Sag Harbor, N.Y.
ON a recent Saturday night, Aerin Lauder, Bruce Weber and Richard Meier were among the high-profile East Enders celebrating the re-release of Kelly Klein’s coffee-table book, “Pools,” at Sen Lounge, a sultry new addition to Hamptons night life.
Next door to Sen Restaurant (the high-end sushi place popular for more than a decade), the lounge may seem an unlikely playground for the Hamptonites who tend to entertain in their beachfront estates. Its Saigon-meets-Sag Harbor décor looks slightly S & M: metal chains on the walls, rope and pulleys on the bar, floor-to-ceiling steel bars.
Last year, Chris Coy, an architect, and Donna Zakowska, an interior and set designer, erased all traces of Magnolia, a comfort food restaurant, to create Sen Lounge, a sleek dungeon of a bar in a storefront on Main Street, where excitement after dark usually consists of buying ice cream for the children.
“Sen Lounge is a sexy, comfortable place to go after dinner to hang out,” said Ms. Klein, a photographer and a former wife of Calvin Klein, who spends her summers in East Hampton.
The lounge is an antidote to a rowdy night life scene that has never particularly welcomed the 25-and-older set who prefer a little conversation with their drinks, and has been embraced by this historic whaling town.
“Sag Harbor has so much energy,” said Dave Sokolin, a rare-wine merchant, on a recent Thursday, the night of choice for locals after 11 p.m. “It needed some night life and now it has it.”
Also missing was a place that could satisfy an urban food lover’s late-night cravings. The lounge serves food until 1 a.m. (fried oysters, $13; Kobe burgers, $16), but it is not the same menu as at Sen Restaurant, which has the same owners, Jeffrey Resnick and Tora Matsuoka. At the lounge, there is also an extensive wine and sake list. It is still the Hamptons, so a bottle of 2000 Cristal Brut Rosé will set you back $825.
The lounge is now open every night through September, a development that is sure to change the feel for those who had been used to calling it their own. (After its opening in March, it had been open only Thursday to Monday.) Once the crowds arrive, it is unclear if the boldface names will keep coming.
“I see a lot of people I know here,” said Sue Calden, who works at Wölffer Estate Vineyards in Sagaponack. “It’s a local place, but in the summer, the energy changes.”
Sen Lounge29 Main Street, Sag Harbor
(631) 725-0101
GETTING IN Arrive before 11 p.m. Reservations are free and do not require a bottle-service minimum. Bringing a local helps.
DRESS CODE “No army fatigues, no baseball caps,” said Tora Matsuoka, an owner. For women, Calypso sundresses, Tory by TRB tunics and Havaianas flip-flops. For men, John Varvatos button-down shirts with khakis and Gucci loafers.
SIGHTINGS Kelly Ripa, Calvin Klein and Bill Hemmer, the Fox News anchor, who is also an investor.
SIGNATURE DRINK Sake mojito, $14. (Kaori sake, fresh lime juice, rum, fresh mint).
