Waterwheel Café to celebrate 20th anniversary
Festivities marked with a customer appreciation day MILFORD The Waterwheel Café, Bakery, & Bar will celebrate its 20th Anniversary this April as a staple in the Milford restaurant and lounge scene. They will mark the event with a customer appreciation day on Wednesday, Apr. 29, offering free mini-pastries and treats throughout the day as a way to thank the community for their support throughout the years. Proprietor Nancie Simonet has grown her business into a solid choice for food and entertainment, boasting savory morning breads and pastries, eclectic lunch and dinner menus, and a talented staff that are knowledgeable about the fare and also a key to her long standing success. Originally opening as a bakery and sandwich shop, The Waterwheel Café did not serve breakfast or dinner. It transformed over the years into a full service restaurant facility, featuring breakfast and lunch seven days a week; dinner Thursday through Saturday nights and an expansive on and off premise catering business. Besides the tasty morsels offered, customers have also been pleasantly surprised by the rustic setting with views of the Sawkill Creek and a functioning historic mill as the backdrop. The Café is appropriately named for the huge steel wheel that currently turns three seasons out of the year, and was once a gristmill. The space is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The addition of a bar and lounge in 1997 made The Waterwheel Café one of the first entertainment venues in Milford to celebrate the rich artistic culture residing within a 25 mile radius of this Delaware River town. Simonet opened her doors to local musicians and artists bridging the gap for both worlds to coexist on the walls and on the stage that the lounge offers. The Waterwheel Café has garnered media raves near and far; from the Times Herald Record to the Washington Post, and heralded by the Washington Post as “the most perfect luncheon spot in all of the Poconos!” The Waterwheel has also been featured in . New York Magazine, the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Bon Appétit Magazine, Travel & Leisure and more. The Waterwheel Café is open seven days a week, and serves breakfast from 8 n11:30a.m. Sunday’s until Noon; lunch with specials featured daily from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and dinner from Thursday through Saturday evenings 5:15 n 9:30 p.m. Customers have the option of dining in the Bar or in the cozy, intimate setting featured in the Café. Reservations are recommended. The Bar is also available for private parties. For more information about upcoming events or general inquiries about the Waterwheel Café, and for a complete music schedule, contact Nancie Simonet, at 570-296-2383, or check out the café’s website, www.waterwheelcafe.com . People of the Waterwheel Joined by her husband, Darren Fouse has managed to continue carving out the ongoing niche Simonet created with the Waterwheel Café since its inception. Simonet has been in the food service industry from an early age; working for high-end wholesale bakeries in Manhattan, such as JP’s French Bakery and La Boulangère, despite having received no formal training. Together, Simonet and Fouse have spent over a decade in Paris where their love for food and wine was ignited. The Waterwheel’s consistency, warmth, creativity and professionalism are in great part due to their dedicated staff. Mai Coss, Chef Baker, has been with the Café since opening day. Long time employees, Zuzanna Gasiorek, Chef; Elise Vitale, Rita Neubert and Desiree Jahoda, are among the many valued employees.