Stirrings At Blue Parrot
Rumor has rocker, billionaire in deal
 Morgan McGivern
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(9/11/2008) Those alarmed to see so much of East Hampton changing so quickly may be glad to hear the news about a popular yet often overlooked corner behind the glitz of Main Street and Newtown Lane. Although details are sketchy, Lee Beiler confirmed this week that the Blue Parrot bar and restaurant may be resurrected in the near future. It has been closed for two years.
The Blue Parrot, in a small building facing the Reutershan parking lot, may have been known more for its patrons, karaoke, and margaritas in glass jars with handles than for its proclaimed “killer Mexican” food. It had a Southwestern atmosphere, with saddles, chaps, steer heads, old license plates, road signs, and whatever else may have come to hand.
Although Mr. Beiler, a partner in the restaurant, said he was bound by a confidentiality agreement not to reveal the names of the potential buyers, The New York Post ran an item on Sunday that said Jon Bon Jovi, the rock star, who has been living in East Hampton, and Ronald Perelman, a billionaire investor who owns one of the town’s old estates, were in talks to buy the business and return it to its familiar state.
He would not confirm that those mentioned in The Post were the people interested in relaunching the place. Instead, he said, there were a “number of people who want to bring the Parrot back exactly like it was” who were pursuing a deal. “Everyone knows it’s for sale.”
Mr. Beiler, who has since taken up acting, said he did not know whether he would be involved in the restaurant’s operation. “We’ll see how that plays.”
Roland Eisenberg, calling Mr. Beiler his “illustrious partner,” said he had “heard nothing about it. It would be great news if it was.”
Although at the time the restaurant closed, it was assumed that Ralph Lauren had bought the property and planned to turn it into an annex of the adjacent Polo store on Main Street, nothing came of it. According to village records, that the Squires Family Limited Partnership is the owner.
Mr. Beiler would not comment on Mr. Lauren’s or his company’s involvement. “I’ve said enough already.”
The closing of the Parrot with its tiny outdoor patio diminished the East Hampton Village dining and bar scene. The place had become such a part of the fabric of the village that the writer James Brady, who frequented it, wrote a eulogy for it in his Forbes magazine column in November 2006, likening it to Elaine’s in New York City or Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. He said the Blue Parrot was the “nearest thing we have in East Hampton to a writer’s and media hangout.” It read:
“We had Joy Behar, Renee Zellweger, and Bill Murray, Scott Donaton of Ad Age and Atoosa Rubenstein of Seventeen mag, Martha Stewart and Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Katie Couric, Bon Jovi and Billy Joel. Moviemakers, Matt Lauer, George Plimpton, Mike Lupica of The Daily News, Walter Isaacson of Time, Cheryl Tiegs, Peter Maas, and half the staff of Page Six dropped in. And plenty of surfers. Joe Heller (Catch- 22) was a barstool regular, and so were Jerry Della Femina and wife, Judy Licht, and Times stringer Kelly Smith. Christie Brinkley autographed the bar.” Mr. Brady even had a book party there.
But the place never took on airs. It remains to be seen if the new owners, whoever they turn out to be, will be able to rekindle a similar vibe without the original partners at the helm.