The Carltun restaurant in Eisenhower Park to close after 27 years

After nearly three decades of weddings, wine dinners and fundraisers — as well as hosting two presidents, one secretary of state and other politicians aplenty — The Carltun in Eisenhower Park will take a bow at the end of September.

Operator Anthony A. Capetola, a Williston Park attorney who runs the restaurant, relinquished his long-term lease on the building and its 26 acres, which are owned by Nassau County. A la carte service has stopped in the restaurant, which was known as The Palm Court, and Capetola said only private events will continue through the rest of The Carltun’s tenure. 

Come October, the 85,000-square-foot building will be taken over by a group of new operators who include Bobby and Elias Trahanas, who also own the Golden Reef Diner in Rockville Centre and run food concessions in Jones Beach and Robert Moses state parks.

Elias Trahanas confirmed by phone that he and his partners will take over on Oct. 1, but did not elaborate on the group’s plans.

Capetola and then-partner John Tunney took over The Carltun in July 1995, signing a long-term lease with Nassau County for the property that borders the park’s golf course. “The building was closed. There was nothing there. The heating system didn’t work, nothing worked,” he said, recalling the décor ran to “knotty pine and rusty lockers.” 

Capetola and Tunney thoroughly renovated the building, adding a porte-cochere out front, a restaurant on the main floor, and an upstairs cigar club; the building also had several banquet rooms and intimate dining spaces. At the time, the partners estimated the renovations at $6 million. The vibe was clubby-slash-formal, and the menu featured veal chops, lobster bisque and linguine con vongole. The Carltun’s wine cellar held thousands of bottles, many of them rare. Capetola was an avid collector, and the holdings — most recently overseen by sommelier Fadi Yako — included rare vintages of Château Margaux and Domaine de La Romanée Conti, to name a few. Capetola said some of those bottlings are being sold privately. 

Capetola pivoted often to keep The Carltun, tucked away in a 1,000-acre park, both visible and current. The facility held wine and food festivals, invited in winemakers for special dinners, added an outdoor food market and window during the pandemic and planted herbs and vegetables on The Carltun’s grounds. 

Casting farther back, The Carltun had been a nexus for political fundraisers and events, hosting such luminaries as former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton; former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Captetola recalls that during a 2004 fundraiser for then-President Bush, Secret Service was positioned as far as the roof of Nassau University Medical Center, about two miles away, and Bush entered the restaurant via the loading dock. Among the hors d’oeuvres served that day were baby beef wellington, grilled chicken skewers and stuffed mushrooms.

The Carltun has also been the backdrop for a few film shoots, including the calamitous wedding scene in “28 Days,” with Sandra Bullock.

In the late '90s, Capetola and Tunney were in a dispute with the county over how much money was owed from their rent and gross sales. The case was settled with a new lease and new parameters.

While he lamented the challenges of the last two years, including surging food costs and labor shortages, he said he will leave with “tremendous memories.”

“I want to spend more time with my children and grandchildren,” said Capetola, 76.

An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the movie that was shot at The Carltun.