Late Friday night I was too tired to cook for myself so I thought I'd get some Chinese take-out. When I walked through the doors of Mandarin Cuisine on Highland Ave on the Needham/Newton line I was hit with an astounding collection of decorative painting and trinkets, not just on a few surfaces, but everywhere.
As I waited for my food to emerge in its plain brown paper bag, I wandered around the restaurant with my jaw dropped. Not only had the owner Leslie painted walls, cabinets, ceilings, and tables with bold strokes of paint and color, he had "recycled" corks, metallic wrappers, bottle caps, and all sorts of stuff into the walls and ceilings, he had fearlessly personalized the bodies of his flat screen TVs and computers with his paint brushes. No surface had been ignored. It all started, Leslie told me, when the cabinet behind the front desk started to look old and dilapidated. Instead of replacing it, he refaced it with decoration.
Long after my food was ready I was still looking at his handiwork. He had created shades out of chicken coop wire and silk and suspended them below recessed lighting. You can see images of those below. I've been trying to decide whether to replace my kitchen cabinets in my tiny Boston apartment or just paint them. After feasting on the visual and culinary creations at Mandarin Cuisine, I'm leaning towards the resurfacing approach. If you click on the photos if you're reading this in my actual blog vs. my facebook page, you'll be able to see incredible detail. Enjoy.
Leslie peers out below from his decorated flat screen TV.
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