April Employee of the Month

Rosario Resort's Director of Maintenance Kirk Troutman and General Manager Dan Dohner congratulate April Employee of the Month Bob Matheson of our Maintenance Department. A well deserved recognition, as Bob is always willing to jump in and help out anyway he can at a moments notice. Bob has worked at Rosario for five years and seems to have a fix for everything. In his spare time he restores Porsches (he has five) and is building a flying saucer...

Congratulations Bob!

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Food and Wines of Italy, Part 2

Here's a look at the delightful Italian Wine Dinner presentations...


The evening began with Tapas Passato (passed tapas).



Then came the appetizer... l'orrichetti di Pettini ed Aragosta (Scallop and Lobster Orechietti with Saffron Cream).



Next came Insalata di Arugula (Arugula Salad).



The entrée was Saltimbocca di Pollo (Sage Seared Breast of Organic Chicken, Proscuitto Ham, Grilled Eggplant, Wilted Greens, Caramelized Fontina, Porcini Marsala).


And finally, dessert was a delcious Il Moscato Ha Cucinato in camicia la Pera con la Crema Rosa (Moscato Poached Pear with Rose Custard Almond Florentine Cookie, Blood Orange Sauce).


Chris Zimmermann thanks Sous Chef Brendan Moore and Ben Hinner for a job well done!





Thanks to our Reservation Manager Jolene Versailles (with husband Marty Graves) for taking all the pictures. I know, it was a tough job!


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Food and Wines of Italy, Part 1

Rosario Resort hosted another wonderful wine dinner last week featuring wines of Italy. Italian Wine expert Chris Zimmermann provided educational commentary throughout the evening.

Sommolier Julian Gonzales greets the guests with a glass of Bisol nv Prosecco "Jeio" Brut, Veneto.


Enjoying the evening were wine distributor Ted Seifert and Rosario's Director of Sales Adrienne Miller with Chris Zimmerman.


Celebrating their 26th Wedding Anniversary were Orcas Islanders Eska and Chuck Wilson... congratulazioni!


Orcas Island friends Carol, Paula and Vicki made it a ladies night out... bellisimo!


Also joining the festivities was Rosario's Director of Catering Tirzah Fiorito and husband Skylar.

Tomorrow a look at the food presentations...
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Spa Members show their Aloha

Rosario Resort Spa members held an "Aloha" party for fitness instructor Jaylin Peacock at Rosario neighbors Joan and John Fletchers beautiful waterfront home tonight. Although "Aloha" is commonly used as a greeting or farewell, Jaylin is not going anywhere. The true meaning of Aloha is simply "love," and the spa members showed it to her tonight in apprectiation.

Jaylin has a dedicated following with her daily fitness classes. She came from Hawaii in 1984 and was Rosario Spa's first director, a co-director job she held with Monica Brown, currently a national spa consultant. Jaylin has continued teaching fitness classes (along the many other things she does on Orcas Island) for the past 24 years! Rumor has it she was extra hard on the class this morning... maybe she knew everyone would over eat tonight!



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Lisa & Steve's Wedding Lunch

Lisa Putz and Steve Swenson got married over the weekend on the Point Lawn overlooking Orcas Island. It was spectacular day... over 80 degrees in the San Juan Islands! I wanted to share with you their wedding reception luncheon set-up in the Mansion Dining Room of Rosario Resort as it was beautiful!











I was playing the piano for the lunch, so these wonderful kids were the only photograph I got of guests before I started playing. Maybe someone would be kind enough to send me a photo of Lisa and Steve and I will add it to this post!

Congratulations Lisa and Steve!

UPDATE:

These pictures were just sent in of Lisa and Steve (and the flower dog)!



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The Galloping Gourmet

Widely known for their show "The Galloping Gourmet," Treena and Graham Kerr are shown here enjoying Treena's birthday at Rosario Resort.

Graham Kerr, an internationally known culinary authority, television personality, and award-winning author of cooking methods and nutritional books, is focused on serving people who want to make healthy and creative lifestyle changes. He believes that the only lasting changes are the ones that we enjoy. His life goal is to help people convert habits that harm into resources that heal. This wonderful program is explained more thoroughly on his website www.grahamkerr.com. We hope to bring his life choices and wellness seminar Orcas Island this winter.

Happy Birthday Treena!

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Dawn at Rosario

Here is a wonderful picture of Rosario Resort and Orcas Island at dawn sent to us from recent guest Sandy Bennett of Idaho. She says "attached is a picture of the bay when we were visiting the resort, I snapped the shot at 5 am on our way to the ferry. It is just beautiful!"


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Housekeeping Heroes

Our Housekeeping Department has had quite a week. Rosario Resort is in the process of changing all of our rooms soft goods - sheets, pillows, comforters and towels. With 116 guest rooms, it is a huge project. I stopped in for a visit to our Housekeeping Department on Saturday morning in the midst of this project and look, our staff is all smiles. These are incredible people!


They also had me laughing at all the wonderful uses for our old bedding!





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Happy Mother's Day

It was a joy to see so many happy families today at Rosario Resort's Mother's Day Brunch. Rain was forecast over the Pacific Northwest for the weekend, but as usual the San Juan Islands were beautiful! Greeting everyone was one of Pastry Chef Felicity Milne's wonderful cakes...


I arrive early to take pictures of the food just before our guests arrive. Most of the time I shoot pictures of the view out the windows from the tables, but I thought this was an interesting perspective looking back from the windows to one of our larger tables awaiting a large family. The walls feature historic Puget Sound shipbuilding photos and maps from the Moran Collection.


As our first guest walked in, I captured this wonderful picture of our culinary staff preparing for their arrival. It reminded me of last week's Kentucky Derby! The entire staff did an incredible job!
"And They're Off"

Greating our guests was an wonderful ice sculpture vase full of the spring blossoms from around the grounds and salmon from the surrounding cool, clear waters.



This colorful tray of olives and peppers certainly was a hit...


My favorite? The traditional and Salmon Eggs Benedict - Fantastic!



AND... of course the desserts!



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Birthdays and All-Stars

We recently had an all employee meeting celebrating our Employees of the Month, Manager of the Quarter and 1st Quarter Birthdays. Here are the Birthday boys and girls of Rosario Resort before blowing out the candles on Pastry Chef Felicity Milne's absolutely delicious German Chocolate Cake.


We honored Housekeeping Manager Julie Cort as our Manager of the Quarter, but every good manager knows that the real all-stars are their staff. Gathered here enjoying the cake are some of Rosario's housekeepers (from right to left) Fidelia, Evangelina, Perla, Jackie and Laura. I do not think I have ever seen any of these ladies ever sitting! They do an outstanding job!


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Last, but not least

Danielle Sigler, who we all thought would have her baby first, had her baby
on Tuesday (April 29). Sydney Leah Sigler arrived weighing 8.5 lbs. Congratulations Danielle and Chris!
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