What we’re about
Rivertown Social brings together people who welcome getting out and doing things. The group presents a variety of experiences that touch on food, drink, culture and/or adventure. Geared to those in, around, or welcome being in the Rivertowns area (eg. Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown and beyond).
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- SPRING TEA and TOUR at 10AM LYNDHURST (*TICKET REQ'D from LYNDHURST'S WEBSITE*)Lyndhurst Mansion, Tarrytown, NY
Note: This is a ticketed event where your spot is only confirmed if purchased via Lyndhurst's website HERE. An RSVP here tells me you are interested but a purchased ticket confirms your spot. Tickets sell quickly for Lyndhurst events so you are encouraged to buy soon if you intend to join.
*There are TWO tea and tours on Saturday: One that begins at 10AM and ends at 12:30PM, another that begins at 2PM and ends at 4:30PM. This is for the MORNING TEA*.
ABOUT THE SPRING TEA AND TOUR
The event will begin with a tour of Lyndhurst Mansion. This one-hour tour covers two floors and gives visitors a rare glimpse of the lavish decorative arts and furniture left at Lyndhurst by previous owners. The tour visits approximately 16 rooms and involves climbing one staircase with 25 steps. You’ll see the first floor of the mansion including the parlor, filled with furniture designed by architect A.J. Davis, and the sumptuous Civil War-era dining room. The second floor centers around the opulent Grand Art Gallery hung with an original collection of European paintings brought to Lyndhurst by the Gould family. Impressive Tiffany stained glass windows adorn the gallery and adjacent bedrooms.
Guests of the Spring Tea and Tour will then adjourn to the carriage room of the Welcome Center where they will experience a classic cream tea, with tea, scones, clotted cream, and jam.
Intended as an engaging and social occasion, the Spring Tea and Tour will offer guests the opportunity to enjoy their tea service while learning about the origins, traditions, and etiquette of the long-favored British afternoon tea service (which I will be leading).
Seating will be community style to encourage a convivial atmosphere while they enjoy their tea service and learn about the origins, traditions, and etiquette of the long-favored British afternoon tea service. Guests booked together (or in coordination with Lyndhurst Mansion will be seated together).
There will be several tea blends from my Puddings and Biscakes tea collection (which is available in the Lyndhurst Mansion store.) Each guest will also receive as a gift a specially crafted Spring Tea sachet to take home.
Also at Lyndhurst on May 10th, guests can shop at our Mother's Day Plant Sale! So you can tour the mansion, sip tea in an 1860s Carriage House, and and then peruse the plant sale put on by our local gardeners and florists.
A lovely opportunity to gather family, friends or connect with other Meetup members. (As parties of the same booking will be seated together, even though seating is community style). Note: I *may* be able to help group Meetup members together with Lyndhurst but can't guarantee as need to coordinate with Lyndhurst.
Open to guests aged 12 and up.
Hope to see you there!
- SPRING TEA and TOUR at 2PM LYNDHURST (*TICKET REQ'D from LYNDHURST'S WEBSITE*)Lyndhurst Mansion, Tarrytown, NY
Note: This is a ticketed event where your spot is only confirmed if purchased via Lyndhurst's website HERE. An RSVP here tells me you are interested but a purchased ticket confirms your spot. Tickets sell quickly for Lyndhurst events so you are encouraged to buy soon if you intend to join.
*There are TWO tea and tours on Saturday: One that begins at 10AM and ends at 12:30PM, another that begins at 2PM and ends at 4:30PM. This is for the TEA and TOUR in the AFTERNOON*.
ABOUT THE SPRING TEA AND TOUR
The event will begin with a tour of Lyndhurst Mansion. This one-hour tour covers two floors and gives visitors a rare glimpse of the lavish decorative arts and furniture left at Lyndhurst by previous owners. The tour visits approximately 16 rooms and involves climbing one staircase with 25 steps. You’ll see the first floor of the mansion including the parlor, filled with furniture designed by architect A.J. Davis, and the sumptuous Civil War-era dining room. The second floor centers around the opulent Grand Art Gallery hung with an original collection of European paintings brought to Lyndhurst by the Gould family. Impressive Tiffany stained glass windows adorn the gallery and adjacent bedrooms.
Guests of the Spring Tea and Tour will then adjourn to the carriage room of the Welcome Center where they will experience a classic cream tea, with tea, scones, clotted cream, and jam.
Intended as an engaging and social occasion, the Spring Tea and Tour will offer guests the opportunity to enjoy their tea service while learning about the origins, traditions, and etiquette of the long-favored British afternoon tea service (which I will be leading).
Seating will be community style to encourage a convivial atmosphere while they enjoy their tea service and learn about the origins, traditions, and etiquette of the long-favored British afternoon tea service. Guests booked together (or in coordination with Lyndhurst Mansion will be seated together).
There will be several tea blends from my Puddings and Biscakes tea collection (which is available in the Lyndhurst Mansion store.) Each guest will also receive as a gift a specially crafted Spring Tea sachet to take home.
Also at Lyndhurst on May 10th, guests can shop at our Mother's Day Plant Sale! So you can tour the mansion, sip tea in an 1860s Carriage House, and and then peruse the plant sale put on by our local gardeners and florists.
A lovely opportunity to gather family, friends or connect with other Meetup members. (As parties of the same booking will be seated together, even though seating is community style). Note: I *may* be able to help group Meetup members together with Lyndhurst but can't guarantee as need to coordinate with Lyndhurst.
Open to guests aged 12 and up.
Hope to see you there!
- DINING OUT at PETER PRATT'S INNPeter Pratt's Inn, Yorktown Heights, NY
Let's dine out at the historic Peter Pratt's Inn in Yorktown!
ABOUT
PETER PRATT'S INN, a Revolutionary War-era colonial homestead, is located in the oldest section of Yorktown and is situated at the battle site of General George Washington's Northern Continental Command Post against the British Tories in 1781. Across the street is one of the oldest structures in Westchester, the Davenport House, which served as General Washington's command post, the only one to be held throughout the entire Revolutionary War.
The restaurant area was originally the foundation of a barn built in 1780. The dining room remains authentic in its colonial design and construction. Overhead, thick, petrified chestnut beams rest on granite boulders, the foundation for 75% of the building.
The Inn was a part of the Carpenter-Davenport homestead which encompassed 250 acres including the land of Loch Ledge Country Club (off Route 118). In 1823, the center section of the building was constructed in colonial design, with the wings added in the Victorian style years afterwards to make room for the new Daniel Griffen ownership. Finally, in 1861, Daniel Griffen completed the house as you see it today.
Between 1915 and 1924, the old farmhouse was used by the Bowery Mission to house men from New York City who worked at a nearby sawmill cutting wood.At the turn of the century, the building was purchased by Halsey Wilson, a renown New York City publisher turned land developer. He sold lots to his literary friends and invited them to stay at the Inn while they built homes and created the first housing development in Yorktown. Today, the area is known as Croton Heights.
On July 3, 1926, the Wilsons officially opened the building for lodging, naming it the Croton Heights Inn, catering to local residents and their guests many of whom travelled from around the world to visit.
During the 1940's, a Russian Count by the name of Kotschoubey, purchased the Inn and was granted a liquor license and continued the quiet elegance of this secluded northern Westchester country hostel. The count catered to his wealthy friends such as the McCormicks, Vanderbilts, Gettys, Duncan Hines, all of whom have signed the guest register located in the Inn's center hallway.
During the 1950's Monsieur Charles Biles of New York City leased the Inn and opened the Beaujolais Restaurant on a seasonal basis from May through September. Mr. Biles was successful and wanted to remain open all year, however, the owners refused, so he returned to New York City. His head waiter took over the lease and proceeded to make the Croton Heights Inn northern Westchester's finest bordello.
In early 2022, the Pelinku Family became the seventh owners of Peter Pratt’s Inn, with the intention of carrying on the restaurant’s tradition of exceptional fine dining and warm hospitality. They have inherited the newly renovated interior (including two dining rooms and bars), an expanded deck and outdoor seating, and a gorgeous sitting area surrounding a wood burning fire-pit that make dining inside or out a joyful year-round experience.
DINING OUT WITH RIVERTOWN SOCIAL
WHAT TO KNOW
• CHECK, PLEASE. If you are new to dining out with Rivertown Social please note that the check approach is as follows: whatever you order, is totaled and then you add 30% to account for a) tax and b) tip.
• SEPARATE CHECKS. Will confirm in comments below once I’ve found out if this will be offered by the restaurant. If not, please bring cash.
• RSVP 'EXTRAVAGANZA'. As the group size is limited to 6 - as this enables the optimal experience for everyone - it is important to keep your RSVP status updated as expediently as possible.
• If you are on the RSVP "yes" list and your plans change please update your status as soon as possible.
• If you are on the waitlist be on the lookout for a notification if a spot opens up - many times this occurs in the lead up to the event.
• If you are on the waitlist and you know in advance, for example say 2 days out your schedule will not be free to join for dinner, please move your RSVP to "no". In this way the next person in line can have the opportunity to join.
• I have this set up as an automatic waitlist to mean as RSVPs change, and a space opens up, the next in sequence of RSVPing will be added into the event.
• I will post several reminders in the lead up to the event. Only these are all small businesses and a loss of a diner, is a loss in revenue so am mindful of this. Moreover, the restaurants I have chosen to date do not request a credit card guarantee so ever more the importance of keeping RSVPs updated. Thanks in advance for following the above!• MENU. Please review the menu to know about their menu direction. Note this is their winter menu so anticipate it to change when we visit.
• PARKING. Plenty of parking on site.
Hope to see you there!
- DUBAI or not to DUBAI CHOCOLATE: A SWEET SOJOURN ($)Homestyle Desserts, Peekskill, NY$20.00
Let's do a Dubai Chocolate tasting!
Have you heard of the viral sensation that is Dubai chocolate? If you're wondering what is the sweet toothness is this, let me explain:
Dubai chocolate is a rich milk chocolate bar filled with a creamy pistachio and knafeh (shredded phyllo pastry) mixture. It combines the flavors of traditional Middle Eastern desserts with a luxurious chocolate experience. In late 2023 a video went viral of a food influencer trying the chocolate spurring its likeness across bakeries and cafes around the world.
A recent article in Lohud about the Westchester spots featuring Dubai chocolate prompted me to craft this "sweet" outing. While there are numerous spots to try the Dubai chocolate out, I have selected one: Homestyle Desserts in Peekskill - as they have created multiple sweets using the Dubai chocolate as inspiration.
I will be preordering our tasting and so pre-payment is required to ensure the correct amount is being ordered. The tasting is $20 and will include the following Dubai chocolate creations:
- Dubai chocolate cheesecake
- Dubai chocolate cookie
- Dubai chocolate donut
- Dubai chocolate croissant
- Dubai chocolate
Note: with the exception of the Dubai chocolate mini, all other items will be split ie halved between guests - with what I imagine will be plenty to take home!
There is ample parking on-site and we will sit outside at one of the tables as the cafe doesn't have a lot of seating from what I gather.
Payment is via Venmo (@itsladybridge) or if preference is for Zelle please message me and I will provide my phone number. Upon receipt I will notify you of such.
Who has a sweet tooth? Hope to see you there!
