Terrific Takeout: Burke & Wills Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Owner of Burke & Wills, Tim Harris
Fresh Origins is America’s leading producer of Microgreens and Edible Flowers. Combining the benefits of an ideal climate with a deep passion for quality and innovation, Fresh Origins products are sought after by the finest restaurants and top chefs. The farm is located in the picturesque rolling hills of San Diego County, where the near perfect weather allows for production and harvest all year. Fresh Origins produces almost 400 Microgreens, Petitegreens, Edible Flowers, Shoots, Tiny Veggies™ and related items. Many are not available anywhere else, with new introductions nearly every month. Fresh Origins products are on top of the finest cuisine in the world! Fresh Origins supplies distributors of specialty produce who serve fine dining restaurants and resorts nationwide. There are also a few online sources of their products available to private chefs and home cooks. Read our first Culinary Queen interview with Kelly Sasuga:
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It's not who you know, it's Whom You Know and if you've been reading us carefully, you know that some of the best people we've met living in New York are not even American, namely Paulina and Ed, whom we met sipping Champagne of the roof of The Met many years ago. They are from Perth. Though we haven't been to Australia we almost feel like we have since we've lived in Ireland and England and so many of our friends there plus some American friends have lived in Australia...and to that end we are pleased to present our second feature ever on Australian cuisine in New York! Previously, we featured Flinders Lane which we were quite pleased with. After chatting with Tim, we now know they know each other and of course the restaurant world can be small and friendly!
When we arrived at Burke & Wills, owner Tim Harris graciously greeted us with a splendid Australian wine. Tim grew up in the hospitality business and is a trained chef; he opened Burks & Wills in July 2013. The restaurant is named after the explorers...and this is our first experience at this restaurant. Tim tells us that Australian food is evocative of phases of immigration: post WWI-Greek, Italian; Vietnam War-Asian and what he executes is today's Modern Australian. We also understand that Australian cuisine features a love of coffee and fresh seafood, so Australians you are preaching to the choir at Whom You Know.
The presentation of every item we tried was simply extraordinary and one of the best we've seen by a venue new to us in Manhattan this year. Beyond that and more importanly, it was delicious. We began with the foie gras torchon with rhubarb gastrique and granulated honey. This was a genius combination and boasted the right degree of creativity. The consistency was superlative.
The next stunning appetizer we tried was the roasted scallops, which had incredibly vivid color: further evidencing the total freshness of the cuisine we encountered. The scallops were roasted to perfection and were joined by baby beets, mandarinquats, radishes and meyer lemon.
This dish in particular loved the camera.
As an entree, we chose the rotisserie chicken which is joined by fiddlehead ferns (amazing! more venues should use these), spring garlic and black garlic puree. The combination was extraordinary and we loved all the greenery that came to the party. The chicken was succulent and exactly as you want chicken to be: moist and flavorful. Also, we love garlic so we might have been even more aggressive with that.
The roasted asparagus is not only green but also white and is simply phenomenal with a meyer lemon butter flavor. Tim also suggested we try the Barramundi, a fish that arrives from Massachusetts, and it forms a symphony of tastefulness with morels, favas, ramps and again, the highly successful meyer lemon butter. And finally, their secret weapon? Do not miss the Manhattan Cricket Club to be found on the second floor. We took a quick look and it's one of the most beautiful cocktail spots we've seen as of late.
Burke & Wills is Terrific Takeout!
