Huge Crowd Turns Out For Bethenny Frankel's Supermodel Café Pop-Up Launch: See Photos

EAST QUOGUE, NY — Carrying chairs and tents and brimming with excitement, a huge crowd lined up before 6 a.m. Thursday to await the highly anticipated open of Bethenny Frankel's Supermodel Café in East Quogue.

The "Real Housewives of New York City" star reflected after the excitement of the opening.

"Thank you so much for coming today to the Supermodel Café," Frankel said. "I'm so moved by the stories. The people —the woman who was 74, who was dropped off by the senior citizen bus, next to a 14-year- old girl, waiting from 5, 6 o'clock in the morning. Someone had a tent, people had towels."

Frankel said she wanted to provide everyone who had waited for so long with water, to show gratitude for their dedication. "I just couldn't believe that people would wait from early in the morning," she said.

She added: "I really wanted to give everyone an experience — meet people and take pictures. I was just truly grateful and moved."

Frankel thanked everyone, from those who have been with her since the beginning, to the new, young fans, just 14 or 16, who were also waiting patiently on line.

Frankel also thanked the many friends and supporters who showed support by attending the launch.

"It just is amazing," she said. "People are amazing. Also, people met friends on the line. They said, 'We didn't know each other, and we're friends now.' People were taking care of each other. . . The coffee and the bagels and the cheesecake are totally secondary. It's just an experience."

Crowds lined up, too, to savor Frankel's delectable offerings, from her moutwatering chicken salad, spreads, and a supermodel, light-as-air cheesecake that had scores coming back for seconds.

She also thanked her team and all who worked diligently to make her vision a beautiful, pink-hued reality.

From the white and pink flowers, pink wicker seats and pink pillows outside, and pink-and-white striped umbrellas, the pop-up is a sight for the senses; guests were seen sipping their lattes and soaking up the supermodel vibe. Others posed for selfies under the neon "Supermodel" sign splashed onto the back wall.

Frankel also thanked her team. "I was so proud of everyone," she said.

Of the eatery, she said: "Who knows what it will be? It could be everything. It could be nothing. I'm the Billy Joel of bagels. It's basically, the café stays open until nobody wants to come anymore, you know? People loved it, but that's totally secondary. I love you guys. 
Thank you so much."

Frankel also posted about the soft opening on social media. In a Facebook post, she is seen tearing pink paper from the windows for the reveal.

"SOFT LAUNCH OF SUPERMODEL CAFE. LFGGGG," she wrote on the post.

Supermodel Cafe by Bethenny, located at 481 Montauk Highway, opened Thursday, offering "schmears, feel good food, coffee, and plenty of swag," luxury real estate advisor John Frangeskos said in his own social media reel. Frangeskos also got a "first look" at the eatery Wednesday, posing with Frankel in her pink-bedecked space.

The first 50 people in line Thursday were slated to receive a free gift bag, Frankel said on Instagram.

The window at the pop-up said the eatery is "powered by Goldberg's" a Hamptons classic bagel shop with multiple locations.

Frankel, whose Skinnygirl margarita launched an international lifestyle brand, told People magazine that the cafe will offer viral "supermodel snacks" and "better-for-you recipes that have become staples" on TikTok and Instagram.

People magazine also posted a sample menu for the Supermodel Cafe, with delights including cherry vanilla bagels, spreads and dips in a mouth-watering array such as caviar, miso tahini, and cacio e pepe; a "supermodel snack" sandwich with shaved turkey, fresh tomato, spicy sriracha spread and everything bagel seasoning; her supermodel cheesecake — and, what everyone has clamored for, her signature chicken salad.

On Thursday, the day the pop-up launched, Southampton Town officials issued a stop work order, posting a yellow sign on the window that cited the cafe for issues including "failure to comply with provisions of the New York State building code . . and Southampton town zoning ordinance." The sign added: "A dangerous and unsafe condition exists."

Ryan Murphy, Southampton Town public safety and emergency management administrator, told Patch the notice was issued by the building department and said that the town's fire marshal's office "had also previously issued summonses that will be getting served for sidewalk obstruction and the unpermitted sign."

Murphy added: "We attempted several times to gain voluntary compliance but as of yesterday, there was still a clear refusal to comply with the code."

A representative for Frankel could not immediately be reached for comment on the stop work order.

The notice did not indicate that the business would be asked to close, and the eatery was open and buzzing with excitement Friday morning.

In recent weeks, Frankel has posted content on social media as she's taste-toured the South and North Forks, lauding "a non-douchy Hamptons gem'' at the Union Burger Bar in Southampton, taking a "field trip" to Briermere Farms in Riverhead; shouting out Babe's in Sag Harbor; raving about Farm Country Kitchen on the Peconic River in Riverhead, and more.

Of her own Supermodel Cafe, Frankel wrote on Facebook: "I’ve always trusted my gut, even when the whole plan doesn’t exist yet. A month ago, I was on an Amazon panel in Cannes talking about exactly that. At the time, Supermodel Café wasn’t even a thought. Then one idea became another, the right opportunity presented itself and suddenly we’re building a café in a matter of weeks. August 13, we open the doors. There was no master plan . . I just had an idea and I moved. When you know, you know."

In a reel spotlighting that panel, Frankel said: " I am a gut instinct person." Speaking of Skinnygirl, she said: "I just wanted a margarita that I can trust . . . The messaging of it, 'the margarita you can trust,' it sort of unleashed a motion. It wasn't about what an end cap said at a store. It wasn't about what the market was doing. It was about how the customer felt. It was about connecting to an audience. And, truthfully, people didn't buy into Skinnygirl — they bought into me . . . I was being very honest with the audience about my life and my lack of a relationship and being a certain age and not having a daughter, and not knowing what would happen to me and being broke. The audience connected to me and that's why they connected to the product. And that why really all of my content lands the way that it does — because attention and trust are the most valuable commodities."

(Video courtesy Elyse Richman)