This Saturday, Coche Comedor (74A Montauk Highway, Amagansett, 631-267-5709) is shutting its doors for good.
Last week, the popular Mexican-inspired restaurant made the announcement via an Instagram post, with the message that running a seasonal business, especially a restaurant in the Hamptons, has grown increasingly difficult and the closure would be effective on September 27.
“It’s economics,” says co-owner Mark Smith. “We just couldn’t do enough business in 120 days of the season to support the other 240. We had certain benchmarks and after a while, you know, it’s a business, it’s not a hobby. You can’t continually keep throwing money into it.”
Open since May 2019, the lively Mexican-style restaurant quickly became a fan favorite of both resident and visiting diners, beloved for offering authentic and upscale Latin-inspired cuisine, which included wood-fueled grilled carnitas, and highlighting locally sourced ingredients as frequently as possible.
(Photo credit: Doug Young)
Smith, who serves as CEO to Honest Man Hospitality — the restaurant group that also owns and operates Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton, Rowdy Hall in Amagansett, La Fondita (right next door to Coche) and Townline BBQ in Sagaponack — said he was sad over the decision to close, noting, “restaurants, for me, they’re more than just places to eat. They’re part of the fabric of a town or of a village. They’re places where people go to meet, where families celebrate weddings and deaths and birthdays. I’m sad because the business will no be longer there, but I’m proud of what we did.”
Thankfully, Smith and his Honest Man partners, which include chef Joe Realmuto and director of operations Christy Cober, own the building and while they may not know exactly what their next move is, they’re certainly thinking about it.
“Restaurants for me, they’re more than just places to eat. They’re part of the fabric of a town or of a village. … I’m sad because the business will no be longer there, but I’m proud of what we did.”
Mark Smith, co-owner, Coche Comedor
“The restaurant model is being threatened,” Smith says, “which means, they’re not going to be parts of the community anymore. So, what’s the answer? These big chain restaurants where they just drive volume, they don’t necessarily care about the quality of the food. I don’t know. I feel challenged now to sort of think about restaurants maybe in a different light. And, how do they survive? And what does ownership look like?”
According to Smith, the 25 or so staff members working at Coche will be absorbed into Honest Man’s other properties.
If you’re in the area, don’t miss Coche’s final live salsa night, starting tonight at 8 p.m., featuring drink specials, live music from La Herencia and Nick Corredor, and dancing. Coche Comedor will be open for dinner every night at 5 p.m. for the rest of the week with Saturday being their last night of service. If you can swing it, go.
