WF ROUNDUP!

 Hello there! 

Before giving you the history about how Westchester Foodies came to be, We’ll tell you what the WFROUNDUP is all about!

We, the admins (Claudia, Monica, Bliss and Chandreyee) don’t miss much in this group for obvious reasons. A whole lot of foodie goodness happens from day-to-day and week-to-week, and we realize and hope that people have lives outside of our cozy foodie group.  That’s why we decided to put many of the highlights in one place on a quarterly-ish basis so you guys can catch up with a cup o’ joe at your leisure. Don’t forget to take a pic of that joe!

You may be wondering what the $10 annual subscription fee will be used for for for forrrr. (echo)

A percentage will go towards paying us admins a small, but sufficient, amount so that we can continue to lovingly oversee this group which includes nipping nefariousness in the bud 24/7. Yes, we all have careers, but curating and loving this group takes time. You would be surprised how often tomfoolery happens at 3am and how quickly the hijinx can snowball. Not sure if you noticed, but the group “done exploded” in size. If you are reading this during the month of June 2024… there are about 20.6k members, 17k of which are active. We also don’t know how this is possible as we can probably recite the names of our most enthusiastic members by heart. We should probably take this opportunity to say that we don’t take our duties lightly. We have mini chats daily about whether or not a post or comment needs to go through the trapdoor. We don’t enjoy doing this, but we really love this community and want it to remain a happy and safe space for all foodies. A respite from the s-show that is the world and much of social media. We don’t simply patrol the group in the shadows - we take great joy in highlighting our wonderful members by making their posts the headers, and we actually have specific criteria for choosing a header that is top secret. Hint: if the post says, “my ten year old son made dinner” or “this is my first attempt at…” it is likely a candidate for the header, but we also take suggestions from our members. 

Another portion of your yearly ten spot will go directly back to our community. If you have been a member long enough, you will know that we have fundraisers from time to time that benefit food or hunger-related causes. We once raised $11,500 in five days for restaurant victims of Hurricane Ida. In some cases, this money meant the difference between staying open or closing permanently, but in all of the cases, it gave restaurant owners a sense that the community cares about them. That was a super-fun fundraiser because everyday foodies and a few pros offered up their best dishes and baked goods for a raffle. We need a repeat of that one! There was a level of intimacy and community in having the opportunity to try those dishes that we often drool over in the feed as well as getting to connect with foodies in person. We have also raised thousands for Feeding Westchester and have fielded food donations for Lifting Up Westchester. We recently helped Second Chance Foods by raising awareness around this amazing nonprofit + $3,000. As much as we love having fundraisers, they take a lot of time, and having some dough come in from our WFROUNDUP will allow us to give grants throughout the year to food and hunger-related causes. We dream big.  

By signing up for the WFROUNDUP, you won’t simply be getting the quarterly catch up, but you will also be the first, maybe third to know about any foodie-related events that we are a part of and also those that we aren’t a part of. NoMoFomo! If you want to stay in the know about Westchester events daily and year-round, subscribe to https://www.whatsinwestchester.com/ (Not affiliated, just really grateful!)

The WFROUNDUP is NOT a magazine and does not seek to compete with the leading local lifestyle mags like the wonderful Westchester Magazine or the fantastic food scoops by Jeanne Muchnik at Lohud, but sometimes we have ideas for fun things to write about that we think you guys might be into, so we will be unleashing standalone features from time to time as well as including them in the quarterly roundups. Everything will be written in first person as we feel like the storyteller is just as important as the story. 

In case you need things in list form… Here is what you can expect from each WFROUNDUP:

Most Hearted! (Popular posts)

Pin-Ups! (Pretty food pics - PFPs, if you will)

Buzzworthy! (What you guys are into - simply listed, never ranked)

Events! (Be the first to hear about local events and get exclusive access to members-only events)

New to You! (What, another coffee shop?)

Get that Insta! (IG accounts fit for that foodie lifestyle)

Specials! (A.k.a. “features” on anything from the nitty gritty behind a particular sandwich or an unusually cool member)

And more! (...because we are making this up as we go along based on your loving feedback)

How Westchester Foodies began.

One cold day in February of 2016, I, Claudius... Sorry, me, Claudia Ossa, having just moved to Westchester from the food mecca that is San Francisco with an 8 month old and a stowaway in utero, wondered how I would know where the heck to eat if I was going to be under house arrest by two beautiful babies for the foreseeable future, so I started a FB community. For about three years, it seemed like folks didn’t go out much. Let’s just say that the food scene had not yet blossomed like it has now. Up until 2020, when the world all of a sudden had one thing in common, the majority of the posts on Westchester Foodies consisted of Sunday sauce/gravy and rugelach. I fell in love with the Nonnas and Bubbes, and many are still valued members of our community. During Covid, I considered renaming the group Westchester Sourdough Makers. Masked foodies were passing jars of starter on doorsteps from Pelham to Somers and beyond. During this time, people were busting out of NYC like fleas on a freshly Frontlined dog. In fact, about half of our members still list NYC as their town, but we know the truth. You love it here!  The rest is...

Team WF! Las Amigas Foodies? The Admins.

Monica Chelchowski Hens

My passion for travel, culture, food, and nature intersects with my affinity for words, photography, design, and details. And the through line touching all of these is my love of meaningful connection with people and ideas. A traveler since infancy due to my father’s airline career, I grew up exposed to many countries and their cuisines and customs and continued my worldwide explorations as an adult via further travel and over 20 years as writer, editor, and marketing/creative director for a luxury cultural travel company and as a freelancer.

I enjoy learning about people and the ways in which we connect—food being one of life’s greatest connectors. Gathering around a table with loved ones. Seeking out restaurants of every stripe. Cooking a comforting dish. Nourishing  a hunger. Satisfying a craving. Preserving time-honored tradition. Trying a fun new trend. Shopping local markets. Agriculture, celebration, history, economics, nostalgia, style. What else but food could tie all these things together?

I believe the magic of food can be found everywhere. I am equally excited eating sunflower seeds straight from the stalk on my family’s farm in Poland to spotting whimsical typography on a product label on a grocery store shelf to learning about another culture’s customs at a friend’s birthday party. Hard-pressed to pick just one favorite food, some perennials that always transport me are my mom’s forest mushroom soup, a neon orange egg yolk, gooey chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven, a cloud of fresh whipped cream, plump blueberries, a smoked sausage cooking over a campfire, and dumplings (from any cuisine!)

A lifelong Westchester resident, I joined Westchester Foodies when I realized I knew more about the restaurant options in New York, LA, and abroad than I did in my own backyard. As a result, I have learned about many more local gems to add to my dining repertoire plus been inspired to cook a bit more (my husband is the main family chef) by the talented home cooks in the group. Most of all, I enjoy reading people’s posts about their discoveries and experiences and the wonderful friends with whom I’ve connected over the universal language of food.

Bliss Burrell Fager 

I think I have always been a foodie. My passion for food took root in my childhood, surrounded by two incredible women who knew their way around the kitchen. While a native of Westchester New York, most of my summers were spent on the Texas Gulf Coast feasting on fresh seafood plucked right from the waters and savoring my grandmother’s seemingly effortless southern homemade suppers which she made daily from scratch, modeling everything I wanted to learn about and be able to make. Back home in the northeast my mom, a fine cook in her own right and taught me many things, always provided me with the grace and autonomy of exploration when it came to the kitchen, while never being too far to answer a question or help clean up a disaster. I often say, my mom taught me how to bake and cook without teaching me how to bake and cook but providing the safe space to make mistakes and learn from them. As I grew, I made mess after mess, but occasionally would create something delicious, which she would elevate by praise and encouragement, giving me the determination to keep going and growing.

Fast forward 30+ years, and I’m still learning and evolving but leaning to my talents now and less to my hard lessons.  Since the late 1990s, I’ve held the joy (and sometimes exhaustion) of many positions in the food industry, as well as outside of the industry, wearing a multitude of hats from the front of the house to the back, as support staff to management, consultant and even owner and operator. I have done well to maintain humility while building confidence, and over the decades I have eagerly listened to anyone willing to share their knowledge, constantly pushing myself to embrace new challenges, and to keep evolving on a slow and steady path of who I want to be.

My foodie journey, both personal and professional, has always brought me back to my calling—the kitchen, the heart of the home, where I feel most at peace, usually surrounded by the warm, comforting scent of something buttery baking in the oven. What gets me excited are the simple things. Runny eggs “up” on toast with avocado, homemade strawberry jam and flaky biscuits, peanut butter anything, gumbo with an extra dark velvet roux, gravy in all forms, roasted vegetables, peak of the season stone fruit or berries, fresh honey paired with salty cheese, caramelized onions, the smells of cinnamon and clove, anything slow-cooked or braised, a good burger and still warm chocolate chip cookies.

Honestly, I can’t remember a time when food was not at the center of thought. It’s not about consumption so much (though I do get big cravings), but about the creation of something, or setting the table for a full meal. I love to make food and when I am not actively in the kitchen, I think about creating food. Everything, from the dishes I know best, to recipes I never heard of before with ingredients I need to look up. In my extreme oversimplification of the vast culinary world, there typically are two schools. Those who cook and those who bake, but in the Venn diagram, I like to live in the middle. When I make a meal, I tend to go into a conductor-like frenzy. It’s really a dance of organized chaos, where I move, chop, mix, dash and fire, typically without measurement and guided by my heart along with some muscle memory. It’s fluid and organic and me to the core. But baking takes me to another part of my brain. It is measured and is highly controlled by science. You must follow a direct path of instruction with a steady hand in balancing starches, acids, saturation, flavor, salt, sweetness, heat, time and should there be a misstep along the way, often, you will have to go back to the beginning and start all over again. But if you stay on course, you can have something delicious, delicate, comforting and sometimes even breathtaking. I love this rigidity as it calms my rock and roll antics to a pace that’s slow and steady with a certain serenity. Perhaps this is my Gemini showing.

In late 2021, while the world was still upside down from shutdown, and after kicking around the idea of wanting to do something food-related for years, my husband and I, with the blessing of our two children, decided to launch our small food business, which we named Blissful Table. It started very small, without a chart or path, but always guided by a big idea. In its proper order, we first launched a website, and got our certifications and insurances in place. Next, we self-invested an extremely modest amount of funds and began selling our artisanal baked goods at pop-ups, which quickly evolved to farmers’ markets by the following spring. We made the decision to lean into our premium granolas made in small batches, packed heavily with nuts, seeds, chocolate and dried fruit, featuring a rotating seasonal menu and new flavors being developed regularly. We chose granola, not to define ourselves by any one commodity, but to create a foundation that was strong but remained flexible, and one we could scale, while growing a self-sustainable business. At our core, we are most passionate about creating delicious, all-natural products using regional, non-GMO, and organic ingredients whenever possible. Over the last years, we have not only expanded our offerings but even hired staff to support this wild dream, which continues to prove, “if you work hard enough, yes, you can”. Blissful Table is what we like to think of as a journal of food, home and love, all gathered around the table, with our personal stories threaded through it all, and we can’t wait to keep introducing new chapters.

An active member of Westchester Foodies since 2018, I love connecting with local food enthusiasts and celebrating the joy of a perfect meal, whether it's fine dining or simply some jam on a biscuit, with a runny egg served “up”.

… and last, but certainly not least…

Chandreyee Manna

My food journey began in Kerala (Southern India), where I grew up surrounded by the quintessential flavors of Indian cuisine. From when I was a kid, I loved watching travel and cooking shows, which inspired me to experiment with recipes using the local ingredients available in my small hometown.

As I grew up and began to earn a living, my love for traveling led me to explore different countries. These trips weren't just about sightseeing; but also about their varied local markets and grocery stores where I tried different foods and stocked up on ingredients I couldn't find at home. When I relocated to Westchester about 7 years ago, the county itself along with the proximity to New York City's exciting food scene was a revelation. Suddenly, I had access to restaurants and ingredients from around the world, fueling my desire to broaden my culinary horizons.

Beyond my career in IT consulting, I am a passionate home cook whose thoughts are perpetually occupied by food. While Indian cuisine holds a special place in my heart for its incredible diversity and flavor-bomb dishes, my true passion lies in exploring the subtle ties between different cuisines- unraveling the shared threads of history that connect seemingly unrelated dishes across cultures.

In my kitchen, repetition is rare. I believe there's an entire world of flavors waiting to be explored, and my culinary philosophy is centered on embracing this diversity. Whether I'm recreating a traditional dish from a remote corner of India or delving into the nuances of a lesser-known regional specialty from another continent, my goal is to celebrate the universal language of food.

My journey as a food lover got a major boost when I stumbled across Westchester Foodies, where I've found a community of kindred spirits who share my passion for all things culinary. Here, I've discovered lifelong friends who understand my excitement when I nerd out about the intricacies of a recipe or the thrill of sourcing an ingredient. Being an admin for this group has been a fun and rewarding experience, allowing me to contribute to a positive and supportive space where food brings people together.

Amidst the often chaotic landscape of the internet, our corner of sunshine and rainbows in Westchester Foodies stands out as a safe and happy space. It's a place where I've grown both personally and gastronomically, learning about dishes and techniques I might never have encountered otherwise. My love for capturing the beauty of food through plating and photography has flourished here, inspired by the creativity and passion of our members.

Claudia Ossa

I lifted this chunk from one of my first blogs that still exists, Claudia's Tasty Bits, and while it gives you a window into how I discovered my love of many types of foods, it doesn't touch upon what food really means to me now.

I spent my childhood and teen summers in Colombia savoring such delights as chicken feet, chitlins and pork trotters. I did some time in New Mexico where I fell in love with Hatch green chile posole and sopapillas, New York where I breathed in the aromas of roasted chestnuts, dirty water dogs and demolished many a pu pu platter and Spain where my entire universe was flipped upside down over blood sausage, paella, fabada, Jerez (sherry), Jamón Iberico and anything from the sea.

Great, so she likes food.

At this moment in my life, what I love the most about food is super cliché but 100% my truth. I love how food connects people. I have always loved connecting people. If someone were to waste their cash on a tombstone after I have finished my shift on earth, it woulds simply read "Nokia." This will surely send anyone born in the 90's into a search frenzy.

So you can imagine the joy that it brings me to be a part of a pretty hefty community of foodies who are only there to share their love of food and cheer each other on. Idealistic? Totally.

Yah, but nobody does somethin' for nothin'. Do you consider "joy and connection" nothing?

But now I am embarking on something that will bring me a little dough. After 6+ years of loving and curating this group with the help of a few amazing humans, I had to make a decision. I could either end the group, ruin it by running ads or figure out a way to continue nurturing it while helping to pay some bills.

For those of you hungry for more info, feel free to shoot me an email at WestchesterFoodiesfb@gmail.com. Here is some stuff if you need a snack: Ages 0-3 in Colombia. Ages 4-15 mostly in Burbank, California. Age 15 in Alamogordo, NM. Age 16... a few months in Sunnyside (Queens), a few months in Rego Park, an unforgettable awful few nights in Flushing finished with a few glorious months in Forest Hills to complete the school year. All moves provided by one cab. Ages 17-21 back to Alamogordo, NM. Age 21-26?... Westchester (CA) and the LBC. Age 26 in Madrid, Spain. Age 27-34 back to the LBC again. Age 34-41 San Francisco and finally... age 41-now, White Plains. Oof.

College: some (4 years). Career: Branding. Like 20 years? Culinary school: some. Failed start-ups: 1. Children: 2 (that I know of). Current career: emerging writer. Warning: if you love how nonpartisan the group is and would like to continue to feel warm and fuzzy about me, don't visit my stuff. Otherwise, vaya con Dios or whoever you believe in.

Claudia's Tasty Bits on most socials. Most recent writing endeavor Claudia's Tasty Bits on Substack.

Now I need a snack.