Myers of Keswick has Irish stock to keep your conventional Irish meal cravings to a minimum.
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Let’s face it, the British and the Irish don’t agree on lots of whatever. Certainly, now not religious politics, and more lately, even membership in the EC. But there may be one thing the Brits and Irish have that is not unusual—identical meals.
Are you having trouble locating Colman’s Mustard Powder? How approximately a few Jacob’s Biscuits? HP Sauce? How about a few white or black pudding?
To many, an Irish exile in New York, these consolation foods of domestic—or the lack thereof—have handiest expanded their homesickness. But there may be a remedy in sight for the Irish in New York City. This relief comes in the form of Myers of Keswick, a shop filled with the packaged treats of home, now not to mention the satisfactory sausages in New York, the same sausages you’ll experience in several of New York’s finest restaurants.
It all commenced with Malachy McCourt and the Bells of Hell.
The store in question is Myers of Keswick, located on Hudson Street in Greenwich Village. The man in fee is Peter Myers, from Keswick in the Lake District in northwest England. He has spent almost the past 50 years working inside the Village, first inside the bars and for the last 31 years at his sausage store.
The store opened, Myers proudly announces, on July 4, 1985. Before that, Myers changed into the element owner of the Bells of Hell saloon. As it became being recognized around the Village, the Bells wasitially opened by Malachy McCourt on West Thirteenth Street inside the Village witine early Seventies. One of his bartenders, Peter Myers, changed into a young immigrant from England.
The Bells ultimately closed below McCourt’s stewardship and became reopened via Myers. It became the strolling mate of the legendary Lion’s Head writer’s bar down on Christopher Street as a steady movement of regulars from both places exceeded within the night on 7th Avenue perambulating among the two areas. In its time, the Bells became for its song, proposing Turner & Kirwan: Larry Kirwan, destiny leader of the Black forty-Forty-seven and Pierce Turner, visible right here performing “I’m a Freeborn Man of the Traveling People.”
Kirwan recollects the parade of celebrities who handed through the Bells: “Norman Mailer came multiple instances to peer Turner & Kirwan of Wexford. Angela McCourt became additionally there regularly; however, that would have been in Malachy’s time.” He additionally recollects seeing all of the Clancy Brothers, Joey Ramone of the Ramones, famed composer David Amram, now not to say a destiny Pulitzer Prize-prevailing writer by the call of Frank McCourt.
Myers of Keswick hits Hudson Street.
After he pulled out of the Bells of Hell, Myers sought a brand new venue. Since his father and his grandfather before him had been butchers, it becomes a natural progression that Myers needs to turn to the exchange he grew up in.
A buddy told him of a shop that had changed into a for-hire shop on Hudson Street, among Jane and Horatio Streets. It has been an Italian deli decorated with Provolone cheeses striking from the ceiling for years. They had specialized in-hero sandwiches for the running guy and had become a staple in the community. Myers met with the former proprietor who owned the construction, and a small, energetic business was born. The store is right at the border of what’s now one of the freshest neighborhoods in New York, the fashionable Meatpacking District.
The shop appears much as it did in its Italian deli days—the refrigerators and counter show instances are the same. Still, the shelves are filled with merchandise from the pond’s alternative facet that the Irish and English cherish.
An exiled Irishman’s first impact? “My mom would have cherished this region!”
Myers estimates that he imports over three hundred merchandise from England. The cabinets are packed with the likes of Marmite, Sarson’s Malt Vinegar, Branson’s Pickle Chutney, Colman’s Mustards, HP sauce, Jacob’s Biscuits, an extensive form of teas, and more crisps—that’s potato chips for the uninitiated—products than you guessed existed.
His biggest seller? Would you consider Heinz Baked Beans? It’s proper. The beans are grown in the U.S. And Canada, shipped to England for processing, and returned home to be offered at Myers of Keswick. Myers calls them “the most traveled beans on this planet.”
There are all kinds of chocolates (Myers says that Cadbury Flake is his bestseller), and the refrigerator is full of sodas that no American has ever heard of. His number one soda pop? IRN-BRU, a sarsaparilla-tasting soda, is well-known as a hangover remedy and, consistent with Myers, outsells Coca-Cola in Scotland.
