These are a few of my favorite things….

by Avery Kincaid

Old toasters, fans, suitcases, movie projectors, movie reels, cameras, bowling pins, and ashtrays.

When John Kilkenny and I opened The Stardust Restaurant, we didn’t have a lot of capital. We couldn’t afford a decorator, much less pay for actual décor. We had to do something. Instead of traveling to Europe or Asia for tasteful objects d’art, we went to our respective homes and loaded up our toasters, anodized aluminum cups and anything else that we could find. The rest is [art] history.

Click here to see pictures of our décor

Hence, the décor at the Stardust falls somewhere in that period after art deco and before avocado green appliances. It happens that our unusual use of objects that were originally designed for use in the home, lend familiarity, warmth and humor. There are coffee percolators, cameras, toasters, movie projectors, movie reels, fans, mixers and irons all tastefully tucked here and there. You don’t really notice until something just catches your eye. A particular item might be mildly amusing for one person, or can strike a nostalgic chord in another. “Oh honey, remember when we had this very same toaster in our first apartment?” Or, “jeepers, we had one of these in our kitchen when I was growing up.”

The restaurant is divided into two distinct sides. One side is the fine dining area composed of two semi-private dining rooms (with fireplaces) and one private room. On the other side is the lounge composed of a casual and oh-so-cool bar; a corner designated as the “leopard lounge,” complete with folding T.V. trays; 5 booths, several tables and “high-tops.” The dining room is sort of formal, sort of not, but definitely enchanting. The bar-side is sort of retro, sort of not, but definitely fun.

There are many aspects of the restaurant’s décor that add to the overall warm feeling that one gets: the use of aggressive secondary colors; the use of creative and original lighting fixtures, one made out of a Waring blender, one out of a 60’s electric wok; familiar tunes in the background.

As one looks around the restaurant, one might notice that all of the plants are potted in unusual containers such as retro coffee urns, coffee percolators, fry masters, jiffy pop popcorn popper etc. Or one might catch the array of stainless steal breadboxes and kitchen canisters; ice crushers and soda-spritzer bottles behind the bar. (Yep, the ones that use those teeny, tiny, little CO2 cartridges) And one doesn’t have to take off any blinders to notice lava lamps, fans, typewriters, and irons.

In the dining room, there are turn-tables, radios, movie projectors, reels and a box-style T.V. that you just know would make a great aquarium. Until you meet our G.M., Jennifer Russell, that is. She makes an aquarium out of the fireplace in the summer and reserves that funny T.V. for department store-style displays.

Ms. Russell has become the “heir-apparent” artistic director of this operation. Which means, in addition to arranging, rearranging, and rotating the collectibles, she must keep the mannequins well groomed and dressed appropriately. Watching her wrestle clothes on and off of these naked, life-size dolls is, well, hysterical.

So, about those mannequins: Dino has been with Stardust since we opened in 1998. He is “the suit” you always see in the purple dining room. Ginger started with our organization in 1998, rotating in and out of the attic for those “very special occasions”. Gradually her seasonal outfits and exciting hairdos captured the imagination of our regular customers. I guess you could say that she has become “a fixture” at the Stardust. (A customer once brought in a wet suit for Ginger’s summer outfit.) Sybil is our latest addition. She is a bit older, but hardly reserved. Presently, she is wearing a carhop outfit. She prefers more dramatic attire, for example, anything that includes a feathered boa.

Referring back to the first paragraph, you could think to yourself, “okay, you brought some collectibles from your home to decorate the restaurant, but what the heck were you doing with all this stuff?” How is it that a person has a collection, for example, of ashtrays from elk’s clubs and insurance companies up and down the east coast? From the 50’s and 60’s, no less? Well, my collecting began with “pre-samsonite” suitcases. (Those rather smallish cardboard cases covered in woven, cloth-like material, that all had stripes in the design.) I would scour thrift shops and outdoor flea markets. Guess what? One cannot go to those places with out finding little treasures reminiscent of one’s childhood. So, five years later: I had found a replacement for every “heirloom” in that attic my mom made me clear out of our family home when she moved in the 70’s.

Most of the collectibles have been here since the beginning; others are new acquisitions, many brought in by customers. All items are rotated in and out of storage, much like at a museum. Everyone can find something heartfelt from his or her lost youth. Each one comes with a story. Each one evokes many stories.

Now, you gotta be thinking to yourself, “does any of this stuff get stolen?” You bet. At one time we had lots of funky salt and pepper shakers. (Pyramids, shoes, flying saucers, James Dean etc.) They were disappearing one by one. Finally, all the fun sets were confined behind the bar where we could keep an eye on them. A regular bar customer used to insist on seasoning his lunch with a pig set. He loved those pigs. You guessed it, one day the pig salt, the pig pepper and the customer disappeared forever. At one time, we displayed our wines by-the-glass menu in snow globes. (Now, the list is too large) Over 50 snow globes were stolen in a matter of months. The weirdest example of theft: One week, Ginger’s left hand was stolen, the next week, her right hand. Needless to say, she now wears gloves. Presently, the glittery martini menus that Jennifer makes are the largest targets of theft.

I’d just like to mention to anyone who has ever “lifted” an item from this restaurant:

We know who you are.