque is now ready to be pureed. This must be done in batches.

Return the soup to the pot and add cream and sugar. Return to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Chill and reheat before serving.

The Gruyere croutons should be made right before serving, but other types of cheese can be substituted for the crouton topping.

"Gruyere is, I would say, a French version in my mind to Parmesan or asiago, it’s not smokey but sharp," Knopp said. "Someone could us sharp cheddar if they wanted to. ...I happen to use the Gruyere because how it melts, it holds together without burning."

For cheddar lovers, Knopp recommended one brand that is readily available.

"If they are going to go there, there is a cheese in every single grocery store that is the best cheddar cheese that I have run across in any local store: Cabot Seriously Sharp," he said. "It is the best cheddar cheese out there without being bitter."

To make the croutons, slice a baguette of bread, butter one side of each slice and sprinkle it with cheese, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Broil until the cheese melts.

Top each bowl of soup with a crouton and serve.

Along with the Winter Squash Bisque with Gruyere croutons, salads, relishes, vegetables, meats and desserts will be served at the sold-out Thanksgiving dinner at Glen-Ella Springs. Knopp estimated that about half of the diners will make reservations next week for next year’s Thanksgiving, too.

Although the Thanksgiving dinner is booked at the restaurant at the Inn, Glen-Ella is open seven nights a week for dinner, according to marketing director Debbie Brunen.

"Reservations are required and dinner starts at 6 p.m. each night and ends about 9 p.m.," she said.

Knopp has served as the head chef at Glen-Ella for three years now and recently was awarded the eighth spot for the best dining destination by Georgia Trend magazine.

That list also includes the Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons in Atlanta.

"As far as the restaurant, the main comment always has been they can’t believe that there is food like this out in the middle of the woods," Knopp said.

Other items on the weekly menu that have all been modernized by Knopp are cedar plank salmon, the sauteed jumbo shrimp and herb-crusted rack of New Zealand lamb.

"(For the shrimp dish) I smoke shallots, apple wood and onions over applewood ... Then I blend them in tomato and that is the base of the shrimp. The shrimp is sauteed, pretty much as scampi style ... with butter, white wine, garlic, salt and pepper, basil and peppers and then it gets covered in asiago cheese."

The restaurant has made a name for itself in Habersham County, but the Inn has had a place in Clarkesville for more than 100 years. The Inn was constructed in 1875 and was restored in 1986 by Decatur natives Bobby and Barrie Aycock.

The bed and breakfast is now registered on the National Register of Historic Places.

"For the most part they love that it is so peaceful and so tranquil," Brunen said. "It’s unexpected."