Situated at picturesque Tappen Beach in Sea Cliff, the recently opened Sunset Club is equal parts Hampton’s summer vibes, top-quality fresh seafood, and creative cocktails, all brought together by third-generation restaurateur Rustan Lundstrum.
Making Sunset Club look like the Hamptons
“We renovated the venue to look like it’s in the Hamptons,” Lundstrum, 41, says of the town beach concession, formerly known as Beach Bar Grill at Blu Iguana. “We scrambled to get it open. I wanted to copy the concept of Sunset Beach in Shelter Island.”
The venue, which opened Memorial Day weekend, is Lundstrum’s third restaurant venture, building on the success of both Cooper Bluff waterfront bar in Oyster Bay, which opened in 2019, and Coach Meeting House, also in Oyster Bay, which he opened in 2020.
He adds that Cooper Bluff’s success was about bringing a “Montauk vibe to Oyster Bay,” complete with picnic tables, food trucks, and burgers. “We were very successful. On-the-water restaurants are easy to be successful with,” he says.
And, while he opened Coach Meeting House in 2020, just as the pandemic hit, it surprisingly did well.
“We focused on to-go drinks and became something of a ‘lockdown sensation,’ even while other venues were struggling,” he says, adding that with an emphasis on drive-through service, a revamped menu and a winter village to accommodate outdoor dining, they had “lines around the block,” with sales in 2020 actually higher than they would’ve been without a lockdown. “We were fortunate.”
Sunset Club owners’ history
No stranger to the hospitality business, Lundstrum’s family has been in the restaurant business since the 1930s.
He recalls his family first came to the U.S. from Sweden and soon after opened the iconic Viennese Coach in Syosset, which operated from 1955 until a fire forced its closure in1989.
“When I was 12, my dad opened the Coach Grill in Oyster Bay and I started working there,” Lundstrum says, adding, “That’s how I got involved in the restaurant business, working for my dad.”
Lundstrum recalls doing a variety of jobs, from dishwasher to short-order cook and food expediter. He recalls his dad saying, “Take whatever job you can get and just be the best.”
He says he began working full time at age 17 and by age 19 he started to run the Coach Grill.
What’s offered at the Sunset Club?
As for The Sunset Club, which features a variety of firepits with couches, picnic benches, and high-top seating, Lundstrum says, people have been enthusiastic.
“We’ve been fairly busy and customer response has been very positive because we focus on high-quality fresh food only, with nothing frozen. We’re going for a fast-casual beach vibe with very high-quality healthy food.”
In addition, Lundstrum adds that the venue is very child friendly, with a playground and volleyball court next door. And he says that with live music every night, “people get the feel of a waterside location that could be in the Hamptons, or Aruba or Greece.”
Other unique Sunset Club offerings include a pop-up artisanal ice cream shop by Gooseberry Grove, serving twelve flavors of hand-scooped cones, cups, shakes and novelty ice cream sandwiches.
Available beverages include craft beers, creative cocktails, slushies, and a local Long Island wine list.
Food at the Sunset Club
Menu highlights include a raw bar with local clams and oysters, jumbo shrimp cocktail, and tuna tartare with hoisin, sweet chili, avocado, and wonton chips.
Summer salads are also a focal point, combining ingredients such as arugula and watermelon, a lettuce wedge with bacon, tomato, and bleu cheese, and a Mediterranean bowl with quinoa, kale, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta vinaigrette.
Featured sandwiches include a Maine lobster roll; Tappen steak sandwich with sauteed onions, pepper Jack and Cajun remoulade on garlic bread; and the Sunset Club’s own blended burger.
In the kitchen, head chef Oscar Bonilla says two big sellers are the steak frite and the sunset chicken with sauteed mushrooms, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes in lemon wine sauce.
Other entrees include wild Alaskan salmon (grilled or blackened) and filet of sole Francaise.
Bonilla, who came to the U.S. from El Salvador four decades ago, most recently worked at the Northport Yacht Club until Covid hit.
“I was at the club 19 years and had to please 300 members. “It’s not easy for a chef to please everybody,” he says.
One dish that both Bonilla and Lundstrum agree is a crowd-pleaser is the lobster pappardelle, a wide-ribbon pasta with chunks of lobster, tomatoes, lemon, and herbs. “People love it. It was one of my creations,” Bonilla says.
Overall, Bonilla says, the restaurant business can be “kind of hard but yet exciting and challenging. I love it. I made the right move and I’m happy with my career.”
Noting the venue’s seasonal nature, he adds, “As long as the weather is good, we’re busy.”
The Sunset Club at Tappen Beach is located at 494 Prospect Ave. in Sea Cliff directly on the beach. It can be reached at 607-228-3664 or visit .thesunsetclub.fun
