Brent Newsom, Caterer to the Stars, was 84

A deeply beloved local figure for over four decades on the East End of Long Island, renowned chef, caterer, and restaurant and nightclub owner Brent Newsom passed away peacefully on December 27th from complications of Covid-19. He had been a patient at the Southampton Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing since a car accident on March 15th.

Newsom was born in Fresno, California in 1937, and raised in Sacramento. He studied Biology at Stanford University before relocating to the East Coast and becoming co-owner of the gay Hamptons nightclub the Swamp in 1977. An addition to the complex in 1978, the restaurant known as The Annex, allowed Newsom to explore his culinary interests, and his talents were soon recognized when highbrow patrons such as Ina Garten and Martha Stewart hired him for off-site events.

By the early 90’s, Newsom was dedicating the majority of his time to catering, and he sold the Swamp and Annex in 1995 to pursue his passion without distraction in various venues in Bridgehampton and Springs, until he retired in 2016. Brent Newsom Caterers became one of the earliest and most successful food services in the history of the Hamptons, sought after for high society weddings, and to provide fine fare to the talent and staff of Ralph Lauren and Bruce Weber photo shoots, in addition to the countless lower-key summer soirees and holiday parties behind the hedgerows.

Newsom’s reputation for pleasing even the most demanding clients preceded him. “Brent would bring levity and tranquility to the most stuffy client meetings,” said Gene Molina, his longtime right-hand-man. “He was a father to me. A kind and giving soul we will always remember.”

Throughout its 25-year run, Brent Newsom Caterers donated streams of food and services to charitable organizations such as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the East End Gay Organization, Live Out Loud, Southampton Youth Services, the Historical Society of East Hampton, The Retreat, Miracle House, and The Nature Conservancy. Super Saturday, an event for ovarian cancer research, was attended by 1500 guests.

He was a workaholic by anyone’s measure, and a loyal friend, not only creating essential employment opportunities, but maintaining precious homes-away-from-home for countless LGBTQ+ people on the East End. At times those homes were literal: in the darkest years of the AIDS epidemic, Newsom welcomed dying men into his Wainscott and East Hampton residences, giving them the care they were denied by the families and local systems that had abandoned them. Thus he was known as Daddy, “in the most affectionate and paternal way,” one of Newsom’s closest friends, Jonathan Milioti, said, “synonymous with a gentle human being who cared for and embraced lost souls into an accepting and inclusive world without expectation or favor.”

Newsom is survived by grand nephew Cameron Young, 38, of Roseville, California, and niece Shari Young, 61, and nephew-in-law Jim Young, 73, of River Hills, Wisconsin. Memorial services are planned for the spring, one in Wainscott Green, on the footprint of the Swamp and Annex, pending Town approval. Announcements will be made on Facebook @MrTomHouse and @HamptonsPrideInc.