Walking into the recently opened Sweet Parlor at Garvan’s Restaurant off Huguenot Street in New Paltz gives one the sense of stumbling upon a cottage in Donegal just as the scones are being pulled out of the oven. “Can I get you something, love?” asks Leonie McCloskey, the Galway-born baker at the sweet shop, with a warmth as soothing as breakfast tea. The parlor had a soft opening in late August, when McCloskey thought she could do something she loved while bringing in “a bit of income.”
As she moves around the kitchen, smells of chocolate and caramel, powdered sugar and cinnamon emanate from every corner. Her Irish lilt is as charming as her smile. There’s honestly nowhere else you’d rather be than nibbling on some soda bread and sharing the news of the day in the cozy shop.
McCloskey explains that she had already been doing the baking for their Irish restaurant and delighting guests’ palates with chocolate Guinness cakes and banoffee pie. She had also been working as a registered nurse in New York City, traveling at 4 a.m. and often returning just as the restaurant was getting into full swing. During the thick of the pandemic, McCloskey was travelling to 85th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, where she was being deployed to care for people by an agency. “The restaurant was shut down, and I was glad to have an income,” she says.
When she and her husband, Garvan, began to think of ways that they could reopen their restaurant, with an emphasis on outdoor dining in the yard and the garden, she thought that it might be time to hang up her nurse’s uniform and put her baking cap back on.
“We used to run a bed-and-breakfast in Ireland, and I baked all the time,” she says. “I just love baking.” As she talks, Garvan swings in to say hello, and his eyes light up with pride at the way Leonie has put together the Sweet Parlor. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?” he asks. “It’s so Leonie. She’s got such a way about her.”
Indeed, underneath the old-fashioned glass cake stands are freshly baked decorative cakes, including her beloved chocolate Guinness cake, Silver Palate lemon cake, Bakewell slices filled with crushed almonds and raspberries, fudge brownies, caramel squares and more. The Sweet Parlor, just to the right of the entrance to Garvan’s, offers a host of Jane’s Ice Cream flavors, and products from Ireland such as Barry’s Tea, Kilbeggan Porridge Oats, Tayto Crisps and chocolate bars.
Of all her Irish-inspired baked goods, McCloskey says that her banoffee pie is her signature creation. “I make it with fresh crushed biscuits and my own caramel. We have people call the restaurant and make reservations that include four pieces of banoffee. Last week they changed their reservation to make sure that they could come early enough to have six pieces of banoffee,” she says. “Garvan said that was the first time he remembers having a reservation change over a dessert!”
Having the Sweet Parlor attached to the restaurant allows the McCloskey matriarch to bake for the restaurant as well as shop. “I’m open on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. There are certain things that people can order to go or to have picked up,” like scones and soda bread or other baked goods that can be part of a movable feast. “Except for the banoffee. That doesn’t travel well.”
Like everyone, the couple has had to try to change and adapt their livelihoods based on the pandemic. Fortunately, Garvan’s is located in a rural setting, next to a golf course, off a historic street in a stone house with plenty of lawn and courtyard space.
They’ve also included online ordering and curbside pickup. McCloskey said that, regardless of the weather, they will continue to do curbside pickup.
To learn more about the Sweet Parlor at Garvan’s, swing by on the weekend or call 255-7888 for pre-orders and sweet treats to go.
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