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There's a tendency around St. Patrick's Day for folks to reach back into their heritage or their imagination to find an Irish connection. For they're a happy group, the Irish, full of songs and stories, and on their special day on March 17 they share a charm that draws the world to them. And what better place to congregate than at CB Hannegan's in Los Gatos, where the songs and stories have been enjoyed for as long as the restaurant has been in business--a quarter of a century.
But it won't be on just one day this year that the festivities abound. On March 15, Marie O'Gormley, chairperson for Listowel, Ireland, is meeting for drinks and hors d'oeuvres at Hannegan's with members of the Los Gatos Town Council. Listowel is the sister city of Los Gatos. O'Gormley, husband Patrick Lynch and the Listowel Town Clerk, John Poody, plan to be in town for a week. "If you see them," says Johnny Hannegan, "be sure and say hello."
Hannegan and the restaurant's co-owner, Chris Benson, will continue the celebration on Wednesday, when the Hannegan's Home Boy Bagpipe Band congregates to blow its wailing pipes from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Diners may share the restaurant's traditional fare of barbecue, Mexican, pasta, fish and chips and burgers that night. But on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, fare will be the traditional corned beef and cabbage, plus mussels, oysters, roasted turkey and a pig on a spit. Tickets, at $40 each in advance, cover all day and as much as one can eat while the throbbing, clacking feet of Irish dancers keep the crowd moving.
But it's not all about the Irish at Hannegan's. The Scottish clans and all who would encourage them flock to the place to enjoy an annual Robert Burns dinner and poetry night celebrating the 18th-century poet's birthday in January. It starts with "bagpiping in the Haggis" (sausage), followed by crab cakes, mashed potatoes and mashed turnips ("tatties and neeps"), salad, bread pudding and "a wee dram." "People have their noses pressed to the patio windows as the drummers and bagpipers march through the bar, and the guests tend to get more bawdy in their limerick selections as the evening progresses," observes barkeep and manager Tom Ovens with a small smile.
Ovens, 56, is a nine-year veteran of Hannegan's celebrations. He also is responsible for organizing an occasional private group of six to 10 Scotch fanciers who may ask to gather and taste up to five rare, single-malt whiskeys, followed by a smoked salmon feed. "People like the tastings," says Ovens. What is unique about them--beyond the flavor that each Scottish distillery claims can be affected by their special local water, the length of exposure to peat smoke and even the shape of the copper pot still--is where they are held. Known to few beyond Hannegan's employees is the tasting room in a cellar beneath the bar. Reached via a narrow hall behind the bar, a wide opening in the floor is entered by way of a rung ladder. A hand- over-hand descent brings one into a cool and dark room about 12 by 16 feet. Large stones, brick and reinforcing steel line the walls. Neon whiskey ads light the corners. There's a stained-glass window and an old sink. A communal table and a dozen chairs fill the room. It's a guy's place.
"We have the largest collection of single malts in the area," boasts Ovens. Asked about the cigar smoking that is heralded as a traditional Scotch accompaniment, Ovens says it's "a pretension" that takes away from the taste.
CB Hannegan's is located at 205 Bachman Ave. in Los Gatos. Call 408.395.1233.
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Photograph by George Sakkestad