Indian immigrant hosts free Thanksgiving buffet | Tomorrow's headlines tonight

Jeannie Muchnick, food and dining reporter for the Journal News, Lower Hudson Valley. You have many, many titles, author, social media influencer, and a real shoe leather reporter, as we like to say. And you approach your food and dining beat with the same tenacity the crime beat does, right? I do. I, just like your previous guests, I'm like a gumshoe reporter that I, I'm on the road a lot, kind of walking up and down streets, seeing what's new, what's happening and chatting with people all the time. So, um, so you'll have to tell us Jeannie, because, uh, when I, uh, with the help of some artificial intelligence, I was able to determine that the most surprising fact that you'd like to know that's out there on the internet, do you want, do you know what it is? You know what I'm about to say about you? I have a feeling. Yes. Is it going to be about Brussels sprouts? It's not about Brussels sprouts, but I'm making a note about Brussels sprouts to ask you about those. No, the most surprising thing about you is that you are an author about cooking. You are a food and dining. You don't call yourself a critic, but journalist. And yet you don't cook or rather you don't want to cook. cook really. No, I mean, I tried cooking early in my marriage and my husband didn't like the food I was making. So I said, you cook. And that's sort of how it went. So he's really the cook. And I'm just the eater. That actually sounds like good relationship advice more than anything else. Uh, I look, yeah, I mean, Honestly, I consider myself a news reporter for the food beat because, like your previous guest, people care about news. They care about restaurant openings, closings, what's coming. They care about trends. Obviously, in the social media world, they care about what's viral, what's the great cheese pull, the pizza with the best, you know, all of that. So, um... Yeah. So that's basically what I consider myself. I don't feel like I'm not a food critic. I'm not going to a restaurant to critique the food or anything like that. I'm just giving you. The news, the facts. And we see you tasting things on your influencer. You go places, you go to restaurants, and you actually taste it on camera for us and give us your genuine reaction. And that seems to have really blown up. Were you surprised by that? And what made you take your journalism to social media? It's the way of the world. Honestly, that's the way a lot of people are getting their news. And a lot of our news is behind the paywall. So it's harder for them to see the stories. So it's a great way to get them excited about my stories, but also, you know, still get still get tidbits as they, you know, in the food world, as we say, still get bites of information. Also, I what the journal news is part of the USA Today network. So it's, It was a fun thing that a lot of USA Today writers was doing a best thing I ate this week. And so that's a lot of what I was doing. Things have gotten a little crazy, so I haven't done it as much lately, but that's where you saw me eating and doing the best thing I ate this week. I have a newsletter that goes out weekly where I still talk about the best bites of the week. So I do give my opinion. I do slide it in there. And you don't get in trouble from the chefs or the restaurant owners if they don't like what you posted? I usually don't post if I don't like something. Oh, good. So it's all good news. That's good. I like that. It's all good news. Yes. So speaking of good news, you're revisiting, I think, coming up here in your next. installment, your next article, about a really generous thing that a woman in the lower Hudson Valley does on Thanksgiving. Would you like to tell us about her? She's not, you know, wasn't born here in America, but has a business here and celebrates a very American holiday. I'll let you take it away. OK, well, Chef Bonnie Saron, she has three restaurants in Mount Kisco, New York, in Westchester County, and she's an Indian immigrant. And when she first came to the United States, she felt very left out on Thanksgiving. Everyone was with their families and she felt lonely, you know, and it can be a depressing holiday for some people who don't have a place to go. And so she sort of vowed to herself that when she had a restaurant of her own, that she was going to open it up. to people. And she's kept that promise. This is the 16th year that she offers a free Thanksgiving buffet from 11:15 a.m. to 2:15 at her restaurant in Mount Kisco. And it's a buffet. It's completely free. And she tells me constantly, Jeannie, please tell people to come. She wants anyone We wanted everyone to come. No one's judged. There's there's just it's just love. It's just giving. And she does a selection of Indian, you know, some chicky chicken tiki masala along with American favorites. Obviously, there's turkey. Obviously, there's ham. Obviously, there's apple pie and mashed potatoes. But you'll also find some other fun Indian dishes. So that's what she does. And she gets a lot of joy from doing it. She has a restaurant called She's called here the queen of the littles because she has three restaurants with little in their name. It's Little Crepe Street and Little Pink Cup and Little Kebab Station. And they're all next to each other. So that's where she has it. So how did you get a tip that she was doing this when you first reported on it? She called me. I've been I've known her for years and she let me know. And again, she just she wants to just spread the word and she really wants people coming. I mean, she's done it through the pandemic when she, you know, had to do dishes, you know, to go and put it, you know, people were six feet apart. And she just she's certainly she just gets a lot of joy. She just says it's all. about giving love giving joy and it just makes her happy to know that she's making other people happy because she she very distinctly remembers that feeling and I think a lot of us know that feeling I mean around the holidays a lot of us feel left out and don't feel like We have a place to go and this is just a place where there's just friendliness and welcoming and, you know, she's got volunteers that every year come and, you know, spend time away from their family to help and to serve. And so, yeah, so she reaches out to me and I reach out to her and say, Bonnie, you still doing it? And she says, yes, I still am. Have you ever? Her restaurants have gotten smaller. She used to have a bigger restaurant. Yeah. So what I love about her is that big, small, whatever, she's still doing it. Last year was the first year that she did it in these smaller little restaurants that are tied together and she still gets a lot of people. I will also just mention that Little Pink Cup is also Westchester's first mocktail bar. So you can stay for the mocktails. New trend there. Have you ever Have you ever eaten at her buffet or volunteered to help serve? I have. Some of those pictures are mine. The turkey, I just, I helped, you know, help serve and help take photos and help spread the word. And yeah, I wasn't there last year. I was there the year before. But you didn't help cook. We've established that, right? No, I definitely did not help cook and no one wants to help me cook. No one wants me to cook. I'm not good anymore at cooking. I think it sounds really great. I was just curious before we move on, how many people does she serve each time she does this? I mean, it really varies. She's had, you know... Around 60, I would say, like 40 to 60 to 100 is kind of where she is. But it kind of ebbs and flows as the day goes on because it starts at 11.15 and ends at 2.15. So she just never knows. And that's the thing. She has so much food because she doesn't know and she plans for a lot of people coming and a lot of people taking food home. If you come towards the end and there's still leftovers, you know, there's still food there, you're welcome to take it. So it sounds like you, in addition to this story that we can look forward to seeing in the next couple of days, you try to find stories or go to places that nobody's heard of yet. Is that right? Are you trying to sort of break news with your discovery? Yes, like I said, I consider myself a news reporter for the Food Beat, so a lot of people in the area, you know, know that I go hard on making sure I'm sort of first there, first to report on something, first to report on any community actions or any new restaurants coming or new restaurants closing. closing. This is- This isn't so much of a surprise because it is her 16th year doing it, but the fact that she still does it, she still does it with so much love and so much abundance and each year is adding new things and there's more volunteers. She doesn't love having her picture taken, but you can see there's a smile on her face that I got her to smile because she's really happy to see people there. So I hope everyone comes. There's no judgment and plenty of people come who've been coming for years and it's their It's our tradition now. How nice. That's so great to reach out to people that need somewhere to go. And do you get feedback, not just on that story, but on other stories? And does that lead you to somewhere else? I mean, you know, in this day and age, we all get comments. Do you interact with your fans and your readers? Absolutely, yes. Especially with social media, they're always reaching out. And I have this newsletter, so people reach out. And at the bottom of every story of mine is my email and a link to subscribe to my newsletter. And I'm out in the community, as I said. I'm out driving, I'm out chatting with people, I'm at coffee shops, and I encourage people to get in touch for sure. That's great. So I had to ask you this because I did watch all of your, and I encourage people to go to your Instagram feed because it's hilarious, but also interesting, especially if you're a foodie or a wannabe foodie. But how do you stay so slim and trim if you're eating all those calories all the time? Honestly, I only take a couple bites, and I take a friend who will eat more, so that's it. All right. You know what I'm sensing here? Perhaps you need a contest or a contest for your viewers. Maybe some of your readers will want to join you. Maybe you need an invite out there and invite people to join you. Oh, believe me. I get plenty of people who would like to come with me. It's just hard to schedule things because I'm doing it based Based on news like you are, do you know what I mean? I'm based on where I'm going so I don't I don't always have my Yeah. week plan until the last minute, but they're welcome to come and try and they're welcome to meet me anywhere. And Jeannie I have to ask you because I did like I said I looked at some of your Instagrams you've seen some celebrities out and about in the lower Hudson Valley, do you have any a secret story about the best one the worst one or how they behaved come on just a little something. Ummm... I don't know what I mean. The thing is, a lot of celebrities are at restaurants and because I cover restaurants, that's what I'm writing about. What kills me is that I live so close to Chappaqua and I've gone a million times and I've never seen Bill and Hillary. So I've tried and everyone else sees them. And then I try running there and I still don't see them. So that's my I would like to see Bill and Hillary. I know. I can see them. I know how you can see them. This is a tip from one reporter to another. Go to the Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua. Yes. And you will have access to both Clintons. They march in it every single year. And the first time I saw them marching, I thought, why didn't we send our camera up there? We could interview Bill Clinton, the former president and former secretary of state, right there without any issue. Thank you. Thank you. No, they are. They're great. I did. I have seen Bill Murray and he's super fun and he was recently in Yonkers on Halloween and he actually got behind the bar. He's just a super fun guy. Always willing to chat with you and just like he is on TV. Makes you laugh. Oh, Jeannie, thank you so much for your time tonight.