Whilst on holiday in a the Farmhouse at Triggabrowne we journeyed out on foot or by car but often ended up in Fowey to "chill out" crossing the river on the Polruan Footferry or by the Boddinick Car Ferry to hasten our way back to a slow cooking dinner in the oven! We found the Dwelling House Tea Rooms which have only been open for 5 weeks adding another service to their Bed and Breakfast business. So what made the Ferry journey worthwhile?
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First, the Tea Room is in an evocative setting is in beautiful Grade II Georgian Merchant's house overlooking the main street.
Second, the service is impeccable and friendly; the choice of tempting teas is wide as are the savoury and sweet offerings.
Take this tea offering... it is all homemade or locally made, the cakes and scones are definitely home baked and here lies the ability to innovate. Theresa and Adam Garner, the owners, are simultaneously offering a high level and consistency of service and are willing to experiment. So the fruit cake at the back of the middle plate in the picture above has, not glacé cherries but black ones. This adds a very pleasant twist both to taste and appearance.. delicious! The jam we chose to accompany the scones on top is gooseberry, a particular favourite of Marilyn, my wife. In conversation we found that once they had put that jam in a Victoria sponge, the cream had a touch of Elderflower cordial to complement (Elderflowers in gooseberry jam is fantastic when my Marilyn made it) but it didn't make it to customers plates as they didn't choose it... shame, sounds fantastic. So it is this willingness to experiment on what is to be offered whilst maintaining excence on How it is to be delivered that differentiates this tea house from the rest around it. Of course if you want a quick coffee and away then I guess you will be frustrated but if it is a tea experience then this is my second treasure... the other is a 7-hour drive away back in Knutsford at the Courtyard Coffee House.
So make sure your design process makes tomorrow’s opportunities tangible, you can tolerate failure but that it keeps delivering winning products/services. That doesn't mean no failures, just that the balance is weighted in favour of success and the experience remains consistently high. Each design iteration adds knowledge to the whole and can be built on each time the iterative outcome becomes clear... the power of iterative capital!
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