DRIVER'S SEAT IS SOUTHAMPTON LANDMARK

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THE HAMPTONS GOSSIP
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Longtime Hamptons Mainstay The Driver’s Seat Unveils New Look, Friday May 28th. 50th Anniversary Celebration Features Happy Hour All Weekend long.
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The Driver’s Seat


Landmark Hampton's restaurant The Driver’s Seat will celebrate its 50th Anniversary this weekend with Special Happy Hours Friday through Monday from 5pm-6pm. The weekend will also include the opening of their Outdoor Back Bar on The Patio for the summer season. What began as a produce store built in 1888 on America’s oldest commercial street Job’s Lane in tony Southampton and first used as a restaurant in 1960 has become one of the Hampton's most enduring dining spots - The Driver’s Seat. This Friday, May 28, the current owners Irma and Ken Herzog will unveil the popular dining spot’s latest transformation and kick off the 50th Anniversary celebration. Back in the ‘60s, the owner then was Kingsley Moore, who had a passion for auto racing. He knew many of the drivers at the Bridgehampton Race Track, which was a major stop on the racing circuit back then. Kingsley Moore decided his pub would be called “The Driver's Seat” and it became a hangout for the local racing set when they were in town. The Driver's Seat under more recent ownership from 1976 to 2005 underwent extensive renovations and additions to the front bar, back dining room and outside patio/bar. In early 2005 the restaurant was purchased by a local family Ken and Irma Herzog long time customers who loved the restaurant and wanted to restore the restaurant to its original grandeur. From the outset, they wanted to retain the staff who had always made them and their family so welcomed – some employees like local legend, bartender and supreme mixologist Tommy Alexander have been at the restaurant for over 20 years. Since then the facilities and menu have been updated. Their experienced full-time and visiting chefs now offer patrons a broader dining experience. Today, the Driver’s Seat continues providing guests with the best dining quality and value in the Hampton's. Following an exterior facelift last year, The Herzogs set about transforming the interior into less of a dark pub like atmosphere into a more contemporary, light and airy quintessential Hampton's eatery without attitude. Now when diners arrive their eyes are drawn immediately to the gorgeous stained glass ocean scene at the very back of the dining room overlooking their lovely outdoor patio. The Driver’s Seat continues to draw heavily on the local population from the Gin Lane summer social set to the farming families and builders who are the backbone of the community. Indeed, The Driver’s Seat has become a destination spot not only in the tri-state region but internationally attracting diners from 9 to 90. The Herzog Family continues the long time tradition of providing a warm and inviting atmosphere and has a strong hands-on involvement in the day to day operations. The management of the restaurant is a true family affair - even their college age children participate in everything from front of house management to behind the scenes administration. Click Here for more information.

Editors Note: This is our favorite Hampton's watering hole. We love the staff and we love the people we meet there while we are sitting on their famed patio. If you are in the Southampton area, you must stop by and tell them Times Square Gossip sent you.

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