Mory’s has a new chef and a manager for its restaurant, Mory’s Council President Christopher Getman ’64 announced in an e-mail to the club’s members this past week.

The chef, Tay McKamy, was chosen out of four finalists for the job, Getman said. Ben Bloom of the local food services firm La Cuisine, who is overseeing the management of the restaurant, found both McKamy and restaurant manager Michael Shirley.

“He’s very creative,” Getman said of McKamy.

The Whiffenpoofs are slated to finish their world tour at Mory’s on Aug. 25, Getman added, at which point the club will be fully open.

“We better be ready by then or we’re in big trouble,” he said.

Read Getman’s full e-mail below.

Dear Member of the Mory’s Community,

Things are really happening fast. The clubhouse is framed and the detail work is starting to happen. We are anticipating a soft opening in August and fully expect to be running at capacity when the students return.

We have hired a restaurant manager, Michael Shirley, who brings a lot of experience to the table (no pun intended) and a new chef, Tay McKamy, about whom we’re very excited. You’ll hear more about both of them shortly. The hiring of the wait and kitchen staffs will begin very soon.

We’re confident that the new, but traditional, product will be a huge success.

In addition to expanded hours, the pub in the back and additional seats in the main dining area, we’re planning to have a series of events, ranging from topical lectures, to musical offerings etc. on a regular basis. This, on top of regular a cappella groups, we hope will make Mory’s, in addition to being as fun and unique as it has always been, a vibrant and interesting place of many dimensions.

Please visit our newly updated website, www.morysclub.org to check on the status of things. As you’ll see from the naming opportunities page, all of the rooms been spoken for but there we still have two tables, two outside dining areas as well as many chairs available. To date over 3,000 friends and alums have contributed over $2.9 to the project. This speaks volumes about the importance of Mory’s as a core Yale institution in the eyes of many people.

In addition, we are offering inscribed bricks for $100 each in the back patio. What a great way to become permanently enshrined at Mory’s. My first brick is in memory of a former dean, who kept me in, and there are many other opportunities in this area. Go to the website and click “Brick” link for more information. Ordering is easy with our online order form and payment capabilities. There are about 2,000 bricks available but don’t wait as we expect them to sell out quickly.

For those of you who are not life or current annual members, I urge you to join. The process is very simple and again can be done through the “Membership” page on the website. The cost is a mere $99/year for those within a 30 mile radius of the club and $49/year for those without. We look forward to seeing you at the Club.

As I think you’re aware, we’re offering membership to the entire Yale community. We’re hoping that by doing so, and by reducing the student dues to a net $5 for one’s career, that we’ll dispel the perception that we’re an elitist place and will attract a broad and diverse membership. Given our expanded hours and added space we’re confident that we’ll be able accommodate what we hope will be a greatly expanded membership.

That’s it for now. Sign up, buy a brick or a chair. It’s not that long until liftoff.

Warm regards,

Christopher Getman ’64, President, The Mory’s Council