Fresh out: Country Club choosing new restaurant management

The Shelter Island Country Club Board of Directors is meeting late this afternoon to discuss new management for the club’s restaurant, Fresh.

That was confirmed this afternoon by general manager  Charlie Beckwith, who declined to discuss why former managers Tammy Moore and Gary Viglioeni, who took over the restaurant in 2011, are no longer in charge. He said it involved “personal matters.”

Mr. Beckwith would only add that the board is determined that the next management team would uphold the standards for which the restaurant has become known.

Ms. Moore and Mr. Viglioeni took over the restaurant previously run by John Riccobono who opened Bella Vita on the Green where Ms. Moore and Mr. Viglioeni  had worked in 2010. Bella Vita featured a menu with an Italian fare while Fresh featured food inspired by local vegetables and seafood along with other menu items.

When Mr. Riccobono decided not to return to run the restaurant in 2011, Ms. Moore told the Reporter she and Mr. Viglioeni decided “it was time that we worked for ourselves.” She called it a “perfect opportunity” because it wouldn’t involve a lot of start-up money since the restaurant was already established.

Fresh  has offered casual, family-friendly dining at one of the Island’s most spectacular settings.

Efforts to reach Ms. Moore and Mr. Viglioeni were unsuccessful.