“Normal gets you nowhere” at Misfits pop-up bar in Scranton. This festive, funky seasonal hot spot is designed, executed and operated by students from Lackawanna College and Marywood University. Its theme of misfit toys permeates the vibe throughout, from the wacky and wonderful interior design to the inventive cocktail and pub food menus. Stephanie Decker, Associate VP of Social & Economic Impact at Lackawanna College, spearheaded the initiative, which has tremendous benefits for the students, patrons and local hospitality scene alike.
We chatted with Decker about her culinary background, her hand in building Lackawanna College’s reputable Hospitality and Culinary Arts degree programs, and how Misfits came together. Read on to learn about this exciting (and temporary) venture in Northeastern PA and make sure to pay it a visit, whether you’re local or just passing through:
PA Eats: Can you tell us about your background?
Stephanie Decker: I’m from the area, born and raised in Scranton. I attended the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York. At the time that I graduated, an associates was the only degree available and it was considered terminal. So, I entered the workforce and my specialty became small business restaurants. For the first 15 years, I worked as a chef for a lot of restaurants. In 2003, along with my sisters I purchased an existing restaurant that was struggling. I had started as a consultant to see if I could turn it around and I realized that I could. It was called Euro Cafe in Clark Summit.
Then, the executive team at Lackawanna College was looking to build a culinary program.When they found out I attended CIA and about my business experience, they reached out to me. I love Scranton and our region and Pennsylvania so much. My professional goal was always to make our region great, however I could have a small hand in that. When they came to me, they had two things I needed to understand: they were working hard to strengthen the brand of Lackawanna College and they wanted to build a school of hospitality. They also made it clear to me that they wanted to provide a world class education in the region.
I began in 2010 as a consultant to help build a hospitality management degree and then a culinary degree program. I fell in love with the leadership and the mission of Lackawanna College. I was kind of doing both jobs for a while, consulting and running the restaurant. Then, in 2010, I went full time with Lackawanna College.
Our Hospitality and Culinary program now has three associate degrees in Baking & Pastry Arts, Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management and one bachelor’s in Restaurant and Foodservice Management. When we first started, we had zero students and a very modest budget. I would drive around with my pots and pans to local restaurants that were closed on Mondays and asked if we could use their kitchens as classrooms. In 2015, we finally built our own state of the art, amazing facility. Inside it is our student-run restaurant, 409 on Adams. All four of our majors have experience in managing it.
What was the impetus for opening a student-run restaurant?
It’s pretty commonplace in culinary education to have a student-run restaurant. It makes for a very workforce-ready degree. You’re working with real customers, deadlines and instant feedback. So we knew that was a really vital part of a culinary and baking education program and we always wanted that component. But I wanted to differentiate it. The restaurant building and interior is very vanilla on purpose so that we could pop up different concepts and ideas. With different themes, it becomes very vibrant. We can change up decor, plateware and glassware.
Then, this concept of pop-up bars and restaurants became very popular. I feel it’s always our responsibility to try to be the first to move on trends in this space. In 2022, we did our first holiday pop-up, Blitzen, and we did that for two years.
We’re big on collaborating, so I reached out to Marywood University. They have an amazing School of Architecture. They wholeheartedly agreed to work with us on a spring pop-up last spring called Wisteria. That was fun. You never really get the opportunity to have these very linear, precise thinking architects in a room with creative minded culinary students. It’s a really a fun learning experience, seeing these different cohorts working together. Wisteria became this enchanted garden that bloomed deeper and deeper to life over its seven week run.
As a non-profit, I’m always thinking about how every bit of profit goes to our missions, scholarships and initiatives like getting 150 loaner laptops to the students. Previously, we were paying a designer for concepts and paid for her fees and royalties, but this year we decided to design a holiday pop-up of our own. Misfits is loosely based on the claymation movie, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. We did a soft opening sneak peak for our sponsors and others on Wednesday, November 13 and then we went live to the public the next day.
We had an amazing media and public response and the last two weeks have been more successful than when we were running Blitzen. Now, without having the fees associated with paying someone for the design concepts that they own, we can pour more dollars back into our students and it supports our mission.
Our designers literally have a week to turn it from 409 on Adams, with neutral colors, to an amazing experience with disco balls and lights all over. There’s also a big nod to diversity and inclusion. We’re viewing that as very important to create spaces that are diverse and where everyone feels like they’re welcome.
Our mission is to provide quality education, first, and the second part is to enable students to make our communities better. I work really hard to make sure that I’m not doing harm, especially to the local restaurant community. Last year over 10,000 people visited our pop-ups. I was really glad to find out how much our local restaurants like it. You can eat out at a Scranton restaurant and then come to Misfits for a night cap, or stop in at Misfits for a drink and then go to a bar or restaurant downtown. It’s really become a great tourism booster for our region.
How did you arrive at the Misfits concept, and how does it play out in the space?
Two staff members from the School of Hospitality, the lead at Marywood and I just sat down ideating. We were talking about movies and concepts we loved as children. Someone said, ‘What about the Island of Misfit Toys?’ It’s so fun and a little offbeat, and we just started going with it.
Our designer put together an idea board and used AI to put together what we’d think of these characters as today. Charlie in the Box was reimagined as a green eyed, funky young girl. The spotted elephant became a 70 year old woman. AI took a modern spin on the original characters. We have the misfit’s boarding house and a hall of residents, all doors with pictures of the residents next to them.
Josh, the Designer, also wanted the message that no one should feel like a misfit. He put up neon signs that say, ‘Normal gets you nowhere.’ We purposely designed concepts where you could take pictures of yourself and become part of the story. There’s a 10-foot Abominable Snowman and Montage Mountain donated a ski chair and we thought people would flock there for selfies, but everyone is sitting in the misfit chairs under the sign, ‘Normal gets you nowhere.’
The misfit chairs were a second year architecture student project. Josh gave them the concept of making “chairs that shouldn’t be chairs.” He said to use things that wouldn’t traditionally be part of a chair. For one of them, the base is a rocking chair, the sides are books and there’s a nameplate that says “Grandma is off her rocker.” 100 students were assigned this project and he picked the top 10.
I think pop-ups are so fun and amazing, but what sets ours apart and my favorite aspect is, when you visit here, you don’t know how excited the students get that you’re appreciating their concepts. When kids see people visit, they’re just so proud. And, when they go out into workforce, they’ve already cut their teeth.
I teach a mainstream management class and we did a project using SWOT analysis on our pop-ups, looking at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The students look at our top three competitors, they read the survey results and make business management decisions. It’s cross-disciplinary. Having a business at the school allows the business and accounting students to make actual decisions with actual results, looking at Misfit’s and Wisteria’s financial performance.
What’s on the Misfits food and drink menus?
The food, baked goods, pastries and drinks are projects of the students operating it. They looked at the theme and the characters in the misfits story and created items around that. For example, on the cocktail and mocktail menu, our top seller is a drink called Polka Dot. It’s vodka, white cranberry, lemon simple syrup and club soda. They float cranberries in it, so it’s a white drink with pinkish-red polka dots. Another big seller is the Dolly, a take on an espresso martini. There’s also a Misfits Cosmo and a Charlie Margarita. Some of these are original creations and then we also task them with finding out what’s trendy, to give the consumer what the consumer wants.
Our Pastry Chef, Christa Sapone, created amazing desserts with her students. One that I think is just incredible is called Sweet Stack. They make their own graham crackers and add a cinnamon ganache, milk chocolate mousse and Italian meringue. The meringue can hold peaks, and they manipulate it to look like white flames and use a hand torch to toast the ends. We cannot keep that on the shelves.
We heard on surveys that we were not doing enough in the vegetarian, vegan and gluten free worlds, so we were thinking about that with our Chef Mark Seibert. The surveys said we need chicken tenders, and the students groaned, but then they reimagined it. The Disco Chicken is entirely Gluten Free. It has a crispy, corn cereal breading that you wouldn’t be able to tell is not a typical breading. It’s served with hand-cut fries and the students make sauces like killer honey mustard, Cajun barbecue and buffalo. So, they’ve been able to answer what the customers were asking for in a creative, gourmet way.
What’s the plan for the future?
Our team with Marywood is already looking to watch what the public really gravitates towards. We’ll definitely do a Misfits II, but will change some things. We’ll stay with the concept the next year or two, but we’re watching the lifecycles of pop-ups and will either adapt or go with a new trend in the hospitality sector.
I’d like to emphasize how good these have been for workforce development for local restaurants. It’s a great way to spend money supporting education and to help us to bridge gaps for students, like with loaner laptops, training therapy dogs,and increasing mental health services. We’re training the workforce and giving them what they need for their education.
Check out Misfits now through December 21st, open Wednesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight. Find free parking in a large lot at 501 Vine Street, Scranton, just half a block from Misfits. Follow its Facebook and Instagram pages to stay in the loop on current and future pop-ups available to the public.
- Photos: Lackawanna College
