I’m a firm believer in the phrase: If you build it, they will come.
Granted this is New York, and has little to do with the popular misquote from the 80s baseball film classic Field of Dreams. For many chefs and restaurant groups the phrase stands true, a testament to their culinary skills or PR prowess. Some chefs can draw crowds to bizarre or desolate locations (which are then deemed unique or special by foodies), others manage to craft a lounge with the look of a pawn shop. Some hot spots even hide their entrance altogether. Still, they come.
Then there are restaurants that really “build it”, on a prestigious address, sparing no expenses on the visually stunning decor. We’re talking about a flying flag outside, circular back-lit bars, Swarovski chandeliers and decorative pieces, soft plush custom made chairs, and back-lit LED menus.
You can't miss this on Madison
The bar is absolutely gorgeous.
The people running the front of house are also quite impressive. The owners, sisters Lorraine and Sabina Belkin can be seen busily pacing the restaurant, trying to make sure everything’s proper. (If you’re not sure which is them, just reference the larger than life portraits on the wall)
The decor at DUO is stunning.
The staff is very friendly, and wonderfully trained considering they’ve only been open for a week. Plates hit the table at the same time, utensils are always placed from the correct side, you seldom get this level of service without requiring jackets for gentlemen. Handbags also get their little matching stools, finished in the same trim as our chairs.
LED Menus are brilliant, literally.
The chef Hok Chin is barely known in NY circles, but has quite a following in Long Island. A few friends of mine has been raving about the food at Sugar Lounge and Dining Den, where Hok Chin serves as executive chef. (Whether he’s still a chef there, I do not know). I’ve always questioned the concept of haute cooking for a lounge, where you cater to an audience that’s generally high on disposable income, but do not expect a formal dining experience. Nevertheless, if he was successful at Sugar, then he would fit right into Duo.
The food is difficult to categorize, showing ingredients and traits of American, Greek, Austrian, French, and more. On top of all that, there’s a distinct sweet and sour flavor influence from Chinese cuisine. Whether you agree with the internationalized concept or not, the execution of each dish were spot on, and the platting is innovative and elegant.
The grilled shrimp and watermelon salad was sprinkled with feta cheese, a combination rarely seen outside of Greek cuisine. If you’re not a fan of feta cheese, then you’ll find this combination questionable.
Golden beets with goat cheese.
On the other hand, the golden beets terrine featured ingredients that blended beautifully in flavor. The sharp flavors of the goat cheese contrasts beautifully with the texture and subtle tastes of the various types of beets. However the large globs of cheese was a bit overwhelming, a case where perhaps the plating concept adversely affected the dish.
For the entrees, the aromatic glazed duck was cooked quite well and tender, though it’s definitely on the sweeter side. The sea bass was cooked to a perfect translucent center, and paired wonderfully with broccoli rabe. The sauce was again on the sweeter side.
Honey tamari glazed bass
A order of shoestring fries with cheese was ordered, but was a bit too difficult to consume without making a mess. Flavor was quite nice.
If the flavors all leaned towards the sweeter side, I was eager to find out about dessert. Despite not having a menu yet (LED back-lit was probably more labor consuming), the waiter painstakingly recited the menu twice for us. The raspberry shortcake and sorbet was a wonderful way to cap the meal.
Desserts are wonderful at Duo.
In the past, I’ve criticized some establishments as trying to be a restaurant when it’s more of a lounge, and vice versa. The key is the word trying, often without success. Duo seems to have set out to achieve duality in restaurant and lounge, and so far seems to be doing all of the right things. The food is better than it needs to be for lounge food, and the service, at times, is Daniel-esque. The No-Mad area of New York suddenly has some pretty exciting dining destinations.
The check is back-lit too!
A waitress informed me of a no-photography policy when I inquired about photography, which was a result of miscommunication. Therefore I apologize for the low-light iPhone 4 photos. Interior photography curtesy of DUO Restaurant.
CS
Rating: 
Duo (Make a Reservation)
72 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 686-7272
Went to Duo last night for my friend’s birthday party. The food and cocktails were amazing. Service was great, the decor was astounding. Their menus lit up once you open it which I think is very sexy. I’ve never seen any of those in NYC. On the flip side, there were 2 things that threw me off. One is that, the tiny Indian woman who apparently is supposed to be their sommelier doesn’t know how to present and open wine properly. Not to mention, wine was dripping all over the table too. Second is that, I couldn’t find a proffessional looking Manager on the floor. For an upscale and swanky restaurant like this, you would think they would have a Floor Manager or maitre d’. As we were on our way out, the “supposedly Manager” , an older man with shaved head and glasses was standing by the host stand and when I turned to say “thank you for everything”, I could smell his horrendous B.O (yes, body odor) and bad breath! It was so bad that I wanted to throw up! That was a hell of a funky smell!!! Proper hygiene is important for people who work in restaurants. DUO should hire competent and respectable Managers!
We also had some “interesting” run-ins with the manager that you described, lets just leave it at that.
Glad to see that you enjoyed the food and drinks. Very solid restaurant, hope to see it improve.
improve?!?! i have never seen a lack of intensity and utter disrespect for food(in the kitchen) not to mention total disorganization……and the inside track is that the chef, sous chef and majority of kitchen staff are leaving on or before 11/21/11
Interesting info. Is there a special reasoning behind the 11/21 date? I’ll wait and see how everything plays out.
[...] DUO Restaurant and Lounge Review [...]
Looks great from the outside but was horrible food and service. My steak was undercooked & drinks were not mixed well.
Never again!! Showed up on a weekend night with no reservation and there was barely anyone there. Our waiter was hands-down, THE WORST waiter ever. He would disappear and come back and serve the table next to us (which came in after us) and ignore us. We had to ask for water numerous times. He would reiterate the fact that we wanted water and then go off and the water would never come. Yet, he’d pop back next to us to make sure the other table was doing good (with his back to us the entire time so he wouldn’t have to do anything). We literally had to ask at least five times for some water. When it came to taking our orders, he could’ve cared less about that too. Nothing asked for was given. The filet’s (which weren’t nice at all) were all cooked the exact same way, despite the different temperature requests. They came with a truffle butter which one of us requested be left off. This request was expressed … Showed up on a weekend night with no reservation and there was barely anyone there. Our waiter was hands-down, THE WORST waiter ever. He would disappear and come back and serve the table next to us (which came in after us) and ignore us. We had to ask for water numerous times. He would reiterate the fact that we wanted water and then go off and the water would never come. Yet, he’d pop back next to us to make sure the other table was doing good (with his back to us the entire time so he wouldn’t have to do anything). We literally had to ask at least five times for some water. When it came to taking our orders, he could’ve cared less about that too. Nothing asked for was given. The filet’s (which weren’t nice at all) were all cooked the exact same way, despite the different temperature requests. They came with a truffle butter which one of us requested be left off. This request was expressed adamently. However, like with the water, this request was blatantly ignored. At the end, we had to physically track him down for the bill. And on top of that, upon inspection of the bill, drinks were charged to us that had been ordered but he had just never bothered ever bringing to us. It was horrendous!!
Wow, it seems that the restaurant has really declined significantly since my visit. Thanks for the update! (btw, there seems to be a Groupon deal right now, and I’m linked….)