Sag Harbor Restaurateurs Want To Revive Success Of La Superica At Same Site

The owners of Sag Harbor’s hyper-popular Japanese restaurant Sen have taken over the sunset-centric restaurant building that housed La Superica for more than 25 years and plan to resurrect the location with a new Mexican-themed eatery—possibly even under the same brand. Jeff Resnick, one of seven partners in the new venture, was the original owner of La Superica, which he opened in 1991, his first foray into the business that has since made him a household name in Sag Harbor.

Sag Harbor in those days, he’s quick to point out, was a very different place: It was sleepy in the winter, and in the summer season the biggest draw was nightlife. But Mr. Resnick’s vision of the sort of laid-back beachy scene one might find near Central American surf breaks caught on quickly.

“I wanted to do a surfer bar, Mexican restaurant—and people took to it right away,” said Mr. Resnick, who has owned a half dozen restaurants since then.

In 1994, he took over Sen, which also became an instant hit. In 1997, he sold La Superica to one of his bartenders, Ken O’Donnell, who is now a Sag Harbor Village trustee.

Mr. O’Donnell closed La Superica last year after being unable to negotiate a new lease with the landlord, Rosie Cheng. After the space sat vacant through last summer, Mr. Resnick and his partners snatched up the lease this winter.

“It took a lot of thought and effort,” he said. “It needed a good idea, and the right group of people. I think we’ve got it.”

Joining Mr. Resnick in taking over the glass-walled eatery at the foot of the Jordan C. Haerter Veterans Memorial Bridge will be his partners in Sen, brothers Jesse and Tora Matsuoka, as well as their own partners in other ventures, Stephen Loffredo and David Hart, and other cohorts.

After doing renovations, the group plans to open the doors in May, possibly even reviving the La Superica name, or some variation of it.

“It’s going to be a tequila and taco bar—street food with Latin influences,” said Jesse Matsuoka, who is also currently the general manager at Sen. “Jeff and Kenny did an amazing job with La Superica. We’re going to put our own spin on it—that space brought a lot of folks great joy and the wonderful sunsets, and we want to bring that same thing back.”