Up to code: Joe Kaminski, construction; Matthew Sudock, interior design.

HOW CAN A RESTAURANT WITH ZERO SEX APPEAL BECOME THE SWANKIEST JOINT ON THE BLOCK? GO TO 133 EAST 61ST BTW. PARK AND LEXINGTON AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF. DAVIDBURKE & DONATELLA ANCHORS A SIDE OF A STREET THAT'S BECOME SOMETHING OF A RESTAURANT ROW.

Shimmy yourself straight past the bar, and two-step it into the main dining room. Have a look around. There's whimsy on these walls. And glamour in the air. Every lunch here could be a power lunch. That includes those where children sit, munching mischievously on David Burke's shoestrings (fries, of course) or a cheesecake lollipop tree. (Adults can take a whack at the "angry lobster served on a bed of nails"). The quarters here are just close enough to pick up juicy nuggets of conversation from high-heeled women in shocking stockings taking their fashion cues from diva, Donatella Arpaia. The casual diner might place a face or two, but before there is name recognition, curbside car services sweep the gals back to Conde Nast or to their condo in NOHO.

At the time of this writing, there still was quite a bit of white winter skin hoping to see spring and the least bit of pink. But until tones change, Joe Kaminski says not to worry. "The crimson lighting in here makes everyone look like they have a tan. At davidburke & donatella, you'll look wonderful."

Before even asking a question Joe reveals the latest plans for the restaurant:

We may take over the second floor and expand. This was an existing restaurant, il Valletto, and we actually kept the flow of the room the same. We didn't have to change any accessibility issues. We didn't have to bring the bathrooms up to code and compliance because we didn't change the existing structure; instead, we cosmetically cleaned them up. If we redid the entranceway or the bathrooms then we would have to make architectural modifications that comply with ADA laws and the American Accessibility Act. The lengthy ADA definition is actually fairly clear: when a facility remodel includes moving walls, the standards for accessible design apply.

The second floor will not be without complications, many more than the first floor. We'll have to comply with codes--there's intricate work involved that's especially complex. We have to figure out how and where to put in a staircase. We'll also have to redo one of the bathrooms, put another bathroom in upstairs, and probably put in an elevator/lift for handicapped accessibility. We may possibly put a secondary kitchen upstairs. It may take several months of planning and redrawing to get it right so it flows naturally.

We turn to Matthew to find out more about the initial concept.

The space was inspirational from the get-go. It was dark and old, yes, but it had good bones. So I sat down with David, who has such a whimsical way about him and Donatella, who is glamorous, and we talked about what might work. They wanted the restaurant to have some sort of theme, but I'm not really a theme person. But David wanted something fun. So, I searched for inspiration in toy stores. I ended up zeroing in on playing cards, which have a certain sophistication about them. The deck that caught my attention was from London. The cards accompany a book, The Key to the Kingdom, an Enchanting Transformation, designed by artist/illustrator Tony Meeuwissen in 1992. We located the artist and commissioned him to make lithographs for the restaurant, which we've framed. They've added to the identity, the illustrations carried over to other areas--in the menus and decorative pieces.

I was also inspired by David Hicks (considered to be among the foremost interior designers in the 60s and 70s whose powerful colors heralded an end to the drab, postwar English look, setting a new daring pace for interior design in Europe and America.) I wanted to do something romantic and dramatic. I played with accent lighting. The color palette is neutral with color pop. Dark chocolate and vanilla set the tone. And the lipstick colors--red and scarlet--add warmth and intimacy. There's a glossy, lacquered look about everything.

You won't find any other chandelier like the one that's in the main dining room. It's a French-inspired piece with nickel plating. The nickel makes it bright, shiny and silver. I basically took things that were traditional and put a twist on them.

So how did Joe make Matthew's vision a reality?

This place was dreary--a dark, dark, dark cave! It was all brick inside and very oppressive-looking. Now it's hip and contemporary. The ceilings were low and the floors were high. But we kept the same general layout. There were--and are now--three separate compartments that divide the restaurant: The bar area, mezzanine level and the dining room. We focused on the interior: redoing the walls, lighting, floor and ceiling, which we tore out to get another 18 inches of space. We changed the air conditioning system, which was huge and ugly, pancaking the ducts to get more space. For the most part, the structure itself stayed the same. But we did a lot of cosmetic work.

David Burke wanted to open three days after we started the project! Of course we ran into hiccups. There were some unforeseen incidents with the landlord. And we uncovered some unexpected things. We began construction May 2003 and opened December 2003. It's the usual story of we need it built yesterday.

Unforeseen circumstances? Those sound intriguing!

Well, doing a retrofit like this one is sometimes more intricate than dealing with an initial build-out because you have to take into account the existing structure--sometimes there are surprises. There are things you don't find out until you actually go in and start tearing down or hanging up brick walls.

Over here to the left (Joe points to the brick facade near the front door), when you first walk in the door, were two very small windows where a refrigerator case once was. So we got rid of the case, took out the windows, blew out the brick and put these very long doors in to let in all that gorgeous light.

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The bar was originally on the left-hand side of the restaurant, and we realized the front door was not centered--it was also just to the left side of the restaurant. So, we ripped out the old bar and put the bar that you see now on the right side. So now when you walk in the restaurant, you have nothing blocking the front door. What you have is a direct walk from the front door to the back of the restaurant. Had we kept the bar on the left, there would have been bar stools sitting right in the middle of the entranceway. And David wanted to see all the way through--to the end of the restaurant.

In a retrofit, if you want to work on the ceiling, you have to re-support the structure. The same concept goes for the electrical. We replaced the air conditioner, then upgraded the hood. But you basically wind up upgrading all the systems. We replaced wiring all the way down to the basement. It becomes a project in itself. In the beginning, it's very exciting; in the end, it's rewarding; but the middle is a nightmare!

I'll give you an example of a complication with an old existing building like this one. Just last night a pipe exploded in one of the apartments upstairs. It rained in the restaurant! I was called in and began shutting off mains and ripping off walls. (Of course, I didn't anticipate the incident; I was wearing a white polo sweater that was covered in dirt by the end of the day!) But we were able to temporarily fix the problem and stop the water in about 10 minutes. In the meantime, the restaurant opened, and customers and staff just dealt with it. The place was packed and people really didn't seem to mind that there were 20 people standing around catching water in buckets. We managed to get the water back on in 30 minutes. Of course, the real repairs took hours, but we were able to isolate the problem, put in a new valve and replace the pipes. There was another time when four pipes broke simultaneously, which is almost unheard of. The odds of that are like hitting the lotto.

But that's not uncommon--it happens all the time. Anything that can go wrong does go wrong! When you tell someone, 'Be careful with that pipe, they put a screw right through it!'

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How about another horror story?

Oh, I've got hundreds of those! Well, one of the challenges was the dining room. The fireplace was in good shape, but the wood was really old and was painted three thousand times, so we stripped it down, reconditioned and refinished it. We installed the two cabinets (only a few weeks ago) because David asked if we could get more shelving in here. We knew the back wall had 14 or 15 inches behind it that we could get to. So we built the cabinets outside the shop. Then, since this restaurant is open most of the time, we came in at 3 o'clock in the morning to install them. You always have to hope what you think is back there--is! Well, when we were doing this, we found there were more headers and pipes in the way than we imagined. The cabinets didn't fit. So we had to change everything! We took down and cut in the wall near the fireplace, removed and redid the plumbing, reframed everything, redid the fabric, then sunk the cabinets in. And when the restaurant opened, it looked like they had been there forever.

How does a restaurant in a mixed-zoned neighborhood maintain diplomatic relations with the tenants?

Well, obviously this is Manhattan and everyone has something to say! So fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, when a dynamite restaurant like this one comes along, it's bound to create a lot of interest and traffic. And some people tend to frown on that. There have been some people who've lived on this block for 30 or 40 years, and they feel like they own it--and rightfully so! So you always have this interesting cache to tangle with. The initial build up and production work, though, is so exciting because it does generate curiosity. And I found most people who would come by were supportive. But when summer hits, and the doors are open, and the energy from outside comes inside, the restaurant will be completely different. 1,000 people walk by here everyday, and once the doors and windows are open, even more people will be pulled in. Light, glass and air are magnets.

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... so too is David Burke.

davidburke & donatella was spearheaded by Joe and Matthew.

Matthew works with M Design in New York City. He's worked on Acqua Pazza with owner, Umberto Arpaia, Donatella's husband.

Joe grew up always fixing things. It must be in his blood, his parents were superin-tendents of several hotels. Embarking on a similar course, Joe managed the Delmonico Hotel for twenty years (now Trump Park Avenue) on Park Avenue and 59th Street. He helped on the conversion to condominium apartments in 2003. He went on to redo the Gramercy Park Hotel. Construction for Joe, is like "being a kid again--building a model airplane, watching it fly away and then building another one."

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