Add The New York Post on Google 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 reopened on Wednesday.
“We took a brief pause Monday and Tuesday this week to give our kitchen team the time they needed to reset, and we’re now back at full strength as we close out a great summer season,” the general manager said.
In a letter sent to members last week, Devon Yacht Club claimed: “an oversight either by the agent or attorney responsible for submitting our petition or perhaps by the US Immigration Office itself has resulted in a situation where our H2B kitchen staff must leave the county immediately.”
The H-2B visa is a temporary work visa offered by the Department of Labor for seasonal hires outside of the agriculture sector.
The high-rolling sailing and tennis club — founded in 1908 by the Procter family of Procter & Gamble and the Lever family of Lever Brothers — is located in tony Devon Colony, which has been home to the likes of Paul McCartney, billionaire Michael Novogratz, and Alec Baldwin.
A source previously told Page Six that the yacht club nestled on the shores of Gardiner’s Bay is known for its exclusivity and secrecy, and is renowned among the monied set who are into yachting.
