The Italian Escape That Survived a Hamptons Divorce

In 2016, when two restaurant empires split their Sag Harbor locations just 275 steps apart, everyone expected a bloodbath. Instead, something remarkable happened. The chef stayed behind, the CondĂ© Nast legacy faded to memory, and Dopo La Spiaggia quietly became the Italian restaurant locals actually wanted. Today, this waterfront gem at 6 Bay Street proves that in the Hamptons, the most enduring establishments are those built on kitchen skill rather than celebrity connections. Furthermore, what makes Dopo La Spiaggia Sag Harbor essential isn’t who invested in it—but who never left.

The Origin Story Behind Dopo La Spiaggia

The Wall Street Couple and the Condé Nast CEO

The building at 6 Bay Street has witnessed multiple reinventions since it first welcomed diners. Originally known as Tutto Il Giorno, the space opened around 2007 with backing from Steve Florio, the legendary former CEO of CondĂ© Nast Publications. Florio brought his media empire swagger to Sag Harbor’s waterfront, transforming a modest 38-seat space into a power dining destination. Meanwhile, Maria and Larry Baum—former Wall Street derivatives traders who’d decamped to the East End—became partners and landlords of the building.

When Florio died unexpectedly in December 2007, the restaurant’s trajectory shifted dramatically. Gabby Karan De Felice, daughter of fashion icon Donna Karan, stepped in as partner. Consequently, Tutto Il Giorno expanded to Southampton and eventually Tribeca. However, the Sag Harbor location retained something the other outposts couldn’t replicate: executive chef Maurizio Marfoglia, the Lake Como native who’d arrived in 2008 and immediately made the kitchen his own.

The Chef from Lake Como

Maurizio Marfoglia’s journey to Sag Harbor reads like a culinary picaresque. Born in Lake Como’s Lombardy region, he trained across Italy, France, and Germany with legends including Ferran AdriĂ  and Alain Ducasse. Subsequently, he landed in New York in 1994, cooking at power spots like Coco Pazzo, Le Madri, and Tuscan Square under Pino Luongo. Between 2002 and 2003, he served as private chef to the Italian Ambassador to the United Nations. Additionally, he taught at the Culinary Institute of America.

When Larry Baum recruited him to Sag Harbor in 2008, Marfoglia found something unexpected. “As soon as I parked the car, I knew I wanted to be here,” he later recalled. The waterfront location, the marina views, the boats bobbing past—it reminded him of Italian coastal dining. Furthermore, the intimate 38-seat space allowed for the personal hospitality he’d mastered over decades.

The Amicable Divorce

By 2016, the partnership between Marfoglia and the De Felice family had run its course. What Marfoglia diplomatically calls “a very amicable divorce” saw the business split cleanly. The Karan family kept the Tutto Il Giorno name and the Southampton and Tribeca locations. Meanwhile, Marfoglia stayed in Sag Harbor with the Baums, who owned the building. They renamed it Dopo La Spiaggia—Italian for “after the beach”—and kept everything else exactly the same.

The irony wasn’t lost on locals when Tutto Il Giorno promptly opened a new Sag Harbor location just 275 steps away on Main Street. The East Hampton Star ran a blind taste test between the two nearly identical menus. Dopo won by a filini—the thinnest pasta margin imaginable. Nevertheless, both restaurants thrived, proving Sag Harbor could support dueling Italian establishments if both delivered quality.

What Makes Dopo La Spiaggia Iconic

The Minimalist Philosophy

Marfoglia’s cooking philosophy strips Italian cuisine to its fundamentals. “I use three, four, maybe five ingredients at the most in my dishes,” he explains. “It’s a much cleaner palate, a much lighter execution.” This restraint distinguishes Dopo from Italian restaurants that pile on complexity. Instead, each component must justify its presence on the plate. The burrata arrives with nothing but organic tomatoes, fresh basil, and exceptional olive oil. Consequently, there’s nowhere for inferior ingredients to hide.

The pasta selection showcases this discipline perfectly. The trofie comes with authentic Ligurian pesto, potatoes, and haricot vert—a combination Marfoglia learned to respect as “almost a religion” in its home region. He makes the pesto only with baby basil leaves, following tradition without shortcuts. Similarly, the rigatoni features house-made sausage with peas and vodka sauce, each element earning its place through flavor contribution.

The Umbrian Connection

In 2017, the Baums acquired an olive farm in Umbria that has been operating for over 250 years without pesticides. This purchase transformed Dopo’s ingredient sourcing fundamentally. Now organic olive oil and black summer truffles arrive directly from the family’s Italian property. The olive varieties—Leccino, Moraiolo, Correggiolo, and Frantoio—create a distinctive house oil that appears throughout the menu. “The olive oil is insanely good,” Maria Baum states without exaggeration.

Furthermore, Marfoglia raises honeybees in Sag Harbor, harvesting honey for ricotta preparations and crostini. This vertical integration—from Umbrian orchards to East End apiaries—gives Dopo control most restaurants never achieve. The result appears in details diners sense but can’t always identify: a deeper richness in the pesto, a purer sweetness in the drizzled honey, flavors that taste somehow more intentional.

The Year-Round Commitment

Unlike seasonal Hamptons restaurants that shutter after Labor Day, Dopo La Spiaggia operates throughout the year. This commitment reflects the Baums’ philosophy about community dining. “We want to not only service our summer client, but our local clients,” Larry Baum emphasizes. The year-round presence builds relationships impossible for summer-only establishments. Consequently, the staff knows regulars by name and preference, creating hospitality that transcends transactional service.

The winter dining room takes on particular charm. A crackling fireplace warms the intimate space, while the marina outside settles into off-season quiet. Local residents claim tables that would require months of advance planning in July. Meanwhile, the kitchen maintains its exacting standards whether serving twenty covers or two hundred. This consistency through slow seasons earned Dopo something more valuable than press coverage: genuine local loyalty.

The Experience at Dopo La Spiaggia Today

The Signature Dishes

Start with the fritto misto, where sweet shrimp, calamari, and zucchini arrive crispy and piping hot from the kitchen. The burrata remains essential—fresh from a New Jersey producer Marfoglia considers “better than Italian” because shorter travel means softer, creamier centers. For pasta, the cognac-braised shiitake ravioli explodes with umami intensity, while the tagliolini in squid ink pasta brings bay scallops, shrimp, and calamari with chili and tomato.

The branzino arrives poached with tomatoes, spinach, and white wine—simple preparations that showcase pristine seafood. Additionally, the chicken “under the brick” with capers and black olives demonstrates how pressure-cooking techniques create exceptional texture. For dessert, the tiramisu is house-made and fresh, while the flourless chocolate cake satisfies without overwhelming. The “Dreamy” ice cream—a collaboration with Sylvester’s of Sag Harbor and Bay Burger—has become a local legend.

The Setting

You smell the sea before you step inside, the marina air mixing with wood smoke from the kitchen. The shingled cottage on Bay Street sits directly across from the waterfront, offering views of luxury yachts at anchor. The outdoor patio is sheltered by screens of climbing vines on one side and the antique shingled house on the other. Hurricane vases and votive candles create evening ambiance as the marina lights flicker on.

Inside, the 50-seat dining room maintains the intimacy that distinguished the space from opening day. White whimsical chandeliers hang overhead, while muted colors keep the focus on food and company. The crackling fireplace anchors the room during cooler months. Furthermore, the bar provides perfect perching for solo diners or those who prefer drinks without the commitment of a full table. At both venues, Marfoglia can often be spotted greeting regulars in his signature straw hipster hat.

The Insider Move

The Insider’s Take: Request the prix fixe menu offered Thursday and Friday for exceptional value. Arrive at 5:30 on summer Saturdays to claim outdoor seating without reservations—the early crowd knows this secret. Moreover, ask for Marfoglia’s hand-made sausages if available; he stuffs them himself using antibiotic-free ingredients. The Splash cocktail menu features low-sugar, gluten-free, non-GMO mixers developed under the Dopo brand—order the Moscow Mule or Margarita for guilt-free post-beach refreshment.

The Dopo Restaurant Group Today

The Expansion

Success at Sag Harbor spawned a culinary empire. In late 2016, Dopo La Spiaggia opened a second location at 31 Race Lane in East Hampton, occupying a Norman Jaffe-designed building with soaring ceilings and massive wood beams. The 136-seat space nearly tripled capacity while maintaining quality standards. Subsequently, Dopo Argento opened in Southampton at 15 Main Street, honoring the Silver’s Restaurant that occupied the location for over 50 years. Dopo Il Ponte followed in Bridgehampton with authentic Neapolitan pizza from a dedicated pizzaiolo.

Most recently, the Baums and Marfoglia opened Buttero in East Hampton—a high-end steakhouse with Italian heart that departed from the Dopo naming convention. Executive chef Fabio Gutierrez now oversees culinary operations across the group, though Marfoglia remains the guiding vision. The Dopo Restaurant Group has become a Hamptons institution, yet the original Sag Harbor location retains something the others can’t replicate: the intimacy of where it all began.

The Wellness Philosophy

Maria Baum’s personal journey shapes every Dopo restaurant. As a two-time cancer survivor who left Wall Street for the East End, she prioritizes health-conscious options throughout the menu. “Wellness is so important to me,” she explains. “Everything we do, we try to make a little better for you.” The Mediterranean diet’s staples—organic olive oil, fresh vegetables, lean proteins—align naturally with authentic Italian cooking. Additionally, the Splash cocktail line eliminates unnecessary sugars while maintaining flavor.

This philosophy extends beyond the menu. Baum sits on the board of directors for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and co-founded a healthy drink-mix company. Her husband Larry handles restaurant operations, but Maria’s influence appears in the sourcing decisions, wellness options, and overall hospitality approach. Consequently, Dopo feels less like corporate dining and more like eating at friends’ home—friends who happen to own an Italian farm and care deeply about what guests consume.

The Legacy of Dopo La Spiaggia

Why It Endures

In a Hamptons landscape littered with failed restaurant concepts and celebrity-chef ventures, Dopo La Spiaggia’s survival teaches instructive lessons. The establishment outlasted its original famous backer, survived a partnership divorce, and thrived despite direct competition steps away. The secret isn’t complex: hire an excellent chef and let him cook without interference. Support year-round operation to build community. Source ingredients with obsessive care. Subsequently, trust that quality generates its own publicity.

The Baums’ background as Wall Street traders taught them something applicable to restaurants: consistency beats flash. “For two ex-Wall Streeters living in the Hamptons, raising four kids, who never wanted to get into the restaurant business,” Larry Baum reflects, “we actually really love it, and we’re pretty good at it.” That self-deprecating assessment undersells their achievement. Four restaurants, loyal staff, genuine community integration—the Dopo group demonstrates how hospitality businesses succeed when operators treat them as long-term investments rather than seasonal plays.

The Sag Harbor Essential

Today, Dopo La Spiaggia Sag Harbor occupies a singular position in East End dining. It’s the Italian restaurant that goop recommends without irony. The place where locals eat year-round, not just when entertaining summer guests. The establishment where the chef rides his Ducati to work in flip-flops and sunglasses, embodying a beachy Dolce Vita that feels earned rather than affected. Furthermore, it’s the restaurant that proved you don’t need fashion royalty connections to build something lasting—you just need to cook extremely well.

The translation says it all: Dopo La Spiaggia means “after the beach.” It’s where you go when the sand has been rinsed off and the sunset approaches. It’s the reward for a day well spent. Most importantly, it’s the place that reminds you why the Hamptons became the Hamptons—not for the scene, but for the simple pleasures done exceptionally well.

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