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One thing people don’t know about me is that I’m an art collector and a glassblower. - It was a great day when I bought the Fromagerie. It was the restaurant where I got my start. I was a potato peeler.
- I have had so many memorable meals, but one of my earliest was in 1987 at Troisgros in France.
- Without humor, happiness and playfulness, there’d be no reason to live.
- If you’re a kid getting into this business, go stage for a well-known chef. Ask a lot of questions, work hard and learn everything you can.
- My go-to drink is Sauvignon Blanc.
- If I were on death row, my last meal would be warm Kumamoto oysters with foie gras; dayboat sea scallops Benedict with chorizo oil, lobster foam and a sunnyside-up quail egg; angry lobster; dover sole with tomato-mint butter; 60-day aged sirloin with soft egg raviolis and shrimp home fries with sunnysideup quail eggs; banana praline souffle and cheesecake lollipops.
- I hate that there are not eight days in the week. I wake up every day and I can’t get enough of this business.
- One thing customers don’t get about restaurants is the 7:30 or 8 p.m. reservations. They think the table should always be there waiting for them.
- If I had to do it all over again I would have worked in more countries. I regret not having worked in Asia for a couple of years.
David Burke is a leading pioneer of modern American cooking who operates DavidBurke & Donatella and David Burke at Bloomingdale’s (both in New York), David Burke’s Primehouse in Chicago and David Burke Fromagerie in New Jersey.
