This summer, the team behind Mavericks in Montauk is taking over the space that used to be Cyril’s Fish House — and trying to fill a void that has been left since May 2016, when the legendary spot closed.
Many longtime locals and regulars still recount the afternoons they spent at Cyril’s Fish House, a casual joint located in Napeague on Route 27 East in Amagansett. There were the BBCs, the dangerously delicious frozen cocktails made of Baileys, banana and colada mix. And the ocean breeze that came across the highway. Vanessa Price, the owner of Mavericks, a steak restaurant on Fort Pond, is not the first to try to resuscitate the space.
Charles Seich, now with The Hotel Chelsea, ran the space as Morty’s Oyster Stand starting in 2019, serving littleneck clams on picnic tables during the day and hosting DJ-led parties at night. But the lot at 2167 Montauk Highway has sat empty for at least last summer.
“We bought the space, and it’s been a whirlwind,” says Price, who bought it along with her investors. “We just closed at the end of December, and we’re trying to open sometime in May, which is a wild timeline.” She made a few decisions quickly. First, the place would be named Shark Bar, not Cyril’s.
“Cyril’s kids have been very vocal about the fact that they want to bring their father’s place alive again,” she explains. “We don’t want to encroach on whatever their legacy is or what they want it to be.”
Indeed, the family of Cyril Fitzsimons, who died from COVID-19 in 2020, still run the original Cyril’s Fish House Facebook page and sometimes tease business ventures like selling hoodies and T-shirts.
The name Shark Bar comes from the gray ocean predator that welcomes guests into Mavericks. “We thought it would be a wink and a nod, even though this is a whole separate concept and entity,” says Price.
The aim is to re-create the original vibe. “We are going to keep the same energy, because I think that is the energy that works in that area. It’s casual. It’s fun. It’s daytime. It’s outside,” says the author of “Big Macs & Burgundy: Wine Pairings for the Real World.” “The best way I can put it is a contemporary reimagining of a classic, beach town seafood shack.”
Like previous iterations of the space, most of the seating will be outside.
The kitchen will be helmed by Jeremy Blutstein, the executive chef of Mavericks, whose dishes, like lobster-and-celeriac bisque and bone-in tuna rib-eye, took the food game in Montauk up a notch in terms of luxury. At the new spot, he’s going to stick to beach staples: hot dogs, burgers, fish sandwiches and Cajun french fries. “We want it to be one of those things where you come for a great frozen drink but you stay because, ‘Holy s – – t, the food is actually really good,’ ” says Price.
“We will have a mindfulness in terms of ingredients and flavors,” she adds. “But we hope we aren’t reinventing the wheel.”
Unlike Mavericks, where dinner could easily cost three figures, Shark Bar will be a “value-oriented price point,” says Price. Blutstein’s wife, Jarhn Blutstein — the founder of East End Mixology, who offers private classes and beverage consulting — will design the cocktail program. There will be two frozen drinks on offer as well as a curated wine selection, available by the glass and the bottle. .
An extensive wine list will feature many rosé selections.
To answer the question everyone is asking, the BBC will definitely be on the menu.
“Jarhn has been out east for going on 25 years now, so Cyril’s was an institution for her, too,” says Price. “She will have the BBC, but it will be our interpretation of it, because this is a new place.”
Price encourages patrons to come with an open mind, and not harp too much on what used to exist there. “We found this amazing place that we wanted to bring back to life, and that is what we are going to try to do,” she says. “We totally recognize that people loved and revered Cyril’s, but our hope is that people try to remember that it was also nothing for a long time, so we are trying to do something with it.”