End of an Era at Montauk's Shagwong Tavern
End of an Era at Montauk's Shagwong Tavern
An era ended last Thursday evening at the Shagwong Tavern in Montauk as Jimmy Hewitt, the longtime owner, turned the keys over to new owners — a partnership including Jon Krasner and Beau Campsey — during a farewell party.
"The pictures on the walls are staying," Mr. Krasner, who dropped by the party, promised.
The locals and irregular locals were out in force, and the staff joined in. Clive Walker, who has been a chef at Shagwong for 20 years, said he was going to miss Mr. Hewitt and had "learned a lot from him." Kiwmonie Pendly has worked in the kitchen for five years, and Yasmin Corporan, who has been there for eight, were in the crowd, as was a brand-new employee who had just started working at the Main Street icon.
They said they had been promised jobs under the new owners, Mr. Pendly said, and were celebrating.
For Greg Mansley, a longtime regular who is the media director of the East Hampton Town Republican Party, it was a sad moment. "I came out here in 1972," he said. He pointed out the diversity of the crowd. "You know what I'm looking at here?" he asked. "This is America." It is also Montauk. Chuck Morici, a k a Chuck Wheat, recalled being hired to demolish the original kitchen when Mr. Hewitt first took over, back in 1969. He recalled the early 1970s, and the people who would drop in. He rattled off a few names. "Farrah Fawcett. Cheryl Tiegs. Peter Beard." But he also had a maudlin moment, certainly not the only person who sounded emotional last Thursday. "It's another piece of heritage ripped from Montauk," he said.
Outside, on the sidewalk, was the Irish contingent. Many young people came to Montauk years ago on student work visas and ended up making the hamlet their home.
Those in the group on the sidewalk insisted they shared the last name Irish. Sean Irish said there was one photo on the wall that had particular meaning to him, and to Johnny Irish, and to Tommy Irish, and the rest of the group. It was taken at a benefit at the Point, a Montauk sports bar, of Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein. Tickets to the benefit were over $100, Sean Irish said, and "Jimmy Hewitt bought 12 tickets for the Irish kids." One man's memory went back in Shagwong history much further Continued on A4 than most in the crowd. "I used to come here when I was a kid, back in the '50s," Harold Foster, fishing hat on his head, mixed drink in his hand, said. He used to camp with his family on Gin Beach.
Lili Adams, the owner of another Montauk institution, the Ditch Witch, a mobile concession outside the former East Deck Motel at Ditch Plain, recalled her first time at Shagwong, when she was 18. Her first drink? "Tequila Sunrise." She was there with her daughter, Abby Monahan, who now works with her, her son, Grant Monahan, and their father, Tom Monahan. All shared Shagwong memories.
A couple seated by the front door were relative neophytes. Jiaa and Michele Vakiener are from New York.
"We've been coming here for three or four years," she said. "We didn't know it was closing." Mr. Vakiener was soaking up the Shagwong's funkiness. "It has a time- worn feeling. If you want something fancy, you can go someplace else." Susie Ceslow, a real estate agent, had a seat at the bar. She had to be at the last go-round, she said. "I remember too many times here. All good," she said laughing, glass of beer in her hand.
The new owners appear to be powered by Mr. Krasner, a New Yorker whose family has had a house in Sag Harbor for many years. On Tuesday, he recalled having summer jobs such as scooping lobster salad at the Lobster Roll and handing out towels at the Surf Club. That was then; this is now.
Mr. Krasner was a partner in 2013 when Richie Notar reimagined a windowless bar in the Lombardy Hotel, creating the high-end Harlow restaurant.
Legend has it that the space was once a speakeasy for William Randolph Hearst's mistress, Marion Davies. Last year, the partners took over the Sag Harbor Long Wharf restaurant formerly B. Smith's, opening Harlow East.
This year, Mr. Krasner has been a whirling dervish as both a real estate investor and restaurateur, putting together several groups of partners. Besides Shagwong, he has taken over the restaurant just a stone's throw away, previously known as O'Murphy's, now the Saltbox.
Danny Ye, executive chef of Harlow East, is guiding the menu there.
(O'Murphy's has moved to the Montauk dock area in the former Manucci's space.) A third new restaurant in Montauk with Sag Harbor roots has a connection to Mr. Krasner as well. Muse at the End, which took over the Coast restaurant on South Euclid Street, is an extension of Muse, the Main Street, Sag Harbor, restaurant. One of the partners in that restaurant is Mr. Krasner's father, Harvey I. Krasner, a real estate lawyer in New York.
Both Krasner group restaurants in Montauk are in buildings going back to the 1920s and to Carl Fisher, who envisioned Montauk as the Miami Beach of the North. It would seem that Mr. Krasner has embraced Carl Fisher's vision in reverse. He is a partner in Yellow Side Ventures, working with Chaim Cahane and Dan Arev, New York developers, to acquire properties in Wynwood, a burgeoning neighborhood north of downtown Miami. Their holdings include an entire block on the west side of North Miami Avenue. Mr. Krasner laughed at the idea of turning Wynwood into Montauk South. "A lot more laid back," he said.
Mr. Krasner's talent, Kiara Horwitz of KHPR, publicist for Shagwong, said Tuesday, is putting teams of people together.
His Shagwong team has been busy going through the restaurant this week, deciding what will stay and what will go. An old model of a fish? That stays. An old telephone booth in the corner of the bar area that is essentially a giant TV stand? To be determined. The goal is to be up and running tomorrow.
Peter Hewitt, who has managed the bar for the last 43 years and will remain behind the bar during his usual hours, said yesterday that the transition is going well. One of the new teammates putting in elbow grease this week is Erin Sullivan, who just left a job as head bartender at the Third Man on Avenue C in Manhattan. She held up at a small vintage sign Tuesday that was behind the bar. It read, "Help Wanted-Irish Need Not Apply. "
"Definitely stays," Ms. Sullivan said.