Luke Palmisano/THE POST Maria Fisher of Athens, 18, serves Pat Grean, left, and Wid Elsbree their entrees at The Purple Chopsticks restaurant located at 371 Richland Ave. Grean and Elsbree both had the special yesterday evening in the family owned and operated restaurant.

Adorned with eclectic furniture and art from around the world and from yard sales near Athens, Purple Chopstix is not the typical restaurant.

Family owned and operated, Purple Chopstix, 371 Richland Ave., was Ed Fisher's way to bring some spice to Athens 10 years ago.

Fisher, who came to Athens in the mid-1970s from San Diego, has been in the food business for about 20 years. His first endeavor was a wooden table and a burner Uptown that offered crepes to students on tight budgets.

"I came to Athens for a party," Fisher said. "A friend of mine told me about an annual party at OU with great people, great scenery and great times - so I came."

After meeting his wife, who grew up in a family that owned a bakery, Fisher opened a few restaurants around town until he finally opened Purple Chopstix, which initially was a catering business, he said.

Amelia Antonucci-Fisher, his eldest daughter who now cooks and sometimes waits tables at the restaurant, came up with the name.

"One day Amelia was stirring a cup of a grape drink with chopsticks, and it turned the sticks purple," he said. "She held them up and said, 'Dad, how about Purple Chopstix?'"

The restaurant, which has a changing and limited menu, offers a variety of foods, nonetheless. The menu has included Italian, Bavarian, Indian, Thai, Chinese and many other kinds of dishes in the past, Antonucci-Fisher said.

The concept of the restaurant is to serve a reflection of the collaboration of different places Fisher and his daughter have been to and different foods they have tasted.

"Basically, we're open to doing anything anybody hasn't done before," she said.

The main priority with the food they serve is the freshness, Fisher said. The family grows garlic, basil, zucchini, mushrooms and other herbs in their garden at home, he said. And though he could save money buying wholesale, he has always bought his ingredients from Athens businesses because supporting local businesses is important to him, he said.

"When we first opened here 10 years ago, there was a fresh fish market next door we bought from," he said. "As soon as Kroger's opened and sold at cheaper prices, the market next door closed."

Other than the variety of dishes they serve, Fisher said he likes to create an atmosphere in the restaurant different from all the rest.

Currently, Purple Chopstix is featuring artwork done by handicapped adults. The display, which spans the entire restaurant, consists of giant paper mache replicas of a forest. The vivid colors and trees, plants, flowers, animals and birds brighten the entire restaurant and add spark to the decor.

"I really like this display because it must have tapped into some primal level of the psyche," he said. "And if it can earn a living for these challenged adults, I say go for it."

Purple Chopstix consistently displays local art, and the Fishers work hard to change the decorations often, Fisher said.

"We began furnishing by shopping at yard sales," he said. "We avoid those restaurant catalogs everybody orders out of to look as different as possible."

The restaurant also sponsors benefit dinners for local non-profit organizations at least twice a month, Antonucci-Fisher said.

Antonucci-Fisher began working at the restaurant 10 years ago and loves cooking in order to express her artistic ability through food. She prepares main dishes on the menu, but baking is her passion, she said.

Her favorite part about working at Purple Chopstix is having the freedom to learn new things, she said. She also likes showing the customers something out of the mainstream.

Fisher and his daughter have a very close relationship, Fisher said. His favorite part of the job is that it brings the family together, especially after his wife died two years ago, he said.

"It's something to bond us together," he said. "I love working with my kids."

Aside from 20-year-old Antonucci-Fisher, Fisher has another daughter and a son. Although the other siblings do not work full-time as she does, they help out at the restaurant on a regular basis, he said.