Georgette Sloane, described by her family as a “spirited entrepreneur, designer, restaurateur, and psychotherapist known for her ‘true grit’ and the beloved East Hampton restaurant that bore her name,” died in New York City on Jan. 25. She was 99.
Georgette’s, overlooking Three Mile Harbor, opened in the late 1970s and became a popular local gathering spot “known for its trend-setting farm-to-table style, Asian-influenced fusion cuisine, and brightly colored
Ms. Sloane lived in Amagansett full time from 1971 to 1990 and split her time between Amagansett and SoHo in more recent years.
Born in New York City on Nov. 25, 1926, to George and Jean Koehler, she grew up in New York. With “a natural eye for style and a determination to forge her own path,” she was “a woman who often found trends before they happened,” her family wrote.
Her early career in New York included serving as secretary to Philip Johnson at the Museum of Modern Art. As a self-taught interior stylist, she later created settings for top photographers such as Richard Avedon.
“In the mid-1960s, Georgette embraced single motherhood with grit and a fierce independence that defined her life,” according to her family. “She moved to Amagansett and secured a small homestead that she acquired through sheer determination by sneaking into the abandoned property to refurbish it, rented it, and then used the rental proceeds to make the down payment to purchase the property. Here she ‘lived off the land,’ bartering vegetables from her large garden, raising goats and geese, and selling jewelry made from seashells.”
Later in life, “never one to stop evolving, in her 60s Georgette earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and a master’s in social work from Hunter College.” Work with the mentally ill homeless later morphed into a private psychotherapy practice that she continued well into her 80s.
Ms. Sloane is survived by a son, Timon Sloane, and his wife, Laura Mori, of Los Altos, Calif., and by two grandchildren, Lio Mori-Sloane and Tristan Mori-Sloane, also of California.
A celebration of her life will be held in New York City in the spring. Those wishing to attend have been asked to contact her son through his website, timonsloane.com, for details.
