“All mayo everything.”
—Justin Warner
Justin Warner is a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, and has had a different road than most in becoming a chef. With no formal training as chef, most of Justin’s restaurant experience was working the front of house. When Justin came to New York he eventually found himself working as a dinning captain at the Modern. The Modern is a Michelin star restaurant located in the Museum of Modern Art owned by famed NY restaurateur Danny Meyer. Working in the dining room Justin met his future business partners George McNeese and Luke Jackson.
In 2010 Justin competed on 24-Hour Restaurant Battle in August 2010 with his then-girlfriend J.J. Pyle. They won the episode with their brunch restaurant concept, but never opened it. Instead, Justin along with George and Luke teamed up with local Brooklyn artist Perry Gargano and opened Do or Dine in 2011. Far from the wealthy elite of midtown scene, they opened the restaurant in a Brooklyn neighborhood known as Bedford-Stuyvesant or “Bed-Stuy,” a neighborhood made famous by Spike Lee films and countless rap lyric references. The neighborhood was referenced in the film Notorious, where The Notorious B.I.G., played by Jamal Woolard, states that he was growing up in “Do or Die Bed-Stuy.” Hence the name Do or Dine. Though Bed-Stuy has slowly gentrified since the early 2000s, it is still not the location you would expect to find such an eclectic dining experience.
Justin Warner and the team at Do or Dine have seemed to defy definition since the beginning. This culinary destination showcases their unique culinary take by combining fine dining and an irreverent regard to culinary tradition, mixed with a bit of not taking oneself too seriously. You can see Justin’s culinary sense of humor on the menu, which ranges from “A fish and some chips” to “Frog Legs with Spicy Dr. Pepper Glaze” to the now infamous “foie gras doughnut,” the dish that perhaps has brought Justin the most notoriety. After an article about the pastry ran in the Gothamist, a petition signed by hundreds asked the restaurant to stop serving the controversial dish. Despite that, the foie gras doughnut remains on the menu.
Since its opening, the restaurant has been become known for many things aside from the edgy menu, including the disco ball in the dining room, the mosaic tile skull and cross bones in the entrance, as well as the hip-hop-heavy playlist. Justin and Do or Dine continue to gather success. In September of 2011, Do or Dine received a great review from The New York Times, and the same year Justin was named Forbe’s Magazine’s 30 under 30 in Food and Wine. In 2012 Do or dine made the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list and Justin Warner won Food Network’s eighth season of Next Food Network Star, making the restaurant officially a destination for “teens and middle American housewives.”
Like his cuisine, Justin’s only tattoo is edgy, eclectic, and unexpected. He has the logo for Kewpie mayonnaise from Japan, his favorite brand of mayonnaise, inked on his right forearm. Kewpie is also the name of his dog.
In March of 2013, Justin’s show Rebel Eats premiered on the Food Network. In addition, when not in the restaurant, he makes several appearances at various food festivals and events around the country for the Food Network.
This is one of the original recipes served at Do or Dine when they first opened.
