S&W Cafeteria, Asheville

The decoration on the former S&W Cafeteria in Asheville, North Carolina is amazing.

It is hard to know where to start. The most obvious features are the large windows at street level. Two of them arched shaped, either side of the front door and a rectangular one further to the left.

And of course there are those fabulous blue tiles on the roof. Just ignore the greenery growing between them.

There are a few design elements that are repeated in other parts of the facade.

Just below the roofline, there are a couple of zig-zag lines in blue, gold and cream punctuated with green dots.

A simplified version of this design is repeated in the metal band across the rectangular window.

And in the metal beside the arched windows.

The blue and cream chrevrons around the windows get better the closer you look.

Above the door 'S & W Cafeteria' is displayed in an ornate frame topped with a colourful basket of fruit.

The S & W Cafeteria was built in 1929 from designs by Douglas D Ellington. It seems to have been an Asheville institution for almost 5 decades until it closed in 1974.

Since then it had housed various businesses but was empty and for sale when I saw it in 2005.

So I was thrilled the other day to see an article by Mark Barrett from the Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper reporting that the old S&W Cafeteria has been restored and re-opened as S&W Steak and Wine restaurant.

Looks like a win-win and I hope the citizens of Asheville appreciate this art deco gem while they are enjoying their dinner.