Founder, Executive Chef and Owner David Burke
with the
Sea Scallops with Butternut Raviolis
A most inviting dinner and the Best Modern American in Manhattan today
Black Sea Bass "Tiki Masala" David's favorite
It's never been who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and EVERYONE knows David Burke, and we're glad to now know him in person too though he has been a Facebook and Linkedin friend for years. We believe we first met him when we reviewed I Tre Merli.
We are thrilled to have visited Park Ave Kitchen and you should absolutely know that it is the best new opening we have been to in 2023, and you have not lived until you've had the Apple Brown Betty Waffle Sundae. But we are getting ahead of ourselves...
Complete with a Chef Jester logo, Park Avenue Kitchen by David Burke officially opens to the world tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13, 2023 and the luckiest ducks in town have a reservation and we are honored to kick off our coverage and thank David Burke.
At 48th street, 514 Lexington is a fantastic location and the unique culinary endeavor called Park Ave Kitchen by David Burke is equally delicious, affordable and beautiful. It makes Americans even prouder to be American, feasting upon this revolutionary Modern American brand new classic.
It's evident that every last detail is attended to, and with eighteen restaurants today, David Burke is one of the very best chefs in America. You'll find David Burke Tavern on the Upper East Side, and other restaurants: in New York in Westchester, Long Island and Saratoga; eight in New Jersey; three in Charlotte, North Carolina; and one coming in Lake Park, Florida. You heard it here first, readers!
Every great restaurant in Manhattan has got to have a convincing burger, especially an American venue. Park Ave Kitchen by David Burke's burger is not simply convincing: it is commanding. Lording over its competition from its perch on a premium Thomas's English muffin, the eight ounce DB Dry Aged Beef in perfect 80/20 proportion sourced from Pat LaFrieda is a revelation in juicy carnivorousness complete with cheddar. Fries with shishitos sing backup and a cherry tomato and pickle rise to the occasion topping it off. B1 sauce completes the party and we're told that it's B1 because A1 was taken. Who knows the A person? Not us. We know the B person. Of course, B is for Burke and it is also for beguiling, brilliant, bodacious, beautiful burger!
Aerial view in case you want to play airplane with your fries...
A perfect medium rare as requested by Ms. Superpicky.
If you haven't read our other 28,000 posts, you should know we never edit pictures.
You excel like David, or we do not publish.
This is the truth.
Get ready for a pepper party!
Suddenly, other fries have become boring.
In our quest for the best dinners, we are always looking to add elements of delicious nutrition when opportunity presents itself. Meet the Cremini Mushrooms and Spinach side! Less is more and this offers great warmth and flavor in its complementary attributes to everything you dine upon at Park Avenue Kitchen by David Burke.
From every angle, the Lobster Dumplings appetizer looks like it just stepped off a runway from New York's Fashion Week. But wait - you say it's not fashion week this week? We say yes it is and it's on your plate at 514 Lexington. This is no ordinary lobster: it's WILD MAINE LOBSTER-and yes it tastes even more fresh and decadent than ordinary lobster- that comes in daily deliveries from Maine. It puts on the ritz with tomato miso dressing and chili oil and it is further invigorated with preserved lemon.
The selection of entrees, titled "Mains" is evocative of great depth and deciding which one you want is going to be one of your best new problems. We suggest not keeping it to one choice! It's impossible. We count ten absolutely worthy dishes and the Sea Scallops with Butternut Raviolis jumped out at us. Achieving the perfect balance between interesting yet not over the top, this poisson-motivated culinary feat is blasted to the edible stratosphere with exemplary pan-seared dayboat (this means that they were caught THAT DAY, as within 24 hours of arriving on your plate) diver scallops. Butternut raviolis uniquely capture the flavor of the season now and these two components are set off strikingly well by pumpkin seed and watercress pesto, exotic mushrooms (hiding underneath), pickled blackberries (high applause from Peachy, who adores berries everywhere) and preserved lemon.
David suggested we try the Black Sea Bass "Tiki Masala" and he was right.
Luxuriating on a bed of coconut rice and enhanced with tumeric and chick peas, this pescatarian superstar swims in its own hot tub on your plate of decadent chicken butter sauce that is to-die-for. Off the Hook seafood from Midland Park, New Jersey delivers this daily to ensure top-notch freshness and a most fabulous dinner.
You'd better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout we're telling you why: David Burke's Apple Brown Betty Waffle Sundae has come to town!!! Layers upon layers of American decadence deliciously await your palate as dried cranberries, ice cream, whipped cream, apple pie filling, buttery cinnamon waffles and chocolate Cheerios are brilliantly topped off with an apple cookie! Big Apple, indeed. They make it HERE at Park Ave Kitchen by David Burke; they DO NOT make it anywhere else, and if they do, it's apt to not be nearly as incredible as this. In perfect proportion, the Sundae exact components that were Peachy's favorite were the apple pie filling and the ice and whipped creams.
It's up to you, New York, New York: but we know you're going to agree with us.
Park Avenue Kitchen by David Burke is the best new opening in quite some time!
Also, the bacon looks like it is working on its tan and we look forward to befriending it another day:
John Mainieri the Maitre d' was a delight to meet and greeted us graciously. Also, we were delighted to meet Brian Webber, the Culinary Director of DB Management, and of course we loved the Chandelier.
We look forward to seeing Park Avenue Kitchen by David Burke keep up the superior work!
We don't only write about food...check out Peachy's bag in the background from FSNYE and Phyllis Rein. (They collaborated with the South African Consulate's Winemaker initiative so there was a food wine component to that too.) The red carpet awaits the world:
