New floor manager follows his art into Le Chef

There are those who lament the passing of the small-town Southampton of yore—that friendly village of mom-and-pop shops, companionable lunch counters, and welcoming restaurants where the delights of the menu were matched by the pleasures of mingling with a congenial crowd.

This is a story to cheer them, a story about two men whose friendship developed during many years of running their businesses on opposite sides of Jobs Lane, even as each was acquiring the kind of devoted clientele most entrepreneurs only dream of. And, as a bonus, it is a tale with a happy ending—actually a new beginning as the two men prepare to team up and work together.

The two principal characters are Gary Madison, who recently closed his Long Island Sound music business after 37 years at 76 Jobs Lane, and Frank Lenihan, whose restaurant, Le Chef, has been at number 75 since 1987 (and in the village since 1980). Now, with the traditional music business no longer viable and Number 76 shuttered and empty, the two friends have decided to combine their talents, this season.

Beginning the week after Easter, the clientele at Le Chef will find a familiar figure in the dining room as Mr. Madison crosses the street to take over as 
manager of the restaurant.

But first, some background. There is another significant player in this tale of friendship and shared values, from an earlier, less hectic time. The third character in the story is the late Polish-born, Russian-educated artist, Nicolai Cikovsky, who bought a summer cottage in North Sea in the 1940s and whose paintings can now be seen on the walls of Le Chef in a selection made by Mr. Madison, Cikovsky’s most avid collector. Though the artist died in 1987 after a long and productive career that brought him national recognition, on a recent morning when Mr. Madison and Mr. Lenihan met at the restaurant to tell their story, his lyrical compositions, many of familiar local scenes, spoke eloquently for him.

Mr. Madison, a big, gregarious bear of a man who was known as “Gary Records” in his early days in business in Southampton, first heard that voice and felt its pull some three decades ago on an art outing with his friend Terry Wallace, who later opened the Wallace Gallery in East Hampton.

“We saw the nude at auction,” recalled Mr. Madison, gesturing toward the moody canvas of a sensual figure with her back to the viewer. “It was a good price. We liked it and so we bought it in partnership.”

Eventually, Mr. Madison bought his friend out, took possession of the nude, added a second Cikovsky—a small watercolor of Hampton Bays that is also on view—and he was off.

Meanwhile, as he was building his Cikovsky collection, which now numbers some 70 works by the artist, Mr. Madison was building his music business from one to three Long Island Sound shops in the region, each a Mecca for like-minded music lovers drawn by the friendly, hip atmosphere they found there and the expansive personality of the man who created it.

It was a six-days-a-week, demanding business. But when Mr. Madison needed a respite from the long hours, mostly spent in Southampton, it was as near as the other side of the street, where Mr. Lenihan’s restaurant was also attracting fans who appreciated a place designed as a refuge for good talk as well as good food. It was inevitable that the thoughtful, articulate owner of Le Chef and his quick-witted, fast-talking neighbor would become fast friends.

“I have known him since 1980,” said Mr. Lenihan. “Over the years,” he added, “one develops a respect and a friendship.”

That Mr. Lenihan also had an eye for art and liked to show it in the restaurant gave the friendship an added dimension.

“We talked about a Cikovsky show; we looked at them and decided to do it,” said Mr. Madison.

“We love the local flavor,” said Mr. Lenihan, who actually carries a Cikovsky image with him at all times on the screen of his cell phone.

It, too, has been hung at the restaurant, though what it portrays is apparently open to question.

“I was told that this was Montauk,” said Mr. Madison, “but Frank sees it differently. He says it’s the Shinnecock Inlet.”

It’s the inlet “as I see it on my boat,” maintained Mr. Lenihan.

“Funny how people see things differently,” mused Mr. Madison, an idea that prompts Mr. Lenihan to comment that while everyone talks about the artist’s license, “there is the viewer’s license also.” The artist’s “trick,” he added, “is to allow us to conjure up our own images.”

Another Cikovsky canvas, “Woman in Red,” which was shown at the Parrish Art Museum when Ronald Pisano organized a one-man exhibition of the artist’s work in 1980, has disturbed some people, according to Mr. Madison. “They find the darkness of her eyes off-putting,” he said.

What they are reacting to, suggested Mr. Lenihan, “is that sort of northern European torment, that dark green background.”

With art on the wall to inspire contemplation, ideas are exchanged, and all that is missing now from the formula that has worked so well for Mr. Lenihan is the food.

In his new position as manager at Le Chef, Mr. Madison may have some input on that front as well, suggested Mr. Lenihan.

“You can see by his shape, he has a tremendous taste for food,” he laughed. “He’s a great cook with a great knowledge of different cuisines.”

Mr. Madison is also “a wonderful networker,” said Mr. Lenihan, warming to the task of explaining why his friend will be such a welcome addition at Le Chef. “He’s popular with everyone.”

“Eighty percent of my social life has been here,” said Mr. Madison, eager to emphasize the mutual benefits of the new arrangement. “It’s a community hangout where people kind of come and talk sports, politics, art.”

“We’re going to have a lot of fun,” Mr. Lenihan predicted.