🍀 Happy St. Patrick's Day, Westchester!

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh, Westchester!

Or Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you!

At home in Ireland growing up (for one of us), this was a day that felt different from the moment you woke up. School was out, you were drawn downstairs by the smell of bacon sizzling, and tricolor ribbons were woven through braids before the day had even begun. It wasn’t just about celebration. There was a sense of pride to it… something shared, something carried onwards.

St. Patrick himself wasn’t Irish by birth. He was brought to Ireland, he left and then chose to return. There’s something in that… the idea of being pulled toward a place, a people, a way of life, and deciding it’s yours.

Around here, that story feels familiar. New York is full of those layers. Generations of people arriving, building, shaping, leaving their mark in ways both big and quiet. The Irish very much among them.

So get out, enjoy it. Find a parade, raise a glass, listen to some music. But if you’re looking to go a little deeper, there are other ways to mark the day too. Take a walk through the Irish Hunger Memorial, support an Irish-owned business, pick up something made by an Irish producer, or just spend a moment appreciating the quieter Irish roots woven through towns across Westchester. And in this week’s ‘Eats-chester’, we’ve got a small reminder of how those stories continue to evolve… familiar comforts, shaped by different hands, becoming something new again.

However you choose to spend the day, or even the rest of the week, we hope you find your own way into it. May that be with parties and parades, or browsing an estate sale for some hidden treasures, crafts with the kids… or with wine and no kids, some yoga or ping pong, screenings and book readings, or simply laughing off the world’s chaos with a ton of local comedy. There’s a lot of fun to be had.

So, let’s get into it…

Bec+Wes

In today’s edition:

• Featured events… a retro ping pong night for a great cause in Pleasantville.

• Family fun… a St. Patrick’s Day paint & sip for the kids at Stew Leonard’s.

• Grown ups & date nights… Hard Headed Comedy comes to Bedford Hills Community House.

• Live music beat… 14 gigs across the county with new wave, electronic music pioneer Gary Numan playing Peekskill.

• Worth a drive… a can’t-miss estate sale for treasure hunters in Stamford.

• Eats-chester… Ireland’s not-so-traditional favorite.

Plus, a message from our partners, One Day Doors & Closets for your interior door glow up and WingWoman by QueenBHive, giving you, your business or brand the visibility and support it needs.

If you would like to chat with us about advertising in Loving Westchester, shoot us an e-mail at [email protected].

Let’s go!

💓 The Pulse

Loving Westchester’s Featured Events!

📆 What’s Happening?

Family Fun!

Grown Ups & Date Nights

The Beat

Westchester’s Live Music Scene

🚗 Worth a Drive

Attention Treasure Hunters!

💎 An Estate Sale in Stamford, Connecticut

Fri.-Sat., Mar. 20-21 | Fri: 9a-4p, Sat: 10a-2p

(Address to be released in our Friday newsletter or reach out to Alan at 516-578-9254 on Thursday for the address)

Bec and I are always on the lookout for a good estate sale… it's one of the few hobbies our two kids allow us time for! If you’re like us and love the thrill of the treasure hunt, there's one worth putting on your radar this week in Stamford, Connecticut.

Caring Transitions is hosting a two-day sale in an established home just off the Merritt Parkway, and from what we've seen, it's packed with quality pieces and interesting finds.

Sale highlights include: a Silas Seandel coffee table, a C.F. Martin parlor-style acoustic guitar, Lalique stemware, dozens of collectible decorative Christmas pieces from "The Village Collection by St. Nicholas Square", an assortment of cowboy boots, as well as artwork, furniture and other interior decor.

Parking at the property is expected to be limited so plan ahead for your hunt! We’ll share more details and a link to the sale page in our Friday morning edition. See you there!

🥡 Eats-chester

The Spice Bag… Ireland’s Not-So-Traditional Favorite

 A ‘dirty dinner’ that has become part of modern Irish life

When people think of Irish food, the conversation usually lands on potatoes… maybe a stew, a shepherd’s pie.

There is however far more to how Ireland eats these days. In fact, the culinary scene in Ireland is absolutely thriving. However, when I go home, one of the first things I’m looking for isn’t traditional at all… and it’s not trying to be fancy either. It’s a spice bag. If you know, you know. If you don’t, let me introduce you…

The spice bag is what happened when Chinese fast food arrived in Ireland and, over time, started leaning into what Irish people were looking for when it came to comfort. Somewhere along the way, this beautiful beast of a thing was born. Chicken chunks in seasoned, crispy coating. Crispy fries. Sautéed onions, peppers, scallions, garlic, and chiles. Seasoning all over… a little spicy, a little salty, sometimes a touch sweet. All tossed together in a bag or a box, shaken so the seasoning hits everything just right. And then… the curry sauce. Thick. Savory. Hard to describe. Completely necessary. (And yes, let’s not pretend MSG isn’t part of the magic.)

It’s fast food, technically. A bit of a ‘dirty’ dinner, the kind you crave and can’t quite explain. But it’s also one of those things that just… works. It becomes part of how people eat, what they crave… what they miss when they’re away. And then it started to… travel…

You’ll now find versions of the spice bag popping up in places like New York and Boston… anywhere with strong Irish roots or the right kind of homesick demand. Some stay close to the original, with imported McDonnells curry sauce and all. Others take a bit more license and build their own versions. Some of those are very good, some veer a little too far from the truth…

After our go-to The Kitchen closed in the Bronx, the search definitely intensified. Locally, we’ve found ourselves returning to spots like Yonkers’ Tavern on McLean (Superjacks) and Francey Brady’s when the craving hits. This past weekend, we went into the city to try two versions we’d been hearing about.

At Bar Snack, they lean into it fully… branded bags, merch, the whole shebang. Great chicken and some nice seasoning results in a very good attempt. At Pecking House, the approach is slightly different. A chef-led take with a Szechuan spin… and by God, it works. That one might be the winner for me. Even if you don’t go for the spice bag, get the chicken, if you like spice, you won’t be sorry.

The spice bag isn’t one fixed thing. It shifts a bit depending on who’s making it and where you are… but when it’s done right, it still feels familiar. And somehow, despite being a bag of chips (fries) and chicken, it ends up telling a bigger story. About people bringing elements of their culture, shaping it to a new place, and creating something that becomes part of everyday life.

Just don’t forget the curry sauce.

Thanks for reading Loving Westchester!

We’re really enjoying putting this together twice a week and hope you enjoy reading it. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again… we love to hear from you! You can reach us at [email protected].

Check us out on Instagram for additional highlights outside of our normal Tuesday & Friday e-mails and, as always, please send this along to a friend who’s always asking, “What’s going on this week?”

Until next time,