(right) Russell Cockburn and Don Allen have been a team for more than 10 years and run the 406 on Duval.

LIVE OAK — Russell Cockburn met Don Allen frying shrimp in the kitchen at the Brown Lantern 10 years ago.

They immediately got along, started a successful catering business and, on June 14, opened there own restaurant at 406 Duval St., accurately named The 406 on Duval.

Built in 1896 with a large wrap-around columned porch, the two-story, historical 406 Duval building had been closed for over a year when Cockburn and Allen bought it. Allen said the people who owned the building called him and asked if he knew anyone interested in buying the place.

“And I said, well, I know one person,” he said.

He called Cockburn and told him it was there chance to start their own business. At first, however, Cockburn was hesitant.

“I didn’t want to do it,” he said. “It’s a big leap. Every business that’s been here has failed.”

People in the restaurant business, Allen said, believe in the jinx factor, and if one more business opened at 406 Duval and failed, it would definitely be jinxed. Allen believes they will be the exception. Cockburn is less sure.

“Everyone believes they’re the exception, so I’m not going to buy into that,” Cockburn said. “I’m just not going to make the same mistakes I saw the last four businesses make.”

He worked at one of the business that failed. He didn’t want to say which one, but he learned what not to do. First, have as quiet a opening as possible.

“This place will sit 200 people, but the kitchen is not capable of feeding 200 people,” he said. “Every single business that was here before would open up the doors, fill up the place and then people sat for two hours waiting to be fed.”

Live Oak is too small of a town to allow anyone to have a bad experience and spread the word, he said. To have a bad opening, where people leave unhappy, starts the restaurant on a bad note.

By not telling anyone they were opening, Cockburn and Allen avoided being overwhelmed before they had a chance to work out their kinks.

“We just unlocked the door,” Allen said. “We didn’t tell anybody.”

When it comes to actually running the restaurant, Allen is the front of the house and Cockburn is the back.

That’s how they operated their catering business, too. Cockburn would cook the food. Allen would schedule and set everything up.

“He does it all back there, while I shake hands and kiss babies,” Allen said.

Allen received his bachelors degree from Florida State University in hospitality administration, managed restaurants and worked as a food inspector. He also taught culinary at River Oak Technical College.

Cockburn has worked in kitchens his entire life. He started working in a restaurant when he was 15 and has worked from Miami to Pensacola, all through out the state. He said cooking was a necessity.

“My mother didn’t cook and I had a sister, eight or nine years old,” he said. “It was something I had to do, I was good at it and I just do it.”

What makes his cooking different from the other restaurants, particularly in Live Oak, he said, is the quality of the ingredients and his opposition to compromise.

There is no ranch dressing, chicken strips, chicken wings and other things people have come to expect. Cockburn said there is a learning curve for new customers.

“There are plenty of places around here you can get that stuff,” he said. “But with everything we have here, you can’t get it anywhere else. What we have is unique.”

The 406 on Duval is open from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m Tuesday through Saturday.