Earlier this month, the Lighthouse Café opened in Montauk, offering sustenance with views of the Atlantic Ocean, just steps from the historic Montauk Point Lighthouse.
Taking over the space that formerly housed the Lighthouse Grill, the new cafe is helmed by Crow’s Nest business partners Celine Valensie and Sean McPherson, who’ve had their eyes on the space for over a decade.
“We had been actively trying to secure this bid for the last three years,” Valensie says, “and we lost the bid three years in a row. We actually again lost this past year, and we heard back from the state, probably in March or so, that the person who won the bid dropped out.” Since they were the runner-up, the contract was offered to the eager duo and they eagerly accepted.
Technically the most eastern restaurant in all of New York State, Lighthouse Cafe is Montauk’s newest dining destination. (Photo credit: Paul Brooke Jr.)
Open since June 4, Valensie, McPherson and their team are currently in phase one of the new resto, leaning into what Valensie calls a conventional concession setup, where diners order at the counter and receive a buzzer that alerts them when their food and drinks are ready.
Current menu items include various pastries, avocado toast, yogurt parfaits with granola, grilled cheeses, chicken tenders, French fries, a mushroom tartlet, Croque Monsieur, seven salads (including the almost obligatory lobster salad), a duo of quiches, lamb Merguez, and nearly half a dozen dessert options. Cocktails, wine by the glass, beer, and myriad nonalcoholic and coffee beverages are also available.
The menu may well morph as Valensie and McPherson see what resonates with visitors to the Lighthouse, which can roll up to 250,000 per year. “Our feeling is, at the very least, we need to collect some data points to see kind of what happens this year,” she says. “There’s also just a ton of kind of minimum requirements and restrictions to satisfy the state contract.” Agreeing to stipulations like a close adherence to the requisite opening hour (10 a.m.), days of the week open (daily) and when they can close for the season (Thanksgiving) are all part of the agreement.
“It’s a pretty long list, and a level of intensity for the East End that’s kind of unusual,” she says. “There are some obstacles that we hope to learn about in real time and mitigate in real time.”
For the rest of June, the Lighthouse Café will be open from Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For July and August, the café will be open daily; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
