Passionate Chef Speaks Out About How to Help Save the Restaurant Industry
David Burke is an internationally acclaimed chef who has won numerous awards in the culinary arts.
At the tender age of 26, Burke was named executive chef of the highly lauded River Cafe in Brooklyn, with one of the most spectacular views of the New York skyline. Burke received three stars from the New York Times for his masterful cooking, and went on to become a frequent guest on television’s Top Chef. An entrepreneur, David has received patents for innovative food preparation, and has added consultant to
the hospitality industry to his list of accomplishments. He has been recognized by numerous organizations, most notably the James Beard Foundation as Best Chef-New York.
David owns restaurants around the country with a great number in the New York area. The pandemic has caused the temporarily closing of most of his New York kitchens, but his Jersey restaurants are thriving. And just this past week, David opened a pop-up in Asbury Park titled Asbury Kitchen by David Burke, offering outdoor dining seven nights a week. Dinner is served from 4-10 PM with Happy Hour from 4-6. Brunch is available Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 AM – 4 PM.
The Asbury Kitchen menu features a lot of wonderful comfort food, including one of my favorite guilty pleasures: chicken and waffles; his are served with sriracha honey maple butter.
Even while he deals with his many restaurants during these challenging times, David is taking the time to speak out about the need for all of us to support New York restaurants in a more committed way. He has joined the One 4 All 4 NYC campaign to ask New Yorkers who can, to order 2, 3, 4 times a week from a favorite or local restaurant through the month of August. David understands that restaurants are the cornerstones of communities and without them, the economic fallout will be disastrous for us all.
The motto of this grassroots campaign is “return the favor” to all the restaurants who helped feed hospital, frontline and essential workers, as well as the homeless and hungry during the height of the pandemic. So, David is imploring New Yorkers, and those who love the city, to dine out, order in, or purchase a gift certificate to help keep restaurants alive.
Hear my conversation with Chef David Burke on Saturday’s Bagels and Broadway radio show and podcast. He will not only speak about his restaurants, but about the spectre of a decimated New York restaurant industry.
Bagels and Broadway with Valerie Smaldone airs Saturday mornings from 9:05-10 on WNYM Radio (am970), online, Alexa and podcast.
Valerie Smaldone is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market on 106.7 Life-FM, an iHeart station. She has hosted, produced, and created several award-winning nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with stars like Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Mariah Carey among others. Her radio talk show "Bagels and Broadway" highlighted theatre and food personalities. She is an accomplished interviewer and voice artist heard on commercials, narrations, promos and audiobooks, as well as a sought after live announcer.
Most recently, Valerie produced and directed a film, The Thursday Night Club, featuring pop diva Gloria Gaynor in her movie acting debut. She is one of the creators and producers of a docu-series, Divine Renovation, starring Erik Estrada, on streaming networks soon.
