Amagansett's downtown is on the upswing, anchored in part by a new, family-owned spot for coffee, gelato, pastries, and breakfast and lunch.
Bonfire Coffeehouse opened on May 24 and has been growing busier by the day, say its owners -- who are three sisters, Dawn Rana Brophy, Lisa Rana, and Annette Rana Webb, and a cousin, Debbie Geppert.
The location, about 50 paces from Main Street through a grassy gathering area called the Amagansett Snuggery, is a Rana-family-owned property steeped in history. "My parents, Peter and Virginia Rana, had a sweet shop here in the 1970s with my dad's cousins Pat Rana and Maureen Rana from Bridgehampton," said Ms. Rana, who recalled filling in as an ice cream scooper at Rana's Sweet Shoppe while she was managing the prep area at the Lobster Roll. "We did chocolate-covered everything."
"It was a lot different back then. We didn't have this amount of people," Ms. Brophy added. "The community was smaller. Memorial Day to Labor Day was your window."
Fast forward some 50 years, and Bonfire, which will stay open year-round, sells hot and iced brewed coffee and hand-crafted coffee beverages using a brewing system that resembles a futuristic robot, made by a company called Ground Control.
"It makes pour-over quality coffee in a batch-brewing machine," Ms. Rana said. "It can do a lot of different things. It's very unique; nobody else has it out here."
The sweet shop of old offered penny candy, floats, and cakes, but Bonfire's food offerings include grab-and-go green and grain salads with homemade dressings, fruit cups, egg sandwiches, four kinds of frittatas, croissants, cookies and brownies, yogurt parfaits, bread pudding, and cupcakes, including vegan and gluten-free options -- all made onsite by Ms. Geppert and a longtime chef colleague, Mike Oransky.
They also sell a mushroom-based coffee alternative called Joey that has been getting rave reviews. "Some people don't drink coffee and tea, but they want to drink with their friends and be here," Ms. Brophy said. "It's very healthy. We try to think of everyone -- a family, a unit of friends -- their likes and dislikes."
Several local vendors, including Two Sisters Nuts and Seeds, Balsam Farms, and Southampton Apiary, sell products at Bonfire. "We feel like we have very personal connection" to them, Ms. Geppert said. "When you start to interconnect local vendors and you're local, it becomes a very supportive community."
"I've been associated with a lot of businesses, and it's not that often that someone nails it on the head right out of the gate," Ms. Geppert added, referencing the feedback the team has been getting from their regular customers. "It's not easy. It's challenging on so many levels to get a business up and running, let alone a local business in an area that's full of corporate businesses."
The spacious and inviting interior of the coffeehouse was designed by Ms. Webb and was built out by her husband, Glen Webb. Between getting permits and renovating, opening the business took two years. It was also a challenge because Ms. Brophy was busy working in real estate and serving on the Amagansett School Board, Ms. Geppert was running a catering business, and Ms. Rana was -- and still is -- serving as a court justice in East Hampton Town and Sag Harbor Village. (She retired from the Sag Harbor post last month and is in her final year on the bench in East Hampton.)
The owners are happy with the reception from the community so far.
"We've met so many people and made so many new connections," Ms. Brophy said. "It's what we envisioned here."
