Babylon Fish & Clam closes; will reopen as Italian seafood eatery

Two Babylon mainstays have changed ownership for the first time since the 1980s.

The Sea Breeze on Fire Island Avenue and the adjacent Babylon Fish & Clam are now owned by Davide Pontarin and Guy De Angelis. Pontarin was a manager at The Bryant in Huntington for close to four years before this new venture. The partners closed the sale in September. The Sea Breeze will remain open during the transition, while Babylon Fish & Clam has closed for renovations. 

Fans of the dive bar The Sea Breeze will be happy to know that Pontarin has no intention of changing things; he just wants to "make improvements," he said.

Guests will still find the pool table, darts, the jukebox and even the staff but new things he’s added include espresso martinis, a wine list and a small-bites menu. He started partnerships with nearby businesses such as The Delica Sea and more to introduce the new menu. Guests can order food from The Delica Sea daily through 5 p.m. with free delivery, wings on the house from Farrells of Brooklyn in West Islip on Sundays starting at 1 p.m. and pizza on the house on Monday nights starting at 8 p.m. There will also be trivia and live music nights. 

"It’s memories, he said of the longstanding business. "It’s like a liquor museum of the lifestyle of Babylon and the surrounding area."

Previous owner Melissa Laroque’s parents, Eleanor and John Senft, established Babylon Fish & Clam in 1967, which started out as a shack and expanded into a seafood restaurant. Laroque and Ronald Besemer ran Babylon Fish & Clam and The Sea Breeze after purchasing it from Laroque’s parents in 1984. When Ronald died, Laroque and her family ran both businesses until the sale.

Laroque said she "couldn’t be happier that [Pontarin] is the person taking over."

"We just put our heart and soul in that place," Laroque said. "It just took care of us for a long time, it felt like I need to sell this to someone that is going to take care of it like we would, its almost like when you sell a home and you’re so connected with it. I feel good now, this person looks like they really love it."

Brodie Besemer, Laroque and Besemer’s son, who helped temporarily run the business after Ronald died, said The Sea Breeze was "the personification of my father and his character."

The space that used to be Babylon Fish & Clam will reopen as a new "seafood restaurant with an Italian flair," Pontarin said. He hopes to open within the next few months. The eatery will get an "upscale" renovation, Pontarin said. Once it opens, food from the restaurant will also be available at The Sea Breeze.

"It’s a pretty big project," he said. "We’re going to restyle the bar, completely redo the kitchen, bathrooms." He declined to share more specific details or a reopening date or name.

Both spaces have a lot of emotional value to residents of Babylon Village, Mayor Mary Adams said. "We hold on to the history here. We treasure it and we preserve it, and keeping the Sea Breeze and having the other place as a restaurant is going to do exactly that."

The Sea Breeze, 470 Fire Island Ave., Babylon, 631-669-9790, Instagram: @seabreezebabylon. Open 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily. 

By Melissa Azofeifa

melissa.azofeifa@newsday.com

Melissa Azofeifa is a restaurants reporter with Newsday's FeedMe team. Having grown up on Long Island, she loves talking about food and its impact on culture. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she joined Newsday in the fall of 2024.