CORONATION EVENING MENU

Appetizers:

Soup of the day…..$6

Tuna

Sesame seed crusted Ahi tuna, pan seared and served alongside pickled ginger, wasabi and a citrus ponzu sauce…..$9

Salmon cakes

Two potato crusted Scottish Salmon cakes served on a bed of mixed greens finished with a remoulade sauce…..$9

Baked Brie

A 3oz wheel of Brie baked in a puff pastry crust and served with a raspberry drizzle and crustinis accompanied with a fruit garnish…..$8

Entrée:

Coronation Chicken Salad 

A mild curry and mango flavored chicken salad from the original recipe created by Constance Spry in 1952, served with toasted coconut rice…..$15

Filet Mignon 

A 6oz Seasoned Pan Seared Filet Mignon served over creamy garlic mashed potatoes with a blue cheese and Applewood smoked bacon cream sauce topped with diced tomatoes…..$22

Petite Twin Lobster Tails

Two petite lobster tails served over scallion infused mashed potatoes and sautéed asparagus finished with a sweet spicy cream sauce…..$20

Braised Pork Chop

A pan seared 8oz pork chop served over a potato cake, Swiss Chard topped with a stewed tomato and red wine demi accompanied with sautéed asparagus….$18

All entrees served with a side salad and a diner roll.

Coronation Day for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953

Mothers Sweetheart

Did you know that Mother’s were first recognized in 17th Century England? England celebrates the custom of Mothering Sunday in honour of Mother’s. In the United States, Julia Ward Howe a writer, abolitionist, and suffragist established Mother’s Day in 1872. Julia Ward Howe is best known for writing the words to “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. In 1911, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.

In 2012, Mother’s Day will be celebrated on May 13 at the Windsor Rose with some special dishes as well as our current menu. We will be open for Breakfast at 9:00 am until 11:00 am and lunch will begin at 11:00 am and we will continue serving until 7:00 pm.

Our specials will include one complimentary champagne mimosa for the ladies, and a small tea gift bag, as well as a chance to enter a Mother’s Day raffle.

Our menu specials will include our Sunday succulent slow cooked Pot Roast au jus, together with yorkshire puddings and gravy, vegetables, and garlic mashed potatoes for $13.95

Pan seared Red Snapper served with jullianne asparagus, diced tomatoes sauteed in garlic butter, over a seafood panko crusted potato cake served with a sweet and spicy sauce.

Limoncello Lobster Tails pan seared with a butter herbed rice and sauteed with asparagus and spinach served with a drizzle of sweet lemon sauce.

We are accepting reservations, so please reserve early to avoid disappointment! Please call 352-735-2551

]]> http://www.windsorrose-tearoom.com/therose/articles/cheers-to-all-moms/feed/ 0 http://www.windsorrose-tearoom.com/therose/articles/diamond-jubilee-commemoratives-have-landed/ http://www.windsorrose-tearoom.com/therose/articles/diamond-jubilee-commemoratives-have-landed/#comments Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:51:11 +0000 Marsha Goodale http://www.windsorrose-tearoom.com/?p=2118 The first shipments of the fine bone English china commemorative tributes to the Diamond Jubilee have arrived! There are mugs, teacups & saucers, teapots, and more items pouring in everyday, some are pictured below! Each item is available in limited quantity…so order yours today! Come in to see the entire collection!

Diamond Jubilee Crown Victorian Mug

We also have some lovely new spring china arriving and in stock. Looking for the perfect Mother’s Day or Grandmother gift? We have some very pretty teacups and saucers and mugs devoted to the appreciation of our special Mothers just in time for Mother’s Day. Quantities are limited so stop in when you can! We also can ship for those that are interested in sending a gift! Call the store for details, 352-735-2551.

Prince William and Kate Bailey Teapot--only 2 left!!

Spring Tankard's by Royale Garden

The Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee (25 years) in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee (50) years in 2002. The first British monarch to significantly mark fifty years on the throne was King George III. The only other British Monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee was Queen Victoria in 1897. Queen Elizabeth II is the great great-grandaughter of Queen Victoria.

The celebration will be marked with a Thames River Pageant at high water in the afternoon of Sunday June 03, 2012. There will be up to a thousand boats on the River Thames in preparation for Her Majesty The Queen to lead the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

In England, The National Maritime Museum will open ‘Royal River: Power, Pageantry and the Thames’ in April 2012. It will explore the relationship between the Queen, the City of London and the River Thames.

Although we can not invite the Queen to celebrate her coronation at the Windsor Rose we will be celebrating as if she were expected to pop in unannounced at any moment. We will be carrying the commemorative fine bone china in honor of Queen Elizabeth II which will arrive after March 15, 2012.

Let there be cake on June 02,03,and 04 2012! Our tribute to the Queen will include a free slice of Coronation Cake. We will host our own Diamond Jubilee so if you can’t make it accross the pond or to any of the Royal Family’s stops in Canada, Australia and New Zealand  and some of the other realms and territories of the Commonwealth countries please come and celebrate with us.

Thousands of beacons will be lit around the world on the 4th June 2012 to commemorate Her Majesty The Queen’s 60 year reign over the UK and as head of the Commonwealth. We may not have a beacon but Mount Dora does have a lighthouse, I wonder if they would let us decorate with the Queen’s banner?

The National Portrait Gallery will stage ‘The Queen: Art and Image’, a touring exhibition of images of the Queen.The Victoria and Albert Museum is holding an exhibition of portraits of The Queen by photographer Cecil Beaton, which will tour around the UK. We will be sponsoring an exhibit of local artist’s portraits of the Queen and will hang the winning portrait amidst our Royalty portraits. So stay tuned for details.

An official medal has been commissioned to mark the Jubilee. Those in the Armed Forces, emergency services and prison service personnel, are among those eligible to wear it.

The Jubilee emlem is featured in the background of the portrait of the Queen taken by John Swannell in 2002 and a very lucky 10-year-old Katherine Dewar’s design was chosen for the Jubilee emblem after a national competition. The Jubilee emlem is featured in the background of the portrait of the Queen taken by John Swannell in 2002.

In 2012 the Royal Collection will hold exhibitions at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse and elsewhere in the United Kingdom to mark the Diamond Jubilee.

The Jubilee Woods Project was launched by The Woodlands Trust in February 2011. It will create a 460-acre public wood in Leicestershire to celebrate the Jubilee and also aims to plant six million trees across the UK, creating hundreds of new woodlands. As part of this project, 60 ‘Diamond Woods’ of at least 60 acres each will be planted to mark each year of the Queen’s reign. The planting will begin in autumn 2011 and run to the end of 2012.

The only thing that could even come close to this event would be another Royal Wedding, perhaps of Harry or the birth of a baby to William and Kate! We will update these events as it gets closer, but make your reservations early for a Royal Coronation Dinner on June 02, 2012 at the Windsor Rose. Use our reservation system or call 352-735-2551 for details!

The Queen will host a River Thames Pagent.

The Royal Collection on display

    

Military Medal for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Conflict Resolution

The internet has become a way of life for many people; it is almost an addiction as they feel a need to constantly check their Facebook page. “Social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant online contact. They call it “ambient awareness.” It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does — body language, sighs, stray comments — out of the corner of your eye.”(Thompson, 2008). Spending your time on the internet makes you feel as if you are connected to the pulse of all things that are relevant.

As a business owner you can spend hours trying to promote events, sales, special offers and the vision of your business. Having a business presence on the internet is another full-time job. If you are a small entrepreneur your time is precious and everything you work toward is with the success of your business in mind as the goal. Insuring a business following on the internet can be a double edged-sword.

We get so many compliments daily from first time visitors and repeat customers about the quality of our food and the attention to detail of our servers, and staff. So it is very disheartening to hear when someone has a legitimate complaint. Typically, myself or our Manageress can turn things around once the problem has been brought to our attention. I hate it when anyone is dissatisfied if it something we have control over and we do attempt to make things right the first time so we don’t have many of these issues.

I toggled over to TripAdvisor to be totally disgusted by what I saw. Two recent reviews that were horrifying as a business owner. I read the reviews and I cringed. I spent months promoting an event, which for the most part went off beautifully. There was one table that complained because they were sat at a round table for six. With a restaraunt that holds a maximum of 48 people we do not have a large dining area.

These ladies were unhappy from the moment they walked in because of their table size. They were also the last ones that made a reservation for our evening event so every seat in the house was already spoken for weeks prior. They complained about their food, which we reacted by bringing up new steaming hot dishes, even though they had already eaten most of it. This was still unexceptable. At the close of the evening I offered them a voucher to come back at another time to try and make up for their unhappiness. Did this work? I think not because they went straight to TripAdvisor and wrote a nasty review.

According to the Facebook company website, there are at least “210,655 companies on Facebook”… and the numbers are growing daily. “[The] average Facebook user has 130 friends, and spends over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.” The other outrageous numbers of statistics on the Facebook website include; there are over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages). “The average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events; and the average user creates 90 pieces of content each month and more than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) are shared each month.” (Facebook Statistics, 2011).

Those numbers are both impressive and frightening at the same time. At one point we referred to “word of mouth” as the best advertising for small businesses, now it appears that the best “blog” is even more effective because it can reach more people in a shorter period of time.

We are not a chain restaurant. We make everything fresh daily and we are all about authenticity,  we try engaging with customers in a way that feels genuine, and we keep our atmoshere warm and inviting, this is why we have both a reputation to uphold and repeat customers that come back to us everytime they are in the Mount Dora area.

The first rule of social networking is that people join to belong to a world bigger than their own. If a person has a triumph they want to share it with everyone they know. If a person has a conflict, a grievance, an injustice, or a negative happenstance they will not only tell everyone they know but they will use the internet sites they frequent to broadcast to the friends of friends of friends just to let off steam. Complaining has been around since the beginning of time because it is healthier to vent your frustration then to bottle it inside. In fact this editorial is just that.

In a “Big Box” chain store, restaurants or within big business franchises employees and management follow a corporate cookie-cutter mentality. They offer products in mass at discount prices but with very little personalization to meet the needs of the consumer. Many of the people employed in these businesses are there for a paycheck, not a career. It is doubtful that putting a negative comment on Facebook about a big retail chain would really have an effect on their business because most people have accepted poor service as the norm.

The small business operation is a vanishing breed. In many small businesses, the emphasis is on making sure that every patron is comfortable and will become a repeat customer. They depend upon loyalty to keep their doors open for business. In small businesses where they are open seven days a week, there is even a greater responsibility to provide what the larger chains cannot, consistent personalized service and quality.

The owners want the first impression for a new customer to be ‘bravissimo’ and the repeat visit to be like the encore with a standing ovation. In this environment the quality of service is the priority and the expectation of the consumer needs to exceed not impede the opinion of the customer when they leave the establishment. A small business if hit with multiple website complaints can really feel the sting of a bad review, if there are enough of them people will avoid the business like the plague because they expect more with a small business.

Every business wants to be pumped with compliments, but what if you have a serious complaint that somehow is overlooked and it spreads to the social network? The old adage rings true that if you are happy you will share your delight with twenty people, if you had a miserable experience while conducting business of any sort you will tell it to a hundred people.

Unhappy customers very rarely return, and they peddle a special brand of negative influence to everyone around them convincing anyone within earshot that they will have the same disappointing experience and forewarn them not to bother. It is almost like a secret mission to destroy a business.

Let’s face facts, not everyone is happy. Some people live to spread their misery to other life forms via any medium, the only difference here is that by putting their comments on the internet it is being seen globally. What does this really say about the person who is so irresponsible and inconsiderate of others that they rant in a public forum to provoke havoc– simply that they are malicious and mentally unadjusted?

Will the public treat that comment as an isolated incident and keep reading further down the reviews? It depends upon the information that the potential customer may have heard already.

The computer information stream has started flowing so fast that it has become a volcanic explosion of seismic activity that can easily go out of control.  Suddenly, now global ears and eyes have become available with an anonymous touch of the keyboard at your fingertips. As with all creations that are meant to make life easier there is a fringe society that has simultaneously given birth to some “Frankenstein” effects that have reared its destructive ugliness on social networks.

What if there was a way to harness that negative energy and turn it into a positive platform for change? I think that my response probably means very little to those women who decided they were unhappy from the minute they walked in and were out to prove to the world that they were going to express themselves by putting up a negative review.

Was the comment really honest feedback to existing and potential customers? Probably not, but if it got a rise out of the business owner perhaps that comment should not be deleted. Maybe the answer is to ask happy customers to also log their opinions on websites. If the nasty comment is surrounded by a flood of compliments so that the negative one stands out like a sore thumb people may read it and think, “How rude!” and then they align themselves with all the positive reviews and come to the defense of the business in outrage over the comment and write a positive one of their own to contradict the negative posting.

Is there any way to prevent marketing terrorism? Since the social networks are available to everyone, anyone can target the unsuspecting public by pushing their own agendas in arenas that clearly offer the opportunity to voice your opinion and make offensive remarks protected by our First Amendment right to free speech. The reputation of an individual or a business can be undermined and tarnished in real time with a few keystrokes.

It is very difficult to get these comments removed. Since all websites are primarily controlled by the internet there are often no phone numbers associated with many of these sites to contact the web administrator to correct a statement that has been made unfairly in less than three to five days.

Meanwhile the damage is leaking through every crack and crevasse and affecting the goodwill of a business and potential customers via some grievance that some disgruntled person has decided to post to purposefully try to sabotage a business or an individual. The hacker could have anger management issues, delusions of grandeur, or a legitimate complaint; it takes some investigation by the business in order to determine what the underlying cause may be.

Negative reviews, dare I say it, make the business almost seem human. Okay, maybe in the heat of the moment it seemed as if nothing could be worse, but let’s look at how many good comments are posted versus one really awful one. It was unexpected feedback, but now it is time to deal with it.

It may be days before the web information has reached the attention of the business owner or the individual, by then the keystroke is mightier than the sword and the saboteur has made their mark! In a strange way, being isolated also empowers people anonymously to complain on line rather than actually making a complaint over an issue while a transaction is occurring in a business.

Some people simply do not know the art of how to bring up an issue that is bothering them while in public. If asked in public, “How was everything, were you able to find everything you were looking for, was the staff helpful to you?” Most people will answer in the affirmative even if they were not happy. Those people may walk away annoyed, but they tend to shy away from conflict, yet these people are the same ones that head home to their keyboard and write about their grievances and forward it to every friend and website link to make a point.

It is clear that these individuals did not get the attention they felt that they deserved. Still, they may have done the business owner a favor by bringing an incident to their attention. Perhaps, there was an employee who did take a complaint but did not know how to deal with the situation (especially if the blunder was theirs) and fearing for their own job security they did not report it to the management hoping it would all be forgotten.

Which is really better for the company, having an employee cover up a mistake without taking responsibility and possibly repeating the scenario at some future time and not knowing about it or bringing the incident to the forefront by being “flamed” on the internet and turning it into a training lesson? Awareness of any issue gives you an opportunity to correct it.

How can a business that gets a slamming review to boycott their establishment even become aware of this problem? They can not change the situation unless they are faced with it when it happens! Venting is generally the indication that a customer feels that whatever the circumstances were that they deserve a resolution. This provides an opportunity for the business manager or owner to listen to the customer, soothe ruffled feathers, and possibly turn a bad situation into a positive one.

Spin selling works just as well on the internet as it does in any business. An alternate theory of reverse psychology may help to shore up the reputation of the business by letting the negative comment stay. Under most circumstances, I am a firm believer in not removing comments simply because they are negative in nature.

Independent review sites are created to give  an online presence in a bounteous social community. If a review site prints a review it represents the reviewers opinion, this does not mean that the review is correct, justified, and may be merely portraying only one side of a story. However, people that rely on reviews tend to look at the most recent and if it is not favorable the potential visitor may decide to skip the experience in favor of something else that starts with a favored viewpoint.

If consumerism has taught us anything over the last century, it’s that not every experience is a positive one.  Not only is this an understatement, but not everything that appears in print is true–it is simply the opinion of one person, the writer of the review.

What happens is a chain of events that really gives a small business a different kind of concern. In most incidences these complaints aren’t happening when the customer is in the restaurant during afternoon tea or a meal. The feedback is happening online for millions of eyeballs to see, without the attention of anyone in management being aware of a situation or a chance to correct it.

Social media is all about communication and two-way conversation – it’s not a dictatorship. So by publicly criticizing your establishment this disgruntled customer has presented you an opportunity. The important thing at this point isn’t the customer’s so-called bad experience; it’s how you deal with it in a very public forum. If customers see a negative comment on a website, then notice it has disappeared, they could potentially lose faith in your brand. It would be logical for your  fans to think you aren’t interested in feedback of all types, just the kind that is positive.

Credibility is measured in a two way exchange; you present the good with the bad and go to extremes to insure that there are more good comments and happy experiences than anything else. How the business demonstrates concern is the critical element in realizing customer satisfaction. If the problem is handled correctly everyone watching the scenario play out on the social network will believe that the business has its heart in the right place which can result in new business. It is important to have faith that all the time, effort, preparation and hard work are appreciated by most people. If you have chosen to be an entrepreneur, you already have thick skin or you wouldn’t still be in business. Putting up with the occasional unreasonable customer comes with the territory.

The social network and internet review sites may be an even greater concept description; however those words tied together make a statement with a broad interpretation that has different meanings and usages depending upon your perspective. Those three mundane words now yield a power that can define how you relate to yourself and others. “The social network”, can be a question, an answer, a solution, a cause, a possibility, a probability, a problem, a warning, an opportunity, a symptom, a deviation, and a lifestyle to the end user. It is above all things, no less than a global social implosion when wielded as a weapon or an explosion of popularity for those that read something favorable and can’t wait to try the experience. For us, facing the truth is the way to learn, revise, regroup, and try to be the best at what we offer, a unique atmosphere and wonderful food with a great team.

Vintage London Tea Party

We can take private party bookings up to our seating capacity of 48 people for reunions, wedding showers, bridal showers, school and church outings or corporate events. Daytime and evening hours are available to book your party. For large parties there is a $50.00 deposit to confirm your reservation. The credit card stays on file and is not charged unless your party cancels within a 24 hour period before the event and then the $50.00 is considered a cancellation fee.

We understand that being the organizer of the party is a tough responsibility, so we try to make it as simplified as possible. You may choose specific items off of our menu within your price point and offer a small range of menu items to your group. Since everything that we make is fresh and made to order we need an accurate count of people attending the party five days before your event. Within three days prior to the event we need to know the food items your guests will be having. Numbers have a tendency to fluctuate– you have an add on or a cancellation of an invitee– so we need to get the final count the day before your event. That way we are prepared and everyone’e expectations are met.

Depending on when you are planning your party you will want to look at the reservation calendar first to determine if there is an event that conflicts with your date. Sometimes we may have another party booking, or perhaps we can not honor reservations because the town of Mount Dora has the streets blocked off for an event and getting to us is a problem.

For weekend bookings, breakfast time is an option between 9:00am and 11:00am. There is a 10:30 slot that allows your party time to arrive and be seated get the beverage order in and order lunch at 11:00am. With large parties the maximum seating time is one and one half hour without a room fee. If you would like to stay longer it is a charge of $100.00 for an additional hour during peak times.

Please remember we are a small venue that has most of our clientele visit on the weekend so if you are taking a block of time away from our loyal customers we have to have a room charge.

We can start a private party at 4:45pm on most weekends where we are not planning an evening event at the Windsor that can last until 6:15pm without a room charge. For additional time it is $100.00 per hour after 6:15.

For those parties that want a meet and greet this time frame is perfect and we can offer hors d’oerves and beer and wine for a set fee per person.

All parties that are not tax exempt must cover the 7% sales tax fee, and a 20% gratuity is added to all large parties.

For specific events, prices and partnerships with our local merchants for out of town guests please phone and ask for Marsha Goodale.

We try to work with every business organization, non-profits, wedding receptions, or just get togethers with friends and family at affordable prices.

Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun!

Come in and try any of various Daily lunch specials!

Chicken and Ham Special

Scottish Salmon Filet over Wasabi Mashed Potatoes with a garlic and roasted red pepper sauce

A New Year starts with a fresh outlook and many things to be grateful for are remembered. First we remember the faces of all the customers that have found us for the first time and enjoyed their experience enough to tell us in person or write something nice on the web about us, or tell another person to come visit us. We sincerely appreciate the accolades, and so does our staff. Those simple gestures make all the hard work worthwhile.

It is no secret that small businesses have had a challenging couple of years. In an unstable economy we are humbled by the amount of people that come back to us while they are on vacation to spend a few hours with us from all parts of the world and the United States. It is our pleasure to serve those travelers and welcome you back each and every time you are able to visit. We hope that you find something new and different that excites you. We hope you enjoy the subtle changes mixed in with our growing British memorabilia.

To our many regular supporters who visit us weekly we hope to continue to deliver and go beyond meeting your expectations. We take pride in what we do and hope to increase the numbers of people who call The Windsor home. Thank you to those of you that have pointed out things that we may have overlooked so that we can improve and grow. You can not take back mistakes, but you can learn from them. We notice and appreciate the growing numbers of locals who are supporting small business. Our breakfast on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is growing thanks to everyone that has spread the word.

We have many plans for the New Year and with your help and support we can achieve our goals. We are implementing some entertainment evenings built around dinners and some upcoming regular extended hours to try new things. Please subscribe to our website so that you will know first our upcoming events. We have a small room which makes it ideal for an intimate evening of entertainment and fun events. We hope to continue bringing fresh ideas in the New Year.  Please stop in and visit, and bring your friends.

Monday February 13th a special Valentine’s Day celebration with tea favors for everyone. Don’t forget if you want to attend our special “Romantic Evening at the Rose” that you call ahead and reserve your seat for an evening of wine, dine, and romantic live harp by Nici Haerter. A $10.00 per person pre-paid reservation applies to your meal choice, and will sell out quickly so be sure to book early. The evening event begins at 6:00pm-9:30pm.

Tuesday February 14, 2012 will feature one free champagne mimosa for the ladies with any entree purchase and special food items along with our daily menu.

Please reserve early to avoid disappointment! As always on busy days we will try to seat you at the time of your reservation but if a guest is still enjoying their meal there may be a slight waiting time.

Share tea with someone special!