Be careful what you wish for.
Angry East Hampton residents just successfully killed a California hotelier’s revamped plan for a casual Italian eatery in the heart of trendy Montauk — but now face a replacement that’s twice the capacity.
Marley Dominguez, who owns the luxury Offshore Montauk hotel on Long Island, had been willing to scale down his original embattled next-door plans for a restaurant bar and instead create a laid-back omasake-style joint, or one in which there is no menu and customers instead leave their food up to the chef.
He already had approval for his larger-capacity original version from the East Hampton Town Planning Board. But he said he would cut it back after residents accused him of being “deceptive” and pulling a “trojan horse,” fearing the venue will end up being a rowdy day and nightclub.
Then the planning board shot down his revised smaller proposal last week.
So Dominguez told The Post he is now going back to his original plan for his upcoming Italian restaurant and bar, Este.
“We listened carefully to the concerns raised by the town, and in response, proposed a modification that would reduce the size and occupancy of the space,” Dominguez said.
“The Planning Board ultimately decided not to move forward with that option, and we respect their decision. As a result, we will return to the plan originally proposed and approved by the board,” he said through a statement from his company, Enduring Hospitality.
A rep for the planning board told The Post that the first plan was approved based factors such as promising a small staff, no direct bar service and operations consistent with the town’s legal definition of a restaurant.
But paperwork for the revised proposal suggested different uses were planned for the venue, the representative said.
The rep said realistic occupancy estimates for both plans only differed by about 11 patrons, regardless of what the owner projected.
The original now-back-on proposal, approved by the planning board in December, involves a three-story, 8,250-square-foot building that can hold more than double the occupancy of the scaled-back version shot down Wednesday, according to filings.
Under his shot-down revised proposal, Dominguez would have with changed the format from a regular Italian restaurant to an omakase-style menu that focuses on locally sourced produce and seafood with an Italian twist.
The revamped plan would have slashed Este’s second-floor dining space capacity by 45% and rooftop space by 12%, while reducing the number of bathrooms and closing off bar seating on the ground floor and rooftop
Then details leaked to the East Hampton Press in April that foes said suggested the space was intended for a larger crowd, sparking the petition distributed by anonymous locals May 28.
“We’re not idiots — you cannot have a financially feasible restaurant with only 39 seats — they want to make it a disco-jammin’ daytime and nightclub,” East Hampton resident Donna Corvi told The Post after Wednesday’s contentious town board meeting.
But sources told The Post the petition was started by a business rival of Dominguez’s to create controversy to try and kill the competition.
