After the Clam Bar Closes: Where Amagansett Goes in the Off-Season Now

"Friendly reminder that just because summer is leaving, doesn't mean we are too!" Jamagansett posted that on September 18 along with a new fall schedule. The jam shop sits on the passage beside 136 Main Street, the 1920s building next to the Mobil station at the entrance to the hamlet's business district.

The timing of that post matters. October is when Amagansett's summer institutions shut down, mostly the seafood places at the edges of the hamlet and out on Napeague. The places that keep going this year are clustered at the hamlet's west end. In July, The East Hampton Star described that stretch as "once dead as a desert with only a few oases of here-today-gone-tomorrow storefronts."

Two closing dates on the edges

The seasonal close comes in two steps this month.

• The Clam Bar at Napeague is open through today, Monday, October 12. Its homepage bills this as the "LAST WEEKEND of the season," with a "drink the bar dry" send-off of $5 beers, $10 wines and $15 CBBCs before it closes for the year.
• The Lobster Roll, also known as LUNCH, keeps its fall hours for two more weeks. Its October calendar shows service starting at 11:45 a.m. Thursday through Monday, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays dark. Sunday, October 25 is the final day of the season, and the restaurant reopens April 23, 2027.

The Clam Bar closing is a big part of the story because of who owns it. The Star reported that the Piccinnini family, who own the Clam Bar, are also the founders of Sett Coffee at 136 Main Street. So the same family that runs one of the most seasonal places on the East End also runs the new coffee counter in the hamlet. When Patch profiled Sett in March, it said, "Sett Coffee is open year-round." That's a statement from spring, and the shop hasn't posted a specific fall schedule, so check before heading over on a weekday.

A corner that sat empty, then filled up

In its July report, the Star explained why the west end had been so quiet. About four years ago, a group of investors bought 136 Main along with the red barn behind it off Indian Wells Highway. That barn is a rebuilt Lester livery stable. The investors proposed replacing both buildings, which are in Amagansett's historic district, with offices, a dozen retail stores, affordable housing units and more. According to the Star, the East Hampton Town Planning Board "shot it down in short order." The Star also reported that the parcel is now for sale.

According to the Star, the existing buildings have been individually modernized into small shops. These are the businesses it found there:

The Star's reporter also noted who was in line. At Sett on a Saturday morning, the crowd included "more than a few with babies in arms, toddlers in strollers, and dogs on leashes." Their conversations ran to the Little League's new town ball field on Stephen Hand's Path and the price of peanut butter at the I.G.A. Those are year-round topics, and they suggest why this corner could outlast the summer.

What the corner is doing this October

Jamagansett's own feed gives the most current picture. Its September 18 post lists fall hours of Monday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Friday through Sunday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The hours panel on the shop's website shows a different Monday and Tuesday schedule, so confirm before an early-week trip.

The shop has kept trying new things this fall:

1. Weekly pie specials are continuing. The September 18 post said they're "here to stay," with Salty Blueberry that week.
2. A Hamptons Reserve Box came out in late September with three new flavors: Smoky Tomato, Caramelized Onion and Burnt Peach. It's sold online and in the shop.
3. A weekend of jam sandwiches ran through Sunday, October 11. One paired tart blackberry jam with ham and Swiss, the other caramelized onion jam with apple and goat cheese. The shop wrote, "If you love them, we just might bring them back."

The shop's local ties go beyond its own counter. Store manager Gino Solano told the Star that the fruit comes from farms on the South Fork and the North Fork when it's in season, that Spring Close Farm and Amber Waves both carry the jams, and that Rosie's in Amagansett uses them on its scones.

Sett's seasonal menu is built for this time of year. Patch listed peppermint hot chocolate and s'mores hot chocolate as rotating seasonal drinks, along with pretzel croissants, biscuits and muffins. Owner John Piccinnini told Patch the goal was for Sett to become "part of people's daily rhythm."

The one door on the block that closed

Not every business at 136 Main is staying open. Sea Dragon Books opened June 3, according to 27east. The store is owned by Kristen Billings, Charles Billings and Tricia Hoefling. It has already closed for the season. The message on its website reads, "We are closed for the year, but will reopen summer 2027. Thanks for a great season!"

That gives the west end a mixed calendar. The bookstore follows the summer schedule, like the Clam Bar and the Lobster Roll. The coffee counter and the jam shop next door are still open. The old summer-only model still applies at some addresses, and the newer year-round model applies at others, often a few doors apart.

The rest of the hamlet's fall calendar

Away from 136 Main, the October and November dates come from places that have been part of Amagansett's year-round routine for much longer.

Some notes on those dates. The Amagansett Free Library is closed today and reopens Tuesday at 10 a.m. Amber Waves can't accept cancellations after the November 18 deadline. It's closed on Thanksgiving Day, but it says the Amagansett market and the East Hampton Farm Shop will be open for the rest of your grocery list. Rowdy Hall's 2026 giveback program, reported by The East Hampton Star, names Share Our Harvest as its October beneficiary and The Retreat for November.

Quail Hill Farm has its own shift this month. Members pick their summer shares on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through Halloween. The winter share starts November 6, with pickup every other Friday and Saturday into February. The farm also has something new. On October 1, at its end-of-season gathering for members and friends, Scott Bluedorn's sculpture "Solar Scallop Sundial" was unveiled on the front of the new post-and-beam barn. It was commissioned by Michael Light, son of Deborah Ann Light, who donated the farm's 35 acres to the Peconic Land Trust. The sculpture looks west across Deep Lane toward the Deborah Ann Light Preserve fields. In his artist's statement, Bluedorn says the sundial tracks the afternoon from about noon until sunset. As the sun goes down, its reflection lights up the polished labyrinth, "especially apparent during the equinoxes." Michael Light described the gathering as a tribute "to the Quail Hill community that made it happen." The Trust hasn't announced any public viewing hours for the sculpture.

By October 26 the Clam Bar and the Lobster Roll will both be closed until spring. Jamagansett plans to stay open, Sett has said it's a year-round shop, and the Talkhouse has bookings through Halloween.

I keep an eye on which Amagansett doors stay open after Columbus Day because that's what year-round life here comes down to. If you're thinking about what a home in this hamlet looks like from October to April, Dawn Watson is glad to walk you through it. Connect with Dawn to start your Hamptons search.