4 Photos
The Inn Spot on Quogue Street, an eatery specializing in breakfast and brunch and the only business of its kind in Quogue, closed its doors for good on Sunday after nearly 10 years of serving its patrons omelettes made from local eggs, specialty house blend coffee, and prized corned beef hash.
The breakfast spot, which had been open since 1999, had a mostly successful run since then, according to the establishment’s owners and chefs, Colette Connor, originally from Ireland, and Pam Wolfert, who hails from Hampton Bays. The business partners, who also own Inn Spot on the Bay in Hampton Bays, said they are shuttering their Quogue restaurant for several reasons, among them what they describe as the village’s unsupportive attitude toward businesses.
More importantly, Ms. Wolfert and Ms. Connor said they were unable to renew their lease, noting that the owners of the 48 Quogue Street building—the trust of William E. Murray—opted not to offer another lease as the building is now up for sale. Without a tenant, the building is more attractive to potential buyers, Ms. Wolfert explained. “We explored all our options to stay,” Ms. Connor added.
The owners of the building could not be immediately reached for comment.
“It’s a culmination of things,” Ms. Connor said about their decision to close The Inn Spot. “We have a great spot, it’s in our hometown, and we have a fabulous clientele. But Quogue has never made it easy for us.”
The luncheonette, located at 48 Quogue Street, is adjacent to the Weathervane and across the street from the Inn at Quogue, both of which are owned by Westhampton Beach developer Rocco Lettieri. Ms. Wolfert and Ms. Connor noted that a decline in the number of guests visiting the Inn at Quogue, which Mr. Lettieri wants to redevelop as a private home, also contributed to their decision to close the breakfast eatery, though the had discussed possibly buying the building.
Ms. Connor pointed out that the restaurant, which served breakfast and brunch on weekends, also struggled to turn a profit because village officials never permitted them to serve dinner. She noted that, about eight years ago, she and Ms. Wolfert went before the Quogue Village Zoning Board of Appeals seeking permission to extend the hours that the Inn Spot could serve food. “They absolutely would not entertain us,” Ms. Connor said of the zoning board. “It’s hard to be profitable without dinner.”
According to village documents, The Inn Spot could be open only until 6:30 p.m. each day in the winter, and until 8:30 p.m. in the summer. Ms. Connor said those restrictive hours made it hard to keep the business profitable.
“Who eats dinner before 8 p.m. in the summer?” Ms. Connor said. “We work so hard. It’s crazy to work with these kind of restrictions.”
The same documents note that The Inn Spot’s zoning does not permit the operation of a restaurant. Ms. Connor and Ms. Wolfert were able to serve breakfast and lunch thanks to a special exception variance awarded to the building in 1995, according to village documents.
T. David Mullen, the chairman of Quogue’s Zoning Board of Appeals, did not return calls this week seeking comment.
Though they closed their business, Ms. Connor and Ms. Wolfert, both of whom live in the village, said their legendary breakfasts and brunches will now be served at The Inn Spot on the Bay, located on Lighthouse Road in Hampton Bays. That establishment, which also serves dinner cooked by Ms. Connor and boasts 13 hotel rooms, has been open since 2004.
Ms. Wolfert, who handled the cooking at The Inn Spot, will continue serving breakfast and lunch at the Hampton Bays restaurant. Ms. Connor, who has always cooked the dinner at The Inn Spot on the Bay, will continue to do so. Both Ms. Connor and Ms. Wolfert are self-taught cooks.
Several Quogue residents, including Sir Harry Evans, a longtime customer of The Inn Spot, this week lamented the zoning board’s decision not to allow the restaurant to serve dinner.
“It is the greatest of pities that the Village of Quogue, for some mysterious reason, has refused to allow The Inn Spot to serve dinners—a provision many would welcome and which would have made The Inn Spot viable,” Mr. Evans wrote in an e-mail on Monday. “Nobody wants Quogue to be another Westhampton, but nobody that we know either wants it to become a ghost village, or, worse, a place of super-mansions and offices.”
Clare Bisceglia, the executive director of the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, lives within walking distance to The Inn Spot. She noted that she was “devastated” to learn that the popular restaurant was closing its doors.
Ms. Bisceglia said she plans on traveling to Hampton Bays for her weekend breakfasts, though “it’s not the same as when it’s right there in Quogue, and you can walk.”
“The cappuccinos are sublime, and the smoked salmon is sliced fresh per order,” she continued. “It’s a wonderful part of weekend life.”
Another major tipping point that pushed the owners to close The Inn Spot was Quogue Village’s decision to re-pave Quogue Street last year without first alerting local businesses, according to Ms. Connor. “They sent out a mass mailing,” Ms. Connor said about the village, adding that the letter arrived after the roadwork had already begun, and after she had already lost phone service at The Inn Spot.
“We had no credit card machine—it was a disaster,” Ms. Connor said. “It was the final straw. It made us understand that the needs of business would not be taken into consideration by the village.”
Quogue Mayor George Motz said he believed that the Inn Spot would have heard about the closing of Quogue Street through either the local media or word of mouth. “I did apologize for not having specially knocked on their door,” Mr. Motz said.
In spite of the challenges of operating a business in Quogue, Ms. Connor and Ms. Wolfert note that they still managed to cultivate a group of loyal customers, some of who dined at the restaurant every weekend. “We had one man come out from Stony Brook in a Bentley every weekend,” Ms. Connor recalled.
Lawrie Mott, who splits her time between Quogue and Marin County, California, said she will miss the tasty creations concocted by Ms. Connor and Ms. Wolfert. “Their pastries are out of this world,” Ms. Mott said. “The croissants and cinnamon rolls are prized by everyone in my family.”
Though she plans on frequenting the Hampton Bays location, Ms. Mott said she will miss the Quogue eatery. “It’s a beautiful spot, but it’s not the same,” she added, referring to the Hampton Bays restaurant.
In his e-mail, Mr. Evans said it was “dismaying news” that The Inn Spot was closing. “This has become ... a central meeting place for friends and families, a summer place of leisurely joy at breakfast and lunch,” he wrote.
Perhaps Ms. Connor and Ms. Wolfert will miss the hometown atmosphere of their Quogue restaurant the most. Ms. Connor noted that some loyal customers would drop off bags of fresh produce grown in their gardens at the eatery, knowing that she and Ms. Wolfert would use them in their cooking.
“We do hope people continue to do that in Hampton Bays,” Ms. Connor said.
Both business owners said they had such a good relationship with their regular customers that they would not even have to take their breakfast orders. Other customers, including those taking the Hampton Jitney from Manhattan to Quogue on the weekends, would first stop at the restaurant for brunch. In fact, Ms. Connor said she would even drive some of her customers home after they enjoyed their meal.
“I had a house account,” Ms. Bisceglia said, explaining that she would be billed for her breakfasts once a month.
Though they were forced to close their luncheonette, Ms. Connor and Wolfert are hopeful that their Quogue customers will make the 10-minute trip to their Hampton Bays location.
“We hope that they do not feel abandoned in Quogue,” Ms. Connor said.
on Jan 5, 2009