i thought you know maybe what is it that i'd love to do and you know i like the idea of opening up a little shop of business in sarasota i love sarasota even and i like the downtown so i look for something that didn't exist here that was she shot so we it's artist and she's company and we focus we're what i like to think of as a proper cheese something that when i was a little girl in england we would go to a fishmonger we would go the cheesemonger and or the baker and so there was a there was a shop dedicated and so that's what i wanted to do so we have about seventy percent we don't need to go to europe for amazing to use we still do because they're the pros but americans are to the american or to the growing leaps and bounds and then it's just it's fabulous there's else we like to have relationships with these people they can get here so you know we like the idea of being able to us speak for those so we're storytellers when you think of it and so we like to tell the story of whether being a team or something like that and that's that's really who we are and everybody has a narrative even the cheese has a tamed it's not process there are no preservatives involved in certain relationships with the cheese makers they're waking up at three o'clock in the morning you know worrying about this amazing wash ro well we've been at the gardens for over eight years actually starting our ninth year here it's a big garden and actually we took over from a previous operator and we've been operating ever since we've expanded the cafe and added a t v room here and added some of benson catering that we do here it's all the gardens full of businesses actually called local coffee and tea and so we're really proud of the of the of the local coffee companies that we use they roast coffee here locally as opposed to flying in roasted beans so that stimulates the economy and keeps people working here we use java dog and latitude twenty three point five and we have since we started so that's one example of the local products and services we use this is another example we have certainly of coca cola spray and diet coke in some national brands but we also have computer that's brewed here in sarasota we also have orlando and florida avenue ales so these are local breweries local beers that are really popular trying to add more local beers to here as well and then another example is our frozen treats we certainly have hog and i was intending jerry's in there very very popular but the pop craft is a local artist and popsicle company that's here in sarasota so we try and support as many the local businesses as we can and we use local pastries in local big shops and that's part of our mission that local coffee and tea to support a local product and service before we actually open for business we created three operating tenants and that is to promote local products and services protect the low environment and celebrate local treasures we try and use as a prism that we look through all of our decisions here itself at local coffee and t v so the products will be the local products that we talked about the environment is the recycling and other environmentally sensitive decisions that we make in terms of we use all biodegradable cups and materials and then the cellaring treasures is the fun part that's where we get to celebrate selby and ringling and moat with a variety of different products say we try and offer a smart menu so something that has a little bit for everyone we evolve it constantly i will say since we opened the children's rain forest we've tried to be a more sensitive we just see more children in the garden and and by extension obviously we see more mothers in the garden so we're trying to offer things that a mother would want to serve their child but that said our sandwiches we used to vary in bread which is a beautiful cranberry walnuts bread we make a turkey sandwich with that all of our meats are now boar's head meats so we're pleased with that new relationship with force i mean it's a great local product and people notice the difference they notice a difference in the quality and and so we're pleased that we have some yogurt we have a variety of begin and vegetarian options we try and make sure that those are available on the on a daily basis and also favorites like roast beef and ham we have a great panini press we do a lot of soups as well that our clientele a soup and maybe a small salad or a half sandwich is what we find people doing and they'll take it enjoy it in the cafe but there's also some beautiful places to sit here also on the waterfront there some beautiful benches that people can sit and enjoy lunch we realize that nobody comes to sell the gardens for the food or for the tea i would like to think they do but we realize they come here to say to him joy the nature enjoy beauty enjoy all the all that selby gardens has to offer from the rainforest to the to the exhibits that they have  cast for aspects of tea so where it comes from the origin how it's processed what makes how does it go from a tea leaf to a tea that you enjoy in a cup and then the better way to prepare it and the health benefits most people that come to the gardens are always curious about how the tea is going to affect them you know it's going to wake them up in the morning or it's going to help them fall asleep at night we've created teas to celebrate local treasures so the stores the historic spanish point and what we try and do is pick out different aspects of those of those treasures and try to bring them to life in a cup of tea so with selby work in the vanilla is the ocket of of the beach so it's almost there's almost like a it's a coconut and pineapple it almost has a pia colada sent to it so they're special they're very unique they're all loose leaf tea and they're delicious and so what we want is people to taste them and have a great reaction enjoy a cup while they're here take a bag home as a gift or to celebrate and then to put come back and purchase from us come back next year but also they would be able to purchase online we started here like i said this is our ninth year operating and we always tried to work with the nonprofits so there are a lot of events that take place if there's an architectural salvage their charity events or we do any coffee and tea we do a lot with moat in some of their fundraisers we are also very proud of being one of the top one of the first ten business is to be in the sarasota green business partnership and you know we love working with sarasota we do a lot of work with the city and with the county as well and you know i've found sarasota to be a great place to do business but also a great business part of it is a fabulous place to be to come every single day i mean we're open every day which is the hard part but the best part is we get to come here every and it's a very very easy place to recruit so we the people that have been with us have been here for a long time and i just it was a great place to come to