DAVID BURKE KITCHEN – NYC
23 Grand Street, New York NY, 10013
Date dined: 3.3.12
Photo courtesy of: www.bigdesignloves.com
My mother and I lucked out on Saturday two weeks ago because she came into the city to celebrate her birthday and the weather ended up being more like a sunny day in late May than the expected chill of early March. To break up our walking tour of bustling Soho I made a reservation at David Burke Kitchen.
This is the latest addition to the David Burke empire and is a very spacious, homey-kitchen style restaurant below the James hotel in Soho. The James hotel itself is a trendy hotel with an artsy look of concrete with metal accents which are softened by more rustic touches like plants and bleached wood.
I should have been able to judge better by the photos of checkered table cloths but this place was a bit more low key than I was hoping for to celebrate a birthday brunch. The other thing which really annoys me in restaurants is LOTS of kids. Unfortunately, we hit the jackpot.
The food, however, did not disappoint.
To begin we were greeted by our waiter and two enormous airy popovers. Fresh out of the oven, crusty on the outside with a light, buttery inside.
Puffy Popover
As a starter, after sneaking a peak at my neighbor’s plate, I ordered the tuna tartare tacos. The fresh fish were served packed to the brim of crunchy mini taco shells and perched lined up in a little stand topped with lime, whipped avocado and spicy tobiko. Refreshing little bites that hit all the taste buds.
Tuna Tartare Tacos
For our mains, my mother and I both ordered the eggs benedict. They were actually more like eggs benedict and Florentine combined because they had both Canadian bacon and spicy spinach. The combination was very good. With runny poached eggs and a flavorful hollandaise (which can often be very bland) atop a well toasted English muffin this turned out to be a pretty good egg dish.
Eggs Benetine??
Getting my mom to order dessert was a bit of a challenge after the rich meal but since I had pre-ordered a birthday message I had to convince her that I was just dyingg for more carbs. We ordered the banana bread pudding which came steaming hot in a mini porcelain baking dish and I have to say the rustic farmhouse presentation was really cute here. The bread pudding was rich and custardy and very sweet. A few bites of this dish were just enough to top off our birthday brunch.
Banana Bread Pudding
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