2 restaurateurs vying to run Glen Cove golf course catering hall business
Jeanine DiMenna, chef for The View Grill at Glen Cove Golf Club, is pictured at the catering hall and restaurant Wednesday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Two North Shore restaurateurs are vying to run the catering hall and restaurant at Glen Cove's municipal golf course after submitting bids to the city by last week's deadline.
The city's request for proposals from bidders called for significant capital improvements to the facility as part of a licensing agreement that would stretch up to 30 years.
Those improvements could include adding a second story or even tearing down the structure to build from scratch.
Glen Cove's request for proposals also called for a facility capacity of 200 people. That would be an increase from the 133 patrons that the existing 3,000-square-foot building allows — not including a capacity for 111 more patrons in outside dining areas and a tiki bar.
Current licensees Jeanine and Fred DiMenna have run The View Grill at the facility for almost a decade — she as chef and he as general manager.
Fred DiMenna said they have submitted a bid in an effort to keep their business going, with their current licensing agreement set to expire in February.
The other bidder is KVM Food Corp., according to the city attorney's office.
Online business records show the company is headed by Kent Monkan, the chef and owner of the Brass Rail restaurant in Locust Valley and the Heirloom Tavern restaurant in Glen Head.
He didn't return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
The competition is shaping up as a choice between a longtime small business that survived the pandemic and a company that could provide a new direction at the Glen Cove Golf Club facility — a choice that is attracting community attention.
An online petition dubbed "Save The View Grill" had 1,629 electronic signatures Wednesday.
A county legislator recently issued a statement calling for a revision to the city's request for proposals, saying an expansion could mean noise and other headaches for neighboring homeowners.
“I don’t see how they’re going to have an event with 200 people and then still expect to have enough parking for golfers who want to use the facility,” Nassau County Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) added in an interview. “There’s no place to expand the parking.”
Fred DiMenna said there was "no way a mom-and-pop like us" could afford to undertake the expansion described in the city's request for proposals.
He said he and his wife hope their years of work at the facility — including keeping it open during the pandemic — will factor into the city’s decision.
“That should be recognized and you shouldn't have to then fight for your life to keep doing what you're doing," DiMenna added.
Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck, a Republican, said in an interview that the request for bids was designed to give vendors flexibility in their proposals.
“Nobody’s looking for a major expansion,” Panzenbeck said. “We’re looking for proposers’ ideas as to what they would put there.”
She said the deal is designed to last up to 30 years because if the winning vendor was "going to do some kind of major capital improvement we would have to ensure that they would be able to get their money back."
Two North Shore restaurateurs are vying to run the catering hall and restaurant at Glen Cove's municipal golf course after submitting bids to the city by last week's deadline.
The city's request for proposals from bidders called for significant capital improvements to the facility as part of a licensing agreement that would stretch up to 30 years.
Those improvements could include adding a second story or even tearing down the structure to build from scratch.
Glen Cove's request for proposals also called for a facility capacity of 200 people. That would be an increase from the 133 patrons that the existing 3,000-square-foot building allows — not including a capacity for 111 more patrons in outside dining areas and a tiki bar.
Current licensees Jeanine and Fred DiMenna have run The View Grill at the facility for almost a decade — she as chef and he as general manager.
Fred DiMenna said they have submitted a bid in an effort to keep their business going, with their current licensing agreement set to expire in February.
The other bidder is KVM Food Corp., according to the city attorney's office.
Online business records show the company is headed by Kent Monkan, the chef and owner of the Brass Rail restaurant in Locust Valley and the Heirloom Tavern restaurant in Glen Head.
He didn't return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
The competition is shaping up as a choice between a longtime small business that survived the pandemic and a company that could provide a new direction at the Glen Cove Golf Club facility — a choice that is attracting community attention.
An online petition dubbed "Save The View Grill" had 1,629 electronic signatures Wednesday.
A county legislator recently issued a statement calling for a revision to the city's request for proposals, saying an expansion could mean noise and other headaches for neighboring homeowners.
“I don’t see how they’re going to have an event with 200 people and then still expect to have enough parking for golfers who want to use the facility,” Nassau County Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) added in an interview. “There’s no place to expand the parking.”
Fred DiMenna said there was "no way a mom-and-pop like us" could afford to undertake the expansion described in the city's request for proposals.
He said he and his wife hope their years of work at the facility — including keeping it open during the pandemic — will factor into the city’s decision.
“That should be recognized and you shouldn't have to then fight for your life to keep doing what you're doing," DiMenna added.
Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck, a Republican, said in an interview that the request for bids was designed to give vendors flexibility in their proposals.
“Nobody’s looking for a major expansion,” Panzenbeck said. “We’re looking for proposers’ ideas as to what they would put there.”
She said the deal is designed to last up to 30 years because if the winning vendor was "going to do some kind of major capital improvement we would have to ensure that they would be able to get their money back."
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