| Issue #31, October 27, 2006 |
BLUE PARROT CLOSES AFTER QUARTER CENTURY
By TJ Clemente
Tucked away off the East Hampton Village parking lot, The Blue Parrot was not easily found by the general public. But once discovered, this quirky, laid-back Tex-Mex bar and restaurant that came on the scene twenty-five years ago soon became a favorite watering hole for locals, summer renters, and celebrities alike. This past Sunday, the Blue Parrot served its last margarita and closed its doors forever. It was the end of an era. The lease for the building that houses the Blue Parrot has been sold to Ralph Lauren, who has not yet announced what he plans to do with it.
The story of the Blue Parrot is as colorful as its founder, Lee Beiler. Lee started out in Montauk, as the owner and operator of the Albatross Surf Shop. On a tip from Sam Sloman, the creative spirit behind the original twinkle lighting of the Albatross, Lee acquired the lease to The Café and opened for business in 1981. “It was wild,” he said. “We had to set up a tiki bar in front outside where we washed the glasses in buckets.” Eventually, the restaurant was expanded and a full-time bar was built inside.
In 1989, while at his winter home in Hawaii, Lee frequented a Mexican restaurant called The Blue Parrot (but in Spanish). A light went off in his head. The Café was to become the Blue Parrot. He introduced a Tex-Mex menu that you could order from right up until closing. “I went from selling 50 cases of tequila to 500 cases in one year,” Lee explains. “Roland Eisenberg created the signature margarita mix that the bar has become famous for.” Lee tells of how Ron Perlman called to get tubs of it sent to his private plane and Ron has stopped in to have them at the bar, too.
In the beginning, Lee himself was the chef. When asked to tell of his fondest moment, the first thought that came to Lee’s mind was the day that the Blue Parrot did 500 covers (dinners). “We had a tiny kitchen and I busted my tail cooking, sticking my head out to just look at the crowd.”
His late wife, Sylvie, partnered with him in personally serving the growing cult of surfers and locals. Sylvie, who was a flight attendant, would shuttle between Europe and East Hampton to make, as Lee recalls, the best local grown “fresh watercress salad.” But in the early nineties, Sylvie passed away. Lee’s daughter, Vanessa, bussed tables for many years after that. Vanessa is now a photographer in LA and Lee is very proud of her.
The Parrot’s list of notables through the years is a list of who’s who in so many different walks of life: actors Buddy Harrelson, Mercedes Ruehl, Cynthia Nixon, and Alec Baldwin; model Christie Brinkley; author James Brady; businessman Ron Perlman; and musicians Jimmy Buffett, Billy Joel, and Jon Bon Jovi. Former Dolphins football great Nick Buoniconti and Regis Philbin stop in at least once a year. Lee sold Bill Murray a poster from the bathroom and had a truly great night partying with “Cheryl Tiegs, when Cheryl Tiegs was Cheryl Tiegs.”
But the story of the Parrot was its laid back attitude and affordability for the local beach surfing crowd. Inexpensive beers and free chips and salsa made for a strange array of customers at the bar. At one end might be Ron Perlman with his daughter and at the other would be Whitey, Noah, and Robby, all wondering who had the 20 bucks to cover the beers.
Lee credits his landlord and her reasonable rents, saying she never put a “gun to my head so that I couldn’t keep it affordable.” Lee loved his Thursday night surf movies and two-for-one hamburgers. And the crowds loved the Friday night karaoke.
On its last Friday night, veteran bartender and surfing legend Bruce Adams was behind the bar with East Hampton local Ben Dollinger, whose mom, Sarabelle Prince, actually designed the Blue Parrot logo years back. They handled the night like any other, making margaritas and handing out the Pacificos that author James Brady talks so much about in many of his books.
As Lee looked at the crowd of the party that’s been going on for 25 years he said, “Wow, it’s been some ride, from Main Street America to Corporate America.” So what’s next for Lee? After taking Alec Baldwin’s acting classes, Lee is taking his rugged surfer good looks out to LA to try to attain his life’s dream of being an actor. “If I have to wait tables, I will but I am going to hit the pavement in LA and do some auditions.”
The Blue Parrot had many patrons: the quiet afternoon drinks crowd, the family summer diners, hot late night water hole for beautiful blondes group, great surfers, successful businessmen, and locals, all lined up at the bar next to one another, “just kicking back.”
It was what it was — a beach bar in the middle of the village. Bruce Adams summed it up best. “It was a place where everyone could go and let their hair down.” Phil Vega, a bartender at Stephen Talkhouse, who often frequented the Parrot added, “There won’t ever be anything like it again.”
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