Black bread, bacon and haute French cuisine: how a Ukrainian in New York feeds Americans with secret dinners

23500 - The number of restaurants in New York before the pandemic. It sold $ 27 billion worth of food every year. However, COVID-19 caused significant damage to the restaurant industry of the country and the city - thousands were closed forever, others suffered significant financial losses. Among those who managed to survive the pandemic relatively calmly is the restaurant of an immigrant from Ukraine. This is stated in the video "Voices of America".

Today Kharkiv citizen Dmitry Rodov is a famous chef and owner of one of the most popular restaurants in Brooklyn. However, he began his immigrant journey as a taxi driver.

He says that he dreamed of a career as a cook almost from childhood, but could not afford to study at a culinary school.

“Of course, I cooked at home, studied with my grandparents, but at the age of 28 I still decided to go to school, at that time I was already financially successful, I had a house and a car,” said Dmitry.

In the mid-2000s, Dmitry began his career as a chef. As one of the best students of the course, he was awarded an internship trip to France. During his studies, he trained at the best restaurants in Manhattan.

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“I worked for free, I just had to study to be good chefs. As a rule, restaurants do not like to teach, they allow to peel onions or chicken, but I was lucky, ”says the Ukrainian.

However, the first attempts in the restaurant business were not very successful. The first establishment was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. The second restaurant, which Rodov opened in Manhattan, developed successfully for the first few years, but Dmitry had to close it after the owners of the premises raised their rent.

“I returned to my wife in Brooklyn, we bought several premises, built our restaurant here, we don't want to leave here,” says Dmitry.

Dmitry Dayan's wife is a pastry chef. She is in charge of the bakery and desserts in the restaurant. Dmitry is a chef and restaurant manager.

“Our restaurant is called Duet,” Dmitry said.

The restaurant has 180 seats, half of the visitors are Americans, the other half are from the former USSR. The cuisine of the institution is also very diverse.

“We are a local restaurant, my task is to make sure that people come to us every day. We have created a unique system, when every day we offer some kind of innovation, ”said the Ukrainian.

Ksenia and her family are Dmitry's regular clients. He says that they come here at least twice a week.

“Everything is delicious with him. Just incredible grandma's cutlets, borscht, fish soup, pies. He can also make various French dishes. He can do everything, a very talented person, ”says Ksenia.

But he pampers his clients not only with French cuisine, but also with traditional Ukrainian black bread with bacon and green onions.

When asked what his favorite dish is, Dmitry himself replies that he loves homemade food - cutlets and borscht. However, in every dish, he is convinced, the main thing is serving.

Dmitry recently started holding secret dinners at the restaurant.

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“A client buys a ticket for $ 160 and gets 7 surprise dishes. When each dish is served, I go out to the guests, and the process of its preparation is broadcasted on the TV, ”says Dmitry.

Dmitry also loves to improve ordinary dishes. For example, the toast with avocado in "Duet" has its own secrets.

“There are 7 ingredients - avocado, tomatoes, olives, olive oil, basil, burrata cheese is placed on top and we finish with a delicious sauce. This is a 25-year-old balsamic sauce, ”says Dmitry.

Dmitry's right hand, Elena from Kiev, has been working in the institution for many years. Before moving to the United States, she worked as a hairdresser. She graduated from culinary school in New York. She worked in several restaurants until she met Dmitry, with whom they agreed on culinary tastes.

Dad instilled a love for delicious food, she uses his recipes and secrets when she prepares food for clients.

“His borscht, cutlets, dumplings. Everything he did was something incredible, ”says Elena.

Despite the fact that Dmitry spent his entire adult life in New York, he does not lose touch with Ukraine. He moved with his parents back in the days when Ukraine was part of the USSR.

“Many restaurants were opened in Kiev with my participation. I come and give master classes, ”says Dmitry.

The pandemic that crippled the restaurant business in New York did not affect Dmitry and his establishment. He won a tender, which was conducted by the city government and for the first few months of the lockdown, the restaurant staff prepared food for those who were on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.

“We fed 15 people every day. They made salads, cutlets, meat. People received breakfast, lunch and dinner, ”the Ukrainian noted.

During the pandemic, Dmitry patented a recipe for his own salad sauce. By the end of the year, it will already be available in supermarkets. Also in the list of new projects and a recipe book.

“There will be a book with 5 volumes. There will also be master classes, which we are already starting to do on YouTube, ”says Dmitry.

In the meantime, the book is being written, he makes liqueurs with his own hand according to his signature recipes and treats them to guests.