The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1326760
Chef David Burke is a long-standing culinary pioneer of the modern American kitchen, impacting the food industry from a multi-faceted standpoint. Burke is the owner of several world-class restaurants all over the country. As the culinary director of Asian-Cuban American fusion restaurant Ventanas in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the sky's the limit for fun and entertaining styles of food. Burke's playful "Clothesline Bacon'' suspends crisp, thick-cut strips of bacon coated in a spiced jalapeño and pineapple syrup for an unforgettable experience. e torched bacon uses gravity to drip its flavorful fat onto a pickle placed below, reimagining the concept of the household ingredient entirely. Burke's culinary prominence goes beyond his restaurants to sharing his knowledge with the rest of the world. Author of two cookbooks, Cooking with David Burke and David Burke's New American Classics, and a television spectacle, Burke's undeniable star power elevated his command in the kitchen to celebrity chef status. You might recognize Burke from the small screen with major appearances in Bravo's Top Chef Masters or Top Chef Duels and guest features on the Everyday with Rachel Ray Show. e legendary, self-made figure also built his own company, David Burke Group, with sub-companies like David Burke Hospitality Management. is culinary consulting branch creates distinctive foodservice strategies and menu designs for restaurants, hotels, and clubs with a grand focus on hospitality and the overall guest experience. An accomplished icon of the modern era of American gastronomy, Chef David Burke's prodigious pursuit for greatness began at a young age in suburbia. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in the proverbial Central Jersey suburb of Hazlet, Burke's young, innate culinary talent brought him to the notorious Sheraton Hotel on Route 35 as the dishwasher at the age of 15. From there, Burke's father signed him up for cooking classes at the local Williams Sonoma thinking that "he would hate it." But instead, the young prodigy absorbed every lesson like a sponge. V U E N J . C O M 113