Ultra-exclusive Hamptons yacht club resumes food service after settling kitchen staff visa snafu
An ultra-exclusive Hamptons yacht club catering to the wealthy and well-connected has reopened its food service after being forced to shutter its restaurant for days when its foreign kitchen staff was booted from the US over a visa snafu.Food service restarted on Wednesday at the swanky waterfront Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett after its chefs returned to the country with visa approvals in hand, the club’s general manager confirmed.
The news comes one week after The Post exclusively reported that several staff members from the club were forced to leave the country for a two-month period due to an issue with their H-2B temporary work visas, according to a letter sent to members on Aug.26.“The visa approval for our kitchen team came through late Friday,” general manager of the ritzy joint John R.
Newman said in a statement to The Post Wednesday. “Most of our original staff are already back with us.These are people who’ve been part of Devon for years, and our focus throughout was making sure they were taken care of,” he added.
Newman insisted that the situation was purely “a visa processing matter, not an enforcement matter” and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement never intervened or raided the club.A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson also confirmed last week that “Neither [Customs and Border Protection] nor [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] were involved in this incident.”The pricey yacht club — which reportedly charges around $100,000 in initiation fees — was forced to cancel food service for several days last week after losing a number of its kitchen staff.Eight staffers were impacted in the debacle, Newman confirmed.
It was immediately unclear how many staffers’ visas remain outstanding.“We do not know why it took so long, where the mistake was made or how it was made, or even if a mistake was made,” Newman said.But the uppity joint is back up and running after its forced hiatus — with food service being re...