The former New Moon Café in East Quogue has officially been sold to the owners of Mary’s Pizza and Pasta, the popular restaurant on the western end of Southampton Town in Speonk.
The deal closed on Tuesday for $1.8 million, according to both the buyer and seller. The last ask was $2.5 million.
Behind The Hedges reported the property at 524 Montauk Highway went into contract just before the end of summer. Enzo Morabito of Douglas Elliman brokered the trade.
Of the Italian eatery, he says, “It’s a perfect fit for the East Quogue community.”
When it opens, this will be the fourth outpost for Mary’s Pizza and Pasta, which also has locations in Islip Terrace and Farmingdale. The restaurant opened on the East End six years ago.
Bill, Vinny and Chris Chambers, three brothers behind the restaurants, along with their uncle, John Rebhan, a builder, completed a major construction project on the 100-year-old building, the former site of the Olde Speonk Inn at 190 Montauk Highway.
He enjoys going to Mary’s in Speonk and has seen firsthand how they transformed the building and created a menu with something for everyone and a gathering place for the community. “It’s very eclectic,” Morabito says.
Morabito says he expects the same from the East Quogue location, which offers 4,600 square feet of interior space. “John is a distinguished builder. Everything he does is first class.”
“We’re very excited to be part of the community in East Quogue,” Bill Chambers told Hedges last week. “I used to live in East Quogue; I live in Remsenburg now. When it became available, we knew there was an opportunity there.”
The ownership hopes to expand since they have two lots with a large parking space in the back. “It’s just a matter of how big of a place we are going to make it — one-story, two-story, what can we do? Those are the questions. They still have to bring in engineers and architects.
The ground floor currently features a large bar area and the dining area. There is also an outdoor brick patio for al fresco dining. Toward the rear of the property, the two-story building, built in 1976, includes two apartments on the second floor.
“The building we can do quickly, getting the approvals from the town and county is another story,” Chambers says. “I wouldn’t even want to put a date out there,” he says of the opening.
“To do it correctly, it’s going to take time to do it right. When we bought the Old Speonk Inn, it was the same philosophy. It needed a fresh start, and not just a band-aid approach,” he adds.
They purchased the 5,000-square-foot Speonk spot in 2016 and opened there in 2019.
Sarah Campsey, whose parents owned the New Moon Cafe for 46 years before it closed in December of last year, says the sale is bittersweet. Her father, Ronnie Campsey, an 83-year-old Vietnam veteran, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and is moving to Texas to be closer to his daughter, who moved there two decades ago.
Ronnie is from Texas and followed a girlfriend to New York on his 20th birthday, his daughter says, and eventually found his way to the eastern end of Long Island. He always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a business sense. While separate from his first wife, he bought the bar and restaurant in East Quogue. He built the kitchen on the back of the building and started the Tex-Mex restaurant.
Not long after, he met Shana Campsey — they’ve been together 42 years and married for 25. She started out waitressing and served as the chef for at least 15 years. They lived above the restaurant and raised a family. Sarah recalls how she even after she moved away, she would return with her children every summer for six to eight weeks.
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