Bobby Van

GARDEN CITY < Bobby Van, a Juilliard-trained pianist who founded a landmark Hamptons "gin-mill" frequented by artists Willem De Kooning and Roy Lichtenstein, along with literary giants including Truman Capote, Kurt Vonnegut and Willie Morris, has died. Robert Craig Van Velsor, known as Bobby Van, died of a staph infection on Tuesday, said his ex-wife, Marina Van. He was 64 and had been receiving dialysis treatments for about the past year for a failing kidney, she said. Although he sold the restaurant in 1986, for nearly two decades Van played host to nightly gatherings by some of the world's greatest writers and artists, drawn to the mahogany wood decor and Tiffany lamps in the saloon in the middle of downtown Bridgehampton. "These were different days," Marina Van said. "Everybody cared about what you wrote and what you painted. No matter where folks went to dinner, at the end of the evening, you knew everyone was coming to Bobby"s. That was the in-crowd." Other writers frequently seen hanging out at "Van"s" included George Plimpton, Irwin Shaw, Winston Groom and James Jones, she said. "He captured everything that was great about the Hamptons," said author and Hamptons maven Stephen Gaines. "It really was one of the great Zeitgeist saloons. Capote, recalls Marina Van, was a regular in the afternoons, often waiting at the front door for the place to open at noon. "Truman was a lunch person," she said. "He would sit there, and the staff would chat with him." He was almost like your best girlfriend. But he was not part of the night scene at all." After serving in the Army in Vietnam, Van opened the restaurant in 1969. There are now four other Bobby Van's Steakhouses in New York City and two in Washington. Although he dropped out of Juilliard for financial reasons, Van never lost his love of the piano -- a centerpiece of his Bridgehampton saloon. Before becoming ill, Van played in jazz clubs and drove a taxi on Long Island, said Marina Van. Other survivors include two brothers. A private cremation was scheduled, but Van said a public memorial service would likely be held next spring. ------