The Quiet Clam 2.0

On Saturday, April 28, East Hampton made way for another 2018 restaurant opening, The Quiet Clam 2.0. Housed in the former Service Station space on Montauk Highway, the restaurant identifies itself as “seafood-centric,” reviving the spirit of a previous incarnation.

The original Quiet Clam opened in 1977 and operated within the same space, until that spot became Nichols in the late 1990s and, later, Service Station. The Quiet Clam 2.0 will be open year-round for lunch and dinner and will also offer brunch service on weekends.

The restaurant is still awaiting a liquor license, but, in the meantime, its owners encourage patrons to bring their own alcohol, posting on Facebook, “We welcome and encourage BYOB. Glasses of all kinds, garnishes, etc. are all provided and no corkage fee!”

A liquor license is forthcoming and should be implemented within the next few days, at which point patrons will have to pay a small corkage fee if they bring their own wines. That fee is, as yet, undetermined. Guests will not be permitted to bring their own hard alcohol.

Quiet Clam 2.0 chef E. Matthew Chapelle spent six years at the East Hampton Grill before moving to the Service Station, where he worked with owners Michael Gluckman and Shane Dyckman for about a year. Before migrating to the East End, Chapelle had cooked on Martha’s Vineyard, in West Palm Beach, and in Philadelphia.

A few months ago, after a battle with the town and, in particular, with code enforcement, Gluckman and Dyckman sold the restaurant lease for Service Station. Gluckman and Dyckman had undertaken a massive renovation of the restaurant’s interior, the results of which remain relatively untouched.

Following the departure of Service Station, the Fischer family, which has owned the space since opening the original Quiet Clam, purchased the lease back. Tom and James Fischer, two brothers whose father, Ira Fischer, owned and managed the original restaurant, are now in charge of the new restaurant’s operations.

Chef Chapelle helms a kitchen he helmed before, then, which has an interesting backstory to it. Because some customers remained unaware that Service Station would not be reopening, they expressed regret at the loss of dishes they had fallen in love with. Nostalgia was thick, too, for those who remembered the original Quiet Clam (it closed in 1998).

“I wanted to bring back a couple of Service Station items,” Chef Chapelle said. He also mentioned that he had considered the requests of old Quiet Clam patrons who missed their old tried-and-true favorites. In homage to the original restaurant, the Quiet Clam 2.0 serves, as a special, a crab cake dish that is reminiscent of the one served two decades ago.

The outdoor space at the restaurant’s front, which abuts Montauk Highway and was a matter of much debate between the Service Station owners and code enforcement, will eventually be converted into a lounge, where patrons can bring their drinks and enjoy a moment outside. The space is protected from the highway with tall perennial plantings, creating an intimate garden feel.

Food, however, will not be sold or consumed in this space.

Currently, the Quiet Clam 2.0 serves lunch daily from 11:30 AM to 4 PM and dinner daily from 5 to 9 PM on weekdays and from 5 to 10 PM on weekends. In the summer, these hours will be slightly expanded, with dinner service running until 10 PM on weekdays and 11 PM on weekends. The restaurant currently has plans to remain open year-round, with altered hours.

The Quiet Clam 2.0 is located at 100 Montauk Highway, East Hampton, 631-324-4447.