When The Duplex (3137 W. Logan Blvd.) opened by the monument in June, owner LeQoinne Rice announced that the kitchen would operate on a roughly six-month rotating menu concept. For the launch, he brought in the two delivery-only food concepts he had already established: Lime & Radish and The Cluckerz. With that rotation looming, Rice and head chef David Rodriguez have announced the next two concepts occupying the Duplex kitchen.
Duplex Goes Korean
2 Korean Girls, a Miami-based delivery concept specializing in the Korean dish bibimbap, will bring its family recipes to Logan Square beginning Wednesday, Nov. 3. Founded by sisters and Indiana natives Michele and Jennifer Kaminski, 2 Korean Girls fills a need the pair saw for a good bibimbap bowl in Miami. They had spent their teenage years working in their mother’s Korean restaurant just outside of South Bend, Indiana.
Rice and Rodriguez were introduced to the concept through the chef collaboration application found on the Duplex’s website. Rice had envisioned the rotating menu concept as the perfect opportunity to provide the space and resources to those without the means to open their own businesses. A family-inspired concept like 2 Korean Girls felt like a perfect pairing, he said.
“We were really inspired by their passion and dedication,” Rice said. “The more we communicated after that initial application, the more excited we got about a potential partnership.”
Head chef Rodriguez, who will be running The Duplex kitchen after being trained on recipes from the 2 Korean Girls team, said it’s a unique opportunity to improve as a chef.
“When you do the same menu for months or years, it can start to feel stale and you stop learning new things,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t want to plateau as a chef, and learning new cuisines and techniques that I’ve never cooked before is a perfect way to do that.”
The 2 Korean Girls menu will focus on the traditional Korean dish of bibimbap, a bowl of warm white rice topped with kimchi, vegetables, meat and a fried egg. The recipe has been in the family for generations, and chef Rodriguez said he’s eager to do the dish and team behind it justice.
“When they came up to train us, we honestly picked it up in two or three days,” chef Rodriguez said. “Not that it’s a simple or easy dish, but it just goes to show how talented they are. The way they carried themselves, their organization and their techniques really inspired me as a chef to nail it.”
Burgers Fill Comfort Food Gap
The second concept joining the 2 Korean Girls menu is one of Rodriguez’s own creations: Space Cow, a gourmet burger concept, also debuting Nov. 3. Rodriguez said he wanted to provide a more accessible pairing for the Korean offerings and knew he could deliver unique burgers that stood out in the crowded Logan Square food landscape.
A preview of the burgers to be offered included the Meateor burger, topping a double patty with house-made, slow-cooked brisket, as well as mac and cheese.
“What we’re most excited about is all the burgers on the menu have their own individual personalities,” Rice said. “David has developed some truly unique and delicious burgers, and we can’t wait for the neighborhood to taste them.”
When asked for a menu item he’s most excited about, Rodriguez had a surprising answer.
“The portabella fries for sure,” he said. “We’re taking these beautiful portabella mushrooms and cutting them into a fry-like shape before deep frying them. They’re incredible.”
The Duplex will be rotating to the new menus on Nov. 3. If you’d like to be first in line to explore the new offerings, reservations can be placed on Tock.
Have a food concept and interested in becoming the next featured chef collaboration at The Duplex? Fill out the chef collaboration form.
Featured photo: Amanda Julca
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