And the Winner is: Wine and Roses

The results of Patch’s inaugural Readers’ Choice poll are in, and the winner of “favorite florist” is , which garnered 54 percent of the vote.

Now in its 25th year, Wine & Roses strives to offer customers a unique experience that they can't get from a box store. Owner Lou Denis, and his brother Chris, are the heart and soul of Wine & Roses. They can make floral arrangements for any season or reason.   

Lou Denis joined the family wholesale flower market on 20th St. in Manhattan just to help his grandmother out while his uncle recovered from a car accident, but what began as a favor soon turned into a passion when he was hired to work the floral shop in New York's famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel. 

Denis considers this his apprenticeship in becoming a premier floral arranger and party planner. Under the tutelage of a boss who trained in floral design in Germany, Denis became a master arranger, designer and planner.

Not only did he do all of the floral arrangements for the Waldorf Astoria, but for a client list that included corporate giants and Hollywood A-listers. "What a time that was," Denis recalls fondly. "I had my brother working with me and we traveled to anywhere our clients hired us to arrange displays for their parties." From the Hamptons to Hawaii, Denis has traveled for his clients. 

In 1987, with one foot still firmly planted in the Waldorf, Denis opened Wine & Roses in New Milford with his brother Chris in a storefront that had been a liquor store for 60 years. "My bosses partnered with me to provide the liquor for the events they put together."

Denis opened Garden Cafe to complete his vision of offering a comfortable gathering place for the community. A place where people can eat, meet and find out what's going on in town. A place where many residents turned after the nightmare of Irene had subsided to share their story and find some measure of comfort.

Never one to sit and relax, Denis and his brother have been working on constructing a wine tasting area in Wine & Roses.

Wine & Roses offers delivery service to most towns in Bergen County.