Restaurateurs Jeffrey Mastro and his partners haven’t acquired existing restaurants, opting for new builds instead. But they couldn’t resist purchasing the 75-year-old Durant’s Steakhouse. After a year-long renovation, the legendary upscale eatery will reopen for dinner on Wednesday, Dec. 17.
“We’re making sure the tradition of Durant’s continues,” Mastro said. “This was so important to us. We’ve done a few events already leading up to this, and they [patrons] said it just feels like Durant’s. That was our goal.”
Mastro and his partners — brother Mike, their father Dennis, and his longtime business partner Scott Troilo — acquired the restaurant in January. They studied other legendary restaurants in the U.S. to ensure they were on the right track.
“What we learned by going to some of these older places was there’s a reason they made it to 75 or 100 years,” Mastro said. “You don’t come in and think you’re smarter than everyone.”
That said its trademarks remain, such as the red booths, the iconic red walls and the vintage neon signs. The pink exterior has had a refresh. The private dining room, which has been closed since the ’70s, will, too, open its doors.
Guests may still enter through the kitchen’s back door, and dessert tokens are offered to diners celebrating special occasions.
“Entering through the kitchen was really important,” Mastro said. “Keeping the booths was very important. The tables are small, but that’s part of the charm.”
“‘Charm’ is a great word for Durant’s,” added chief brand officer Oliver Badgio.
The dishes feel like Durant’s as well. Helmed by chief executive chef Marc Lupino and executive chef Felix Ruiz, the restaurant serves steak, seafood and martinis as it has since the 1950s. Its specialties have been elevated, including the Porterhouse steak for two; Durant’s prime rib; caviar service; lobster Thermador; crispy veal parmesan, and sides such as scalloped potatoes, mushrooms and rigatoni vodka sauce. The creamed spinach and the relish tray are available, too.
“We wanted to keep it true to this brand,” Lupino said. “We’re keeping the great steaks. It’s a steakhouse. We have fish offerings for people who don’t like steaks. We have different things for them to eat also. We’re putting some really key fun things in there.”
To Lupino, the caviar service is one of the fun offerings.
“Caviar service for me goes in the center of the table,” he said. “There are a lot of accompaniments. It’s just something that everybody shares at the table. I love caviar, so I bring it home, and then we usually all sit around the kitchen island, and it’s great. Great things come out of it. It’s like sharing a bottle of wine with someone; a bottle of wine and caviar and four or five people, some great conversation comes out of that.”
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The bread is sourced locally from Barrio Café.
“We worked tirelessly to find the exact bread that I wanted,” Lupino said. “I wanted a sourdough, but I wanted a nice local sourdough that would have a nice, crisp, artistic outside and the inside is very soft, enough to put some nice, whipped butter or olive oil on it. There’s nothing better than bread and butter.”
During the restoration, Lupino’s job was a task. He studied folders and boxes of menus to see how the taste evolved.
Mastro said it was the perfect fit, as they own Steak 44, Ocean 44 and Dominick’s Steakhouse.
“We’re steakhouse guys and we’ve been in town forever,” he explained. “We moved here, in the late ’70s. We’ve been here very long, and we’ve been coming to Durant’s forever. There are a lot of restaurants that only stay open for three, four or five years. To be able to own something that’s been around for 75 years is special.”
Mastro would not reveal the cost of the restoration, only saying “more than we expected when we started.”
“Because this building is well over 100 years old, we kept discovering things. We were redoing the floors, and then we found plumbing issues. It got a little expensive just to refurbish it. Things you wouldn’t even notice.”
However, the partners hope guests notice the renovation team stuck as close to the original style as possible.
“We heard horror stories of people who would buy these old places, and they would come in and do their thing and modernize it, knock down walls,” Mastro said. “We didn’t do that.”
The biggest challenge is trying to fit the chefs, cooks and other personnel in the “tiny” kitchen.
“This kitchen is like a New York restaurant. If you go to New York, most of the kitchens are this small,” Mastro said.
“Every person, every guest comes through the kitchen. If we have 200 reservations, we have 200 people who are going to walk through. We haven’t operated many kitchens that small. Luckily, chef Lupino, before us, years ago, was operating in New York.”
For Badgio, reopening Durant’s is akin to a joyous holiday — especially the one around the corner.
“We have this excitement that you can’t wait to share with everybody. It’s like Christmas — you know you’re going to love the gift, but they haven’t opened it yet. They’re a little unsure. So, please come and enjoy it.”
Lupino is looking forward to seeing guests.
“We want to be the stewards of it for the next 75 years,” he said. “We have big shoes to fill. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience opportunity.”
