Business Profile: Dunne’s Restaurant & Pub, White Plains
If you’ve ever been to Ireland, you’ll be familiar with the Irish pub scene – the warm, friendly atmosphere, the mouth-watering Guinness, and above all, the rollicking, foot-tapping Irish music sessions that add to the congenial atmosphere. For residents in White Plains and beyond, there’s no need to travel three thousand miles to experience the fun. Dunne’s Restaurant & Pub on Shapham Place has it all.
Owned by Ireland’s County Monaghan native Sean Dunne, the pub, the city’s second oldest, is known throughout the tri-state area as the crème de la crème of Irish music sessions. Dunne, who is an avid listener of Irish traditional music, remembers the first session he hosted over 15 years ago on a snowy winter’s evening.
Since then, traditional Irish musicians have come together to bang out the tunes each Wednesday night, from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., many of them giants in the Irish music world, including fiddler Brian Conway, Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies, Jerry O’Sullivan, the renowned uilleann (pronounced “ilan”) piper, and the ladies from Girsa, the recently formed, all-female band from Pearl River.
The sessions (known as “seisiúns” in Gaelic) are led by Conway, a renowned musician in the New York area and an expert in the County Sligo fiddling style, made famous by immigrant Michael Coleman, a native of Sligo, who is now deceased. Conway, who Dunne says is the “nucleus” of the group, brings between 10 and 15 musicians to each session, including a new generation of young players.
When this affable gentleman purchased the bar over 21 years ago, he had no idea his establishment would become such a mecca of Irish traditional music. In a corner of the pub where fiddlers, tin whistle players, accordionists, flute players, and others gather, Dunne, a Wycliffe, N.J. resident, has put up a host of photographs from years past. They’re a reminder, he said, of the fun and camaraderie that exists between the performers, who come together to have a good time and to share their love of the Irish culture.
When Dunne came to the United States in 1974, he had no intention of getting into the hospitality industry. In fact, he was studying electrical engineering at Dublin’s College of Technology, Kevin Street, when he first came to New York. Intent on working for the summer to pay his college-related expenses, Dunne ended up staying in the U.S. permanently. “I fell in love with the place, and I must say that I have no regrets about not going back,” said Dunne, the father of three children, two in college, the other a high school student.
A 10-year stint as a barman in Manhattan whet his appetite for bar ownership, and shortly after that, he purchased the White Plains pub, which, to Dunne’s knowledge, has always been the site of a bar or restaurant, at least since the days of Prohibition. To survive in the business, however, Dunne, who is married to Rita, a Bronx native, said one needs to be dedicated and unafraid of hard work. “It’s a hands-on business,” he said. “But it’s a business I love, where no two days are ever the same.”
In recent years, Dunne, who co-owns the Dublin House pub and restaurant in Red Bank, N.J., has scaled back his work week, from 80 hours to 60. He credits the success of his White Plains business to a loyal customer base and a hard-working staff, which includes long-time barman Edmund Cleary and waitress Barbara Conroy.
In addition to the music and “craic” (Gaelic word for fun, pronounced “crack”) you’ll discover at Dunne’s plenty of good, wholesome food and drink. Lunch and dinner are served six days a week, as well as a Sunday brunch (from 11 a.m. to midnight) that includes a traditional Irish breakfast.
The locals also come to Dunne’s for the Guinness, which is known far and wide for its quality, said Dunne. Using only imperial-sized pint glasses to pour the Guinness into, making sure the Guinness flows through clean lines, from barrel to tap, and perfecting the two-part pouring process will always ensure the perfect pint, said Dunne.
To find out more about upcoming Irish music sessions at Dunne’s, visit www.dunnespubandrestaurant.net.
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