After a year of negotiating with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the husband and wife team of Daniel Sauer and Wenonah Madison-Sauer signed a lease on Monday to take over Back Alley’s in West Tisbury.

The Sauers plan to operate a counter-service establishment with a focus on homemade, Island-grown food.

“We came to an agreement with the Wampanoag Tribe and after we get all our ducks in a row we can start construction soon and be open by this season,” Mr. Sauer said yesterday afternoon. “We’ll provide food for takeout, just with our own twists.”

Undecided on a name yet for the new eatery, the Sauers plan to serve breakfast, lunch, sandwiches and soups and hope to have ice cream by summertime. Mr. Sauer worked as a chef in top restaurants in Colorado and New York city before coming to the Vineyard, where he was chef at the Outermost Inn in Aquinnah until last year. The Sauers own 7a Farm, a farm-to-table catering business that they operate from their Aquinnah home.

Details of the new lease agreement have not been made public. Paul Garcia, the former operator of Back Alley’s closed in November 2009; the space has been empty since then.

“We welcome them to the neighborhood,” said Chris Scott, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust, this week. The trust owns Alley’s General Store and shares ownership of the parking lot with the tribe. “I’ve had a few meetings with them [the Sauers]. I think they have terrific experience for a business such as this, as they describe how they want to run it. I have high hopes for them.”

The Sauers plan to open by May 31.