Adams Diner Gets Makeover
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| Local artist Jim Squires paints Neptune onto the walls of the soon-to-be Captain's Tavern. |
ADAMS, Mass. — Local restaurateur Jae Chung is hoping to bring a little bit of his magic to the former Miss Adams Diner on Park Street. With hopes to open as early as next week, Chung will call his new restaurant "The Captain's Tavern" and serve fresh seafood for lunch and dinner.
"I want to bring seafood to the local community at a reasonable price," said Chung last week.
Named after his family's favorite restaurant in Miami, Chung plans to transform the lunch car diner from a 50s-themed eatery into an underwater fantasy. On Tuesday, the changes to the interior were already apparent, as local artist James Squires put the finishing touches on the walls, leaving only an octopus and a submarine left to be painted.
"We're hoping we'll be a standout because people will see the atmosphere and want to come back," said Chef and Manager Randall "Randy" Beaudoin.
Completed interior renovations include installing wood paneling to imitate the inside of a boat along the length of the lunch car, replacing old lighting fixtures with nautical lanterns and painting sharks, fish, mermaids and assorted other sea creatures on the blue walls.
Beaudoin said he was still working on getting a sign to replace the Miss Adams Diner logo on the outside. The town rejected the first proposal for being "too big," according to Building Inspector Gerald W. Garner.
<L2>Once open, the Captain's Tavern will offer a variety of fresh seafood that includes cedar plank salmon and local favorite "The Fried Fisherman," a combination of clams, scallops, shrimp and scrod. Beaudoin also said a draft beer system will be installed "so that you can have a nice cold beer with dinner."
The restaurant expects to employ about 15 people.
History
Originally opened as the Miss Adams Diner in 1938, the location has been home to a series of businesses with varying success over the last 70 years. Chung bought the property in 1998 and leased it out to several dining ventures, including Jack's Hot Dogs II and a rebirth of the Miss Adams, which failed to drum up business.
The diner closed abruptly this summer.
"There's been a lot of different things going on in here, but Jae wants to go with something else," Beaudoin said.
Chung, who used to commute from Boston a few days a week but now lives in the Berkshires, believes in the success of the restaurant and said he wants the Captain's Tavern to be a destination in the community.
"The Berkshires really need a lunch/dinner place and I plan to be around to help it succeed," he said.
<R3>Chung also said he believes that the property has "good karma." Following the death of his mother-in-law earlier this year, Chung decided to call his newest venture the Captain's Tavern in her honor.
"It was her favorite restaurant [in Miami] and she really was the inspiration," said Chung.
After hiring Beaudoin, who formerly worked as a chef at the Captain's Table in Williamstown, Chung felt like the stars had aligned in his favor.
"I know it sounds corny, but there's such good karma there," he said.
Though still more work needs to be done, Chung said he's "shooting for next week" for a grand opening.
