By Steven Zaitz
Townspeople know that crossing Main Street in historic Northport Village means stepping back and forth over history.
The trolley tracks tattooed into the pavement no longer serve to carry Northporters through town for a day of shopping or a night bounding between speakeasies. They are only a reminder of how things were – not much remains from that time.
But some things do.
As nouveau restaurants, tap rooms, art galleries and boutiques dot the path from Church Street to the water, one particular edifice has stood at 46 Main St. since 1924 – the Shipwreck Diner.
The luncheonette-style eatery, originally called the Northport Diner and carved out of an early 20th century trolley car, celebrated its 100th birthday last Thursday, Aug. 15, with a gala buffet dinner in the outdoor space behind the restaurant. About 200 of its regular customers along with past and present staff ate, drank, laughed and reminisced as new owner Denis Beyersdorf accepted the rare and prestigious Century Award from Northport Historical Society board member Teri Reid.
“On this spot tonight with family, friends and neighbors, we gather together just like the people of Northport did decades ago, feeling as comfortable as we do when we are at home,” said Reid, addressing the celebrants. “The Shipwreck is a special place and yes just like Cheers, when you’re here, everybody knows your name.”
Beyersdorf was choking back tears as he accepted the award.
“I’m so thankful for the Century Award and it will be in the diner forever,” said Beyersdorf, who like many of his guests and staff, sported a brightly colored 100th anniversary Shipwreck T-shirt. “I have to thank our customers and the town of Northport because without your love and support, none of this could ever happen.”
Beyersdorf, who was born in Huntington but has lived in Northport for close to two decades, worked in the financial services industry until 2021 and had no experience in the restaurant business until purchasing the diner with partners Ed McCallister and Jeffrey Wang from Tim Hess. Hess’s father Otto purchased it in 1972 and named the place Otto’s Shipwreck Diner. Tim took it over in 1996 and it became Tim’s Shipwreck Diner.
Beyersdorf, who exudes a neighborly humble charm especially for a guy who worked on Wall Street for decades, does not feel he has yet earned his stripes as a restaurateur to put his name in neon. Thus, the place is now simply called Shipwreck Diner.
“This place would not be the place it is today without the work of Timmy Hess,” Beyersdorf said. “He passed the torch and all I’m doing is following his lead and carrying that torch. I’m blessed because there’s a line at that door every Saturday and Sunday and the place is a staple. There is a group of people that really like this place and as long as I don’t mess that up and give them the Shipwreck experience they’ve come to expect, then I’ve done my job.”
As a boy, he dreamed of going to cooking school after high school but instead chose to pursue a degree in economics. After a long career in finance, he was laid off from his job in 2021. After a conversation – or three – with golfing buddies McCallister and Wang, they collectively decided to help Denis realize his dream.
Ever since the trio purchased the establishment from Hess on Dec. 20, 2022, Beyersdorf has gone all-in as the face of the operation. He has studied the time-honored techniques of the Shipwreck chefs so when it was time to tie on his own apron, he could replicate the dishes seamlessly. His longtime customers appreciate that.
“This place means so much to me and the town of Northport,” said Barbara Blair of East Northport who has been coming to the diner nearly every day for some 30 years. “Denis has done a great job making friends with the regular customers and keeping the atmosphere and the food the same.”
Blair has the same dish every time she comes in.
“Oatmeal with fresh fruit and two cups of coffee. I don’t even have to order it. They ask me if I’m ready, I say yes and it appears,” she said.
Virginia Sheehan, a lifelong Northporter, was a waitress at Shipwreck from the mid-’70s to 1999 when she had to retire due to health issues. She was sitting with Blair and playfully corrected her former client.
“You used to have the French toast occasionally,” Sheehan reminded her friend Blair, as the two ladies laughed and enjoyed a cocktail. Blair conceded that Sheehan was correct.
“And that French toast was the best I’ve ever had,” she said.
“I wanted to give the place back to Northport and I didn’t know anything about the food business so I didn’t feel right putting my name on it,” Beyersdorf said, as he flipped over a giant mound of home fries with his shovel-sized spatula. “For the past 22 months, I have lived and breathed this place, slept here and sacrificed time with my family trying to learn everything I could.”
The celebration on Thursday night was a metaphor for the support for Denis, the diner and the residents and customers who as Northporters fiercely protect and value their storied town’s history.
As the party rolled on into the evening, Beyersdorf was presented with yet another gift. Local artists Bob and Nancy Hendrick, who run the Trinity Community Art Center a few doors down from the Shipwreck, unveiled a 24-by-30 inch rendering of the interior of the former train car turned restaurant. The Edward Hopper-inspired painting depicted Denis cleaning the counter on one side, afternoon sun streaks peeking through the middle front windows and a lonely coffee-drinking patron dressed in early 20th century garb hunched over in a booth.
“We wanted to capture both eras in this painting and show that Denis represents the present and future of this very important place,” said Bob Hendrick. “Nancy and I, representing Trinity Community Art Center, warmly embrace our community and we celebrate the vibrant spirit Denis and the diner have kindled within us. It was destiny for this painting to be created and shared at that precise moment and it fills our hearts with humility and gratitude for both Denis and the community’s outpouring of appreciation toward it.”
As the evening wore on and shrimp cocktail and mussels became scarce, Beyersdorf along with his guests and staff posed for pictures, shook hands and embraced. They knew that Thursday’s party would eventually become Friday’s rush – a rush that would usher in the next 100 years of Shipwreck serving its customers, acting as their kitchen and dining room away from home and providing a living breathing part of their proud town’s history.
