Sandy soaked restaurant pays it forward

MANASQUAN, NJ (WABC) -- Take a couple of surfers, passionate about the Jersey shore; mix in some millennials, crazy about promoting local food, while giving back, and you've got a recipe for this success story.

The coffee's once again flowing at First and Ocean in Manasquan. A far cry from what the historic store "down-the-shore" looked like last summer.

After we helped owner Gina Pharo get her $34,000 FEMA grant, she was able to start renovating the Sandy damage, eventually choosing to lease her family-run restaurant to two fellow surfers.

"It was dilapidated and this crew made it better than it's ever been in it's entire history," said Gina Pharo, the owner.

Shuttered for two summers, The Sandy Seagull's partners wanted to carry on the corner store legacy.

"We'll give them a hot box and sell pork roll, egg, and cheese and ice cream sandwiches," said Tim Gross, a Sandy Seagull partner.

Just a block off the busy beach, the laid back lounge now serves up a new vision of the Jersey shore, along with it's locally sourced farm-to-table menu.

"Our goal is to give back a portion of what we build. And this is just building a foundation for that," Gross said.

"We found other people with stories we like and products we believe in and we want to put them under this roof in Manasquan and sell them," said Adam Braham, a Sandy Seagull partner,.

The roof that the storm blew off now shelters, purveyors of local artwork and furniture, some re-purposed from the old corner store.

Even the Sandy Seagull's choice of coffee beans give back a portion of proceeds to Sandy relief right in hard hit Manasquan.

"It's an hour and half from Manhattan. There's no reason people shouldn't come here instead of sitting in traffic to Montauk and the Hanmptons for three to four hours.

The Seagull's partners, all in their 30's, with one foot in and one foot out of corporate America, say they jumped at the chance to build a foundation enhancing the shore's image.

"That show on MTV certainly deteriorated what the Jersey shore is about," Gross said. "And we're never going to recreate the brand of the Jersey shore just try to pay it forward. You start with a small step and you never know where it's going to go."

Their forward-thinking attitude also goes back to what makes the shore, the shore. The Jersey breakfast staple, the Pork Roll's still on the menu right next to the Kale salad in a nod to tradition.

"It's the number one seller. It's a staple of the community. You can't take that off," Gross said.