Pecado Owner Ian Coughlin Shares His Food Business Origin Story & More Before Rosé Soirée

Ian Coughlin, owner of Bay Shore Mexican restaurant Pecado, and his team are joining the many other excellent East End food and wine purveyors at this year’s Dan’s Rosé Soirée.

Dan’s Papers Rosé Soirée, a celebration of rosé — the East End’s unofficial summer drink — is kicking off the Twin Forks’ unofficial start of summer on Memorial Day weekend, Sunday, May 28 at the Southampton Arts Center.

We spoke to Ian Coughlin about his path to the restaurant business, new food trends, his favorite comfort food and more in the lead up to this year’s Rosé Soirée.

 Meet Pecado Owner Ian Coughlin

How did you get into this line of work?

Early jobs were in college bars and in security. I majored in information technology, so after college I set up the tech side of cafés and restaurants, websites, point-of-sale, etc. One of the restaurant owners I worked with asked me if I wanted to open a gastropub with him in Rockville Centre.

That was my first foray into ownership. I have since co-owned other restaurants. Pecado is my seventh restaurant, but the first one where I am the sole owner.

What new food trends are you seeing?

I have seen a huge explosion in Mexican restaurants in recent years. There never used to be as many Mexican restaurants as you see now. Before 2015 there were only a handful. Now, they are popping up everywhere in just about every town.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I get a lot of ideas from Instagram. It’s a visual parade of new ideas that save me from traveling far and wide for new ideas.

What is your comfort food and why?

Definitely tacos. Shrimp tacos in summer, which are light and refreshing at Pecado. In winter, my comfort food is a Mexican steak, which we offer up in Mexican steakhouse style.

What is a unique kitchen ritual that you practice?

We make everything we serve from scratch. Not just the menu items, but the hot sauces, condiments. Even the ketchup is made from scratch with a zing of chipotle for added flavor.

Visit DansTaste.com for more information and tickets.

Pecado is located at 49 West Main Street, Bay Shore, 631-992-7717, pecadomexican.com