When diners enter Breakwater in Stonington Borough, one of the first things they see is a collection of six large paintings — of the restaurant’s competition.

Underneath is a wooden sign that reads: “Enjoy the unique flavors of Stonington Borough”

While it may seem unusual for the harborfront restaurant, which opened in May, to direct customers to other borough eateries, it just made sense to owner and longtime local restaurateur Jon Kodama.

“I know most of the (other restaurant) operators and they were welcoming and friendly when word got out we were coming here. I was happy they were not upset about it because in a sense we were crashing the party,” he said.

The colorful paintings by local artist Heather Doherty feature Milagro, The Dog Watch, Water Street, Noah’s, The Yellow House and Zack’s Bar & Grille.

“I hope it helps everyone’s business,” he said.

Lynn Tsagarakis, the co-owner of Zack’s, called Kodama “a great restaurateur and a great friend.”

“I just think it was a great tribute, a neat, neat thing to include everybody,” she said. “You have to be all in this together.”

Kodama’s daughter Mari, who manages Breakwater, said that while many customers arrive at the restaurant by land and are often familiar with the other borough eateries, some pull up to its dock and don’t know other village offerings.

She said a lot of customers ask about the paintings of competitors.

“Stonington is just so much of a community. The more activities, the more events and restaurants, the more people want to come here,” she said.

Kodama said he wanted the paintings to be big and colorful and was familiar with Doherty’s work. He said he liked her informal style and ran the idea by her.

“She did as good a job as I expected,” he said.

Tsagarakis added that the paintings make the village look like a street in Europe. That’s not surprising, as Doherty makes annual trips to New Orleans to paint the streetscapes she sees there.

Doherty, a Westerly native who lived in Florida for 15 years before moving back and opening her studio in the American Velvet Mill on Bayview Avenue in 2010, said Kodama had seen some of the paintings she had done of downtown Westerly and remembered them when he was thinking of what to do with Breakwater.

She said she was a little surprised he was promoting other restaurants “but I know he knows what he doing” she said. She added she was thrilled to be given the opportunity.

“It was nice for him to come into the borough where other restaurants might be worried and as a gesture say ‘I want to be part of the community,’ “ she said.

Doherty said Kodama wanted something large and colorful and told her “do what you do.” She said she first took snapshots of the restaurants and their signs and “then pumped up the volume a bit.” She said she wanted the paintings “to be timeless like the borough.”

“He was very precise. He wanted to show respect for the signage and the message of the restaurants,” she said, while saying welcome and enjoy the borough.

When she was done with the paintings, Doherty pointed out there was no picture of Breakwater in the restaurant.

“But they’re already here,” Kodama told her.

Doherty’s work can be seen at Studio G in the American Velvet Mill and at www.heatherdoherty.com

j.wojtas@theday.com

@joewojtas