We're not sure why, but St. Patrick's Day is a holiday that captures the imagination of a lot of grownups and seems to free us to act awfully silly. After a few pints at the pub, revelers of all backgrounds swear they're Irish. We at the Beard House would like to join in the fun, and while we don't have a river or scrambled eggs or pints of beer to dye green, we've gone one better: we've brought chef Jimmy Dunn over from Bayville, Long Island-an "Emerald Isle" that's close to home.

Bayville is situated on one of the most beautiful beaches on Long Island's North Shore. Right there amid the beach plums, spartina grass, and pitch pines sits the Pine Island Grill of the Crescent Beach Club, described as a "soaring three-story beauty" of pale wood and floor-to-ceiling windows by Joanne Starkey in The New York Times. Starkey liked the food, too, including the crispy fried lamb-filled ravioli with ratatouille-"worthy competition," she wrote, for the Grill's "sensational views of beach and Sound." She gave "dessert honors" to chocolate death, a warm chocolate soufflé with a runny center. Newsday loved the grilled porterhouse steak with mushroom hash and called the oven-roasted oysters with braised spinach and saffron cream "ideal." And The Boulevard called the Pine Island Grill "a jewel of a restaurant," offering the "finest in food and wine."

Dunn came to Long Island after working under Thomas Dillon at Siro's restaurant in Saratoga. First, he went to the Hamptons, spending time in the kitchens of Indian Cove, Mirko's, and Starr Bogg's, where he received Zagat's highest rating for a Long Island restaurant in 1997. Although his menu at the Pine Island Grill is known for its American food, this night Dunn is celebrating his Irish heritage with a menu of Irish classics and an array of Irish brews including Harp's Irish Lager, Heineken, and Guinness Stout.

So sign up, pin on a bit of green, and indulge your inner leprechaun.