East Hampton Town seeks injunction barring restaurant at Marram hotel in Montauk

East Hampton Town is taking the owners of a “barefoot luxury” Montauk hotel to court, claiming it is hosting a popular Manhattan restaurant’s summer outpost onsite without proper approvals, an accusation the owners dispute.

The 96-unit Marram has been home this summer to Mostrador Marram, the East End offshoot of celebrated NoHo restaurants Il Buco and Il Buco Alimentari e Vinetari. In what was once a café offering beachside burgers and hot dogs, the menu now includes lobster rolls on focaccia fino, housemade pizzas, as well as a four-course prix-fixe menu.

East Hampton officials said in court papers that the hotel converted the use “from a motel with a retail snack bar to a restaurant with table service, take-out service and expanded outdoor cooking area, indoor bar and outdoor bar” in violation of town code.

The town filed a complaint on Aug. 7 in state Supreme Court in Riverhead and is seeking a permanent injunction barring Marram, which bills itself as a “barefoot luxury boutique resort” on its website, from operating the restaurant. The town is also seeking civil penalties to be determined by the court.

“Our community standards, which include protecting the sanctity of residential neighborhoods and public access to our beaches, are reflected in the adopted town codes,” Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said in an Aug. 7 news release. “Businesses that operate contrary to those codes are not acting as good neighbors, and such actions will not be allowed to continue.”

The property’s certificate of occupancy says it allows for the hotel, a pool, patio, sheds and a retail snack bar with service counter. The business is in a residential zone, but its use predates current zoning.

Representatives of Bridgeton Holdings, the real estate investment firm that owns Marram, said the restaurant does not offer waiter or sit-down service, just the same to-go service it always has — albeit with a more upscale menu. Guests may take the food to their rooms, common areas in the hotel or the beach, as has always been the case, COO Jeffrey Haroldson wrote Thursday in an email.

“The Town’s complaint against the Marram Hotel is filled with misleading statements and omits and misstates critical facts,” Bridgeton attorney Eric Bergman said in a statement Thursday. “We believe that the paperwork for the existing food and beverage service is proper and intend to fight the Town’s attempt to claim that long-standing structures and food and beverage service are somehow ‘new’ and require new permits and approvals.”

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.