The East End of Long Island is where some visitors inhale fresh air on the weekends and might rent a daybed on the beach in Montauk for $1,500. A savvy visitor can also attempt to get an on-air cameo on the HBO Max show Selling the Hamptons spinoff Serving the Hamptons by dining at 75 Main while the show is shooting the upcoming season.
The area’s residents don’t see it like the visitors. To them, it is hallowed ground, far away from the cacophony of New York City. Though physically just a few hours away from the loud urban center with its crime, grit, and lights, the Hamptons are regarded by residents as a haven from the city that never sleeps. The Hamptons are spiritual worlds away from their noisy counterparts to the residents.
Cultures Colliding
When it was announced that Zero Bond, a hot New York private hot spot that has hosted celebrities such as Eric Adams, Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, Tom Brady, and Kim Kardashian, intended to take over the quaint 18th-century Hedges Inn in East Hampton, the news was met with a fierce backlash from locals. The location of Hedges Inn is a bucolic area, not that far from the homes of such famous residents as Steven Spielberg and Martha Stewart.
Locals diligently tried to stop Zero Bond in multiple town meetings led by the village mayor. In May, they instituted an 11 p.m. curfew for all the town’s hotels. The Hedges Inn had been zoned for a 10 p.m. curfew for quite some time already. This new curfew effectively blocked the club, if only for the current season.
Scott Sartiano, the owner of Zero Bond, was not so easily deterred but did acquiesce to some degree. Instead, he will convert the space to an outpost of his restaurant, Saritiano’s, which has a flagship in Manhattan’s Mercer Hotel.
East Hampton Village administrator Marcos Baladrón told The Hollywood Reporter that “Mr. Sartiano has greatly watered down his proposal so that it will simply be an Italian restaurant, and if that’s the case, we will roll out the red carpet, but if his ultimate goal is to open another Zero Bond, I think the neighbors should be very wary.”
Not the Only Battle Ground
Another historic inn, The Maidstone, is up the street and across East Hampton’s scenic pond. Irwin Simon, a pharmaceutical and cannabis entrepreneur and hotelier Mayank Dwivedi, purchased it. LDV Hospitality is now running The Maidstone. LDV Hospitality owns Scarpetta, a Nomad restaurant with a downstairs club, and an outpost at Gurney’s Montauk Resort known for its “upbeat scene.”
KyKy Conille, who operated New York nightclubs Provocateur, PM, and Bijoux, has acquired the former Blue Mar restaurant in Southampton and transformed it into an outpost of his New York Italian restaurant, Il Pellicano. TV chef Rocco Dispirito is at the helm. Conille has a following that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Gisele Bündchen, John Legend, and Lionel Richie.
“It will cater to customers from 25 to anyone who can still walk,” Conille says.
According to Conille, there will also be a club in the back with different rules. The choice of who gets to enter the area is not as democratic as in the restaurant.
“We will pick the clientele for the lounge. My doormen will choose by the way they dress. We don’t want people coming in the lounge in the evening wearing shorts. I want to bring back elegance — for people to get excited to get dressed,” Conille says. In other words, “We don’t want people wearing shorts.”
