Iconic Water Mill diner gets a new name and tenant after pay scandal

City slickers heading to the Hamptons will see a new eatery when the make the turn from Country Road 39 onto Montauk Highway in Water Mill this summer. Silver Lining Diner plans to open in June at the former site of Princess Diner, only a few months after the former establishment’s tenant-owner was put behind bars for scheming to defraud and failing to pay a collective $132,011 to 23 of his workers, 27east reported. Marc and Eric Miller, the former owners of Bay Kitchen Bar in East Hampton, announced they plan to open their new diner in June. The Charos family, which owns the property at 32 Montauk Highway, bought the site in the 1960s. Richard Bivona took over the diner from John Kalogeras and his family in August 2016. He kept Kalogeras on as the manager and together the duo not only withheld pay from staff, but threatened workers and their families who asked for compensation, according to the East Hampton Star. Prosecutors said that along with not paying his workers, Bivona threatened them and their families when they asked for their back pay. Bivona was sentenced in December to six months in jail. Kalogeras was sentenced and released. Since then, workers have been gutting the Princess Diner, readying it for its new tenant. [27east]