Deals and memories at Chateau Briand auction in Carle Place

Milagros Navarro Tilley and Robert Tilley were married 13 years ago at the Chateau Briand in Carle Place, a famed catering hall and host to thousands of weddings, baby showers, Sweet 16 parties and other special occasions across more than four decades.

On Monday, they returned to the site of one of their most cherished moments as a couple to both remember and mourn as the shuttered Chateau Briand auctioned off everything from chairs to chandeliers before it gets bulldozed to make way for a shopping center.

“When we found out it was closing we felt so sad and nostalgic,” Navarro Tilley said of the Old Country Road event space. “It’s a beautiful place to have a wedding, and our wedding went perfectly.”

The couple also came to take a photograph in the exact spot on the second floor where they had their wedding photo taken on May 9, 2010, which happened to be Mother’s Day.

The 16,000-square-foot catering hall was shut down last year by Scotto Brothers Inc., who cited economic reasons. They had run it since 1978.

The auction started at noon, went on for several hours, and sold off several thousand items: paintings, sinks, stoves, dishes, massive walk-in refrigerators, a baby grand piano, Swarovski crystal chandeliers, a free-standing waterfall, and even the elevators.

Gerard Trimboli of American Auctions Liquidations Appraisals Inc. in Commack ran the auction. “We’re selling it to the bare walls,” he said.

“There is something here for everyone,” he added. “I think that’s what the appeal is.”

The crowd was a mix of people like Milagros and Robert, there for sentimental reasons, and others who were professional restaurant people looking for deals to stock their eateries.

Or a mix of the two.

Stephan Fauz, 40, grew up in Little Neck and recalled attending numerous events at the catering hall over the years including family weddings. Fauz said he liked the Chateau Briand so much it inspired him to open Alytori, a chicken and waffles restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

“This is such an iconic place,” he said Monday. “I just want to get a piece of this historical establishment to put in my establishment. It brings that aura.”

He ended up buying cover burners and a refrigerator for outdoor dining, and some chairs.

Belinda Bishop grew up in Freeport and now lives on the Caribbean island of Grenada, where she is opening a restaurant. She also came for the nostalgia, Bishop said, and to help stock her new business. She plans to ship down to Grenada the dishes, plate covers and other items she snapped up.

The crowd included some former longtime employees of the hall, who said they came to remember the good times and to mourn the loss of a beloved location, almost like a funeral.

“It’s like an icon going down. It’s disheartening but it happens,” said Will Skarka, who served as beverage director. “I’ve loved the building since I walked into it.”

Some professional restaurant people said they thought the prices in the early bidding were too high, with what one called “amateurs” letting their love for the place cloud their business judgment.

“There are a lot of amateurs overpaying,” said David Glicker, an equipment dealer from Huntington. “There’s so much nostalgia here.”