Landmark restaurant Starr Boggs for sale in Westhampton Beach

Starr Boggs, the restaurant that electrified dining out in the Hamptons for decades, is for sale.

"I have it on the market, but it's not a fire sale," said chef-owner Boggs in an interview. "I still enjoy what I do."

If the restaurant isn't sold by the end of October, when it's slated to close for the season, Boggs said he expects to reopen it in April 2019.

But, at 67, Boggs acknowledged the hours each day are long and that he has relied a bit more on "on the best staff I've ever had." His restaurant currently is open Thursday to Sunday.

The restaurant, at 6 Parlato Dr., is listed by brokers for $4 million.

Boggs, who's from Virginia, started his Long Island career 38 years ago at The Inn at Quogue and, later, at The Patio in Westhampton Beach. He opened Starr Boggs in 1986 on Sunset Avenue in downtown Westhampton Beach. He emphasized local ingredients early on at the signless restaurant, with a typewritten menu affixed to the door that might change each day.

The restaurant earned a four-star rating in Newsday in July 1986 for its exceptional food, which combined American, Italian and Mediterranean influences. Starr Boggs also received a four-star rating when the restaurant moved to the Dune Deck Hotel in 1992. For the past 15 years, it has been at the current location and has attracted celebrities as well as tony seasonal and local residents.

Boggs built a reputation for dishes as varied as a Mediterranean-style fish soup with the taste of bouillabaisse to a Virginia crabcake with spicy corn salad and sauce rémoulade; a three-inch high cut of roasted swordfish with a basil crust to almond-crusted flounder with lemon beurre blanc.

If you wanted sushi-grade tuna served perfectly rare, Starr Boggs had it before the dish became a Long Island mainstay. A Monday night lobster bake has been very popular. And the menu typically could take in eight different fish, plus shellfish, as well as local duck and prime steaks.

Starr Boggs, 6 Parlato Dr., Westhampton Beach, 631-288-3500.