Montauk Pioneer - August 29, 2008 -White's Liquor Store

Although it is called White's Liquor Store, it is the very personable Tom Phillips who has been at the helm for the last 20 years and working there for the last 32 years. They say you can judge a town by its liquor store and vice versa, and never is that saying more true than at White's. With the usual array of hard liquor and fine wines on the shelves lining the historic store, what you get from Tom Phillips is small town friendly service and knowledge. Tom who loves his golf, having played in Scotland and Ireland along with the many fine courses on the Island, Tom's true joy is helping the people of Montauk pick out what they need to make either a quiet evening or a big time event properly stocked.

Also helping Tom out is Kirsten Frierson, who is as pleasant as a cool breeze on a hot day. Her smile and her attentiveness to your requests are followed by seasoned recommendations and prompt service. She and Tom make up a wonderful team that just flows along a vibe in the store that goes in tandem with the great jazz that is played in the store daily. Tom smiles as he says, "We have a lot of liquor, a lot of wine, a lot of stuff." What he is saying is that what you need most likely is on the well-stocked shelves but besides that you may get a dose of what makes Montauk such a salient piece of Americana.

White's Liquor Store delivers and is open 6 days a week, being closed on Sundays. The hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and on Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. Helping out in the summer is local Tim Murray, who is matriculating at Middlebury College in Vermont, a school the great American poet Robert Frost called home while teaching. Tim fits in with Tom and Kirsten as if he were a first round draft pick.

The straw baskets and overhead fans gives you the feel perhaps of Humphrey Bogart stopping in with Lauren Bacall years ago to buy some scotch and liking the place. There are so many types of gift packaging around the shelves of all the various different types of spirits that, if you need a special personal type gift, these uniquely packaged bottles of spirits will definitely fit the bill.

If they gave awards for having the perfect small town but amply supplied liquor store, Tom Phillips would be winning one every year. He's genuine, he's real, he's witty, and he is Montauk. To think of the hundreds of thousands of faces he has seen rushing to get a bottle over the years is mind-boggling.

The blue and white awning that protrudes out onto the Montauks main thoroughfare is postcard perfect. Kirsten was quick to point out that they carry many of the local Long Island wines as well as the standard classic Californians, with a wise sprinkling of the French, Italian, Spanish, Chilean, Australian, and German standards. Tom Phillips' image of what wine can be is perhaps defined by his selection and the way he presents his selection. That alone is worth a walk in. The man has been doing this for over thirty years. The spirit of what Dick White Jr. maintained back in the day when Eisenhower was first a General, than a President, lives to every measure of the jazz tunes bouncing off the bottles all over the store. I have to add a dream I had in college of one day having a real big time party right in a liquor store, and that's what I was thinking about while leaving White's. The refrigerator has the usual sparkling wines along with the wines you expect to find at White's Liquor. Yes you can tell a lot about a town from its liquor store and vice versa. Montauk is friendly, likes its spirits and likes characters. Tom Phillips is an award-winning proprietor and he is there to help you select what it is you need to make your next event successful. For information call 631-668-2426. For trivia people, it was at this location on Main Street where White's Liquor Store is located now, that Dan Rattiner 48 years ago founded the Montauk Pioneer. It was the location of the original White's Pharmacy that dates back to the late nineteen thirties.