Hurricane Sandy has had a massive, devastating impact on the restaurant industry along the East Coast, and the Hamptons area on the far-eastern edge of Long Island, New York were hit especially hard. Here now, Paul A. Johnson of Curbed Hamptons takes a look at the restaurants of the Hamptons and how they have fared since the storm. Below, the owners of The Plaza Cafe, Muse, Southampton Publick House, and Rowdy Hall share their storm experiences.
Southampton Publick House, Southampton, New York. [Photo: brostad / Flickr]
With power knocked out to a great deal of the East End last week, it was no surprise that many flocked to local eateries as soon as they opened their doors. While not everyone was up and running immediately after the storm, the restaurants that were open reported doing brisk business. Curbed Hamptons reached out to a few owners to see how they were affected by last week's events.
The Plaza Cafe, Southampton
Chef-owner Doug Gulija: "Believe it or not business seemed to pick up and a lot of guests took advantage of our casual bar menu. For us, the aftermath with the gas shortage and fisherman not being able to get out to sea seems to be the bigger problem. One of my guys still has no electric, one's phone line went down in Montauk so we couldn't get an order in, and another in the city has no gas to make a delivery. All this with [Restaurant Week] right around the corner."
Muse, Water Mill
Chef-owner Matthew Guiffrida: "We feel very lucky and fortunate that no one at the restaurant was hurt, but our heart goes out to those who were affected. We lost power for a couple of days, but no major damage or flooding...lots of food spoilage — we had to throw everything away and start from scratch — and some of our landscaping got a little rearranged, but we have nothing to complain about. Power came back on Wednesday and we were up and running again by Thursday night. For the next couple of weeks, we're taking 10% of our Wednesday night proceeds and donating them to the Red Cross."
Southampton Publick House, Southampton
Donald Sullivan, owner and operator: "We've been steady since the weekend. As we've been lucky with power uninterrupted, we've been able to serve lunch, dinner and late night since the storm. Fortunately for us, we're open daily year round, and I believe in being open during snow storms and anything else mother nature throws at us so that locals know that the Publick House will be one place that's open no matter the conditions."
Rowdy Hall, East Hampton
Mark Smith: "Business has been very good. Unfortunately it initially was because people didn't have power and need[ed] a place to eat and charge phones etc. and Rowdy Hall never lost power. I think there is also an element of people wanting to be with others during storms and disasters."
— Paul A. Johnson
· How Have Area Restaurants Been Faring In The Wake Of Sandy? [Curbed Hamptons]
· All Hurricane Sandy Coverage on Eater [-E-]
