The City That Doesn't Sleep Meets Take a Trip to Ireland: Session House Highly Recommended By Whom You Know!!!
We make many, many recommendations at Whom You Know. If Peachy has a great pair of shoes, she'll tell you and we must say the fall line by Anna Baiguera from Milan just had her doing backflips down the street on the Upper East side. If she finds a great Gotham Gadget like the Lenovo K1 Tablet which arrived minutes ago, she'll tell you. We are approached ALL THE TIME to review things Peachy knows nothing about, and we pass if she does not have experience in that discipline. Peachy Deegan used to LIVE in Ireland. She turned 21 in Ireland. She learned how to drink in Ireland (thank you Gillian Murphy, Emma Delany, Caroline Bourke, Sofie O'Shea, Aoife McCarthy, Tony Brennan, the list goes on...) She KNOWS the difference between a cheesy American pub thinking that they are Irish, and real quality.
It should concern you all that we have written about so few Irish pubs in New York, because there is almost nothing that gets Peachy more excited than a great Irish pub. Her personal favorite was Thady Cons on Second Avenue and 48th for years, and it was totally authentic and just the best around and we regard it as one of the most serious tragedies of Manhattan that it is not there anymore. Ever since it left, Peachy has been on a personal mission to find a classy Irish bar without the cheesiness of many Irish-American bars (not that she isn't proud to be American, because she is, but you have to visit Ireland or better yet live there to appreciate the difference between an American Irish bar and a real Irish bar). Well, she found it and it is Session House. She absolutely loved the Kilkenny by Guinness (from Dublin) and it did not last long enough for her to take a picture, but here is a picture of a German beer she tried, also very good:
Put this in your planner under fun things to do right now:
session house (nyc)
bar & kitchen
1009 2nd Avenue (between 53rd and 54th St)
New York, NY 10022 follow them on twitter
(646)-559-4404
sessionhousenyc@gmail.com
Top Ten Reasons to Love Session House According To Peachy Deegan:
1. It is authentically Irish.
2. It is super clean and we love that they clean their beer taps every two weeks
3. You can learn even more Gaelic by reading the walls
4. If you think the first floor is beautiful, wait until you see the second floor
5. The owners have their act together and genuinely care about running a top place
6. The owners are authentically Irish too, Liam McCarthy is from Kerry and Peter Hassey is from Derry
7. The food is way better than it was in Ireland when Peachy was in college at UCC
8. The name Session will be devoted to both music and alcohol consumption, 50/50
9. They are brand new, open for only 9 weeks and you want to be in the know and there first telling everyone what a great place you found
10. The atmosphere is fun and upbeat without being loud and obnoxious
In fact, the only thing missing from Session House is The Peachy Deegan cocktail and Derek Dempsey from Cray and Dempsey singing the Alice song. But perhaps those can both be rectified.
Parisian Grilled Flatbread with pesto, goat cheese, breast of chicken and sauteed mixed vegetables
Lump Crab Cake Sliders with spicy avocado mayo
Spinach and Artichoke Dip with warm pita bread
Session House Chopped Salad with turkey, avocado, tomato, beets, bacon, red onion, and roasted corn tossed with crisp lettuce and a Dijon mustard dressing
Our esteemed panelist who is a Limerick native adds:
Nestled amongst the more brash and well-known establishments of second avenue is a more modest and unassuming oasis known as the Session House. The most recent addition to this well-trodden nightlife stretch is fast becoming a favorite of locals and those in the know. Boasting youthful, friendly and passionate owners, tasteful decor, and a cosy and convivial atmosphere, one is sure to depart in better spirits than upon arrival.
After being warmly welcomed by Liam, one of the owners, at the bar, it quickly became clear that he and his staff are all truly knowledgeable about their drinks selection. Having run through some options, Liam recommended that I begin the evening with a Lagunitas IPA which I had not had before, and thoroughly enjoyed. As he is a good son of County Kerry, Ireland, the conversation soon turned to a debate on the best Irish whiskey’s available here in America, and thus in his bar. As we discussed the merits of each, the knowledge that he has accumulated over the previous decade working in leading New York bars was readily apparent, and so the conversation then easily segued to his wider bar selections. He explained to us that each beer has been chosen to fill a particular niche (such as seasonal, stouts, IPA, lager, white etc) within the overall menu to avoid confusion and duplication. He also proudly told us that the Session House is one of the very few New York bars to offer the lovely Kilkenny beer on draft, and that there are some other specialty drinks arriving to the menu over the coming months for us to look forward to.
We were having such a nice conversation about his plans for his understated Irish bar, and how he came to each decision (a great deal of thought, love and attention to detail has gone into every aspect of the venue) that we almost forgot to order any food! Thankfully Liam insisted that we try his dishes, and so we were soon presented with an array of appetizers including spinach and artichoke dip with pita breads, Parisian grilled flatbread with roasted vegetables and goats cheese, and crabcake sliders with a delicious spicy avocado sauce. This is definitely not your standard midtown pub fare, and each appetizer was both well-presented and very tasty—always a winning combination! Despite our lingering over each dish, due primarily to being overly relaxed and engrossed in conversation with each other and with Liam, we eventually decided to move on to entreés. These comprised the Session House chopped salad (with an off-menu variation to chicken on Liam’s recommendation) for Peachy, and Fish and Chips for myself. My dish was one of the better versions of this meal that I’ve had in New York, and I especially enjoyed the batter on the nicely cooked cod, which Liam explained was battered in Kilkenny beer giving it a lovely sweetness. The chips (fries) were also very nice, which isn’t often the case in bars I feel. All in all, it was a very pleasant meal.
To close out my comments, I just wanted to mention that after dinner Peachy and I decided to explore the space a little more, which brought us to discovering the wonderful upstairs area of the bar. This space is far more cosy and inviting than the already lovely lower bar, and will be perfect for events, live music and general hanging out. Parts of it are still being formulated, and I look forward to seeing what Liam and his brother Padraig accomplish with it over the coming months. Both brothers are truly passionate about creating the best space for their customers to relax in and enjoy, and I fully intend to do just that again and again. Go n’eirí an bóthar leat lads!
(translation: Go n’eirí an bóthar leat is essentially a nice Irish way of saying 'Good luck'. It literally translates to 'May the road rise with you' (the Irish are more poetic that way!) and is the first part of an old Irish blessing that goes:
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.
In sum, while it's not strictly speaking the way of saying simply 'good luck' (that would be 'Ádh mór oraibh' it is a somewhat nicer, and funnily enough, more well-known, way of saying it.))
The Fish and Chips: beer battered cod, old bay tartar sauce and malt vinegar served with fries.
Peachy continues:
You know you must be Irish if you are this good looking.
Here are Niall, a fabulous Irish Graphic Designer, Owner Liam McCarthy and Peachy!
On Peachy Deegan:
Smile By Cosmopolitan Dental:
Hair by Rodney Cutler:
Shoes by Anna Baiguera:
Dress by Hunter Dixon:
Sunglasses by Jennifer Creel:
