2 0 1 3 davidburkemagazine Top cHef masTers! Bringing Home THe Bacon fabrick By Design Traveling souTH of THe BorDer contents 5 19 26 PRESSURE COOKER WALL tO WALL SEASOnAL COCKtAiLS Hijinks cooking for Designer glen coben raise a glass. cheers! good causes on breaks down the details Top Chef Masters. of fabrick. 29 GOOD GRAPES 9 21 château peyrabon— ExECUtivE DECiSiOnS PiG OUt in it for the long haul. cook like a master with chef Burke goes recipes from the show. hog wild at the new 35 Burke’s Bacon Bar. in-hOUSE 17 chef Burke brings his CULinARY CREAtiOnS 23 restaurants to you for new flavors and FRiEnDS OF events of any kind. innovative endeavors thE hOUSE from chef Burke’s kitchen. Billy King and Jill Zarin. welcome What an incredible second half of the year! not only are all my current restaurants doing great, but we have so many more opening in the next few months—including fabrick in new york city, two more locations in chicago, and even one in aspen! add to that the craziness of doing Top Chef Masters, which really was a blast! Being surrounded by so much talent and getting a chance to challenge myself was very grounding. it brought me back to re-examine the reasons i started cooking in the first place, and it has truly been an incredible journey up to this point in my career. you can read all about this season of Top Chef Masters in the words of executive chef chris shea (my sous- chef on the show), winner chef Douglas Keane, and chef franklin Becker. i can’t wait for my guests to experience 30 some of the new restaurants that are being finished as i write this. you will also learn about the design aspects of David Burke fabrick and Burke’s Bacon souTH of Bar that make them both special and unique. as i said on Top Chef Masters, i work for happiness. and i’m happiest THe BorDer cHef BurKe HeaDs To oaxaca, mexico when i know i have something special to offer my guests! 2013 • davidburke 3 Mayim Water is one of the preeminent water bottling distribution companies in the United States. Our years of expertise in the water industry, combined with our consistent focus on client satisfaction, has positioned us as a premier alternative water bottling solution to traditionally imported brands. Mayim Water produces the highest quality water through its proprietary purification process. By eliminating all impurities, Mayim Water provides the best-tasting and most refreshing water on the market. Mayim Water’s enhanced taste is naturally fortified with vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. Mayim Water has always focused on environmental awareness. Mayim Water is a key proponent of the campaign to reduce the import of bottled water and is an active participant in the environmental education & stewardship program known as the ‘Go Green’ initiative. The David Burke Group is a leading client of the Mayim Water program, as part of the Group’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint. Mayim Water is now featured at Fishtail by David Burke, David Burke Townhouse, David Burke Kitchen, David Burke Prime Steakhouse, and David Burke Fromagerie, along with numerous other upscale restaurants in the New York metropolitan area. Mayim Water provides the highest quality still and sparkling water for restaurant patrons, surpassing traditional imported bottled water in taste, purity, and cost-effectiveness. For catered or hosted events, Mayim Water can be added to event packages without the inventory costs incurred when serving traditional bottled water. Mayim Water has increased revenue and reduced expenses while providing a superior product to some of the country’s top restaurants. Contact Mayim Water today at 855.55MAYIM (556-2946) or www.mayimwater.com to learn about our free trial opportunity, to allow you to gauge firsthand the benefits and advantages of incorporating Mayim Water at your restaurant. We are proud to be serving Mayim water, it tastes great! —Chef David Burke MayimAd.indd 1 11/5/12 1:22 PM Top Chef Masters cHefs TaKe THe HeaT! “Being on Top Chef Masters felt really great. I honestly enjoyed competing and hanging out with people who are passionate about cooking. It was refreshing and brought back memories of why we are all here. I’m glad I got to throw around some laughs and knowledge and exchange stories. You are never too old to compete or jump out of a plane! I know I took some chances, but I would rather show what I can really do than skate by with an average dish. My cooking is driven by passion—and in this case, pure charitable love. I really felt like I was working for happiness on the show, which is what we do for a living anyway!”—Chef David Burke ouT of THe frying pan anD inTo kitchen. If I had done better, he wouldn’t have everything is—where the ricer is, that this THe fire WiTH DaviD BurKe KiTcHen had to jump out of a plane. Luckily for me, it mandolin is sharper than that one, that the execuTive cHef cHris sHea turns out he really enjoyed that experience! slicing machine needs to be moved this way to work properly because it got dinged two weeks you face daily stress during service at a Top Chef Masters was Executive Chef Chris ago. I know where every bottle of olive oil and restaurant—why was this different? In a Shea’s first time working on television, and an every box of salt is. Here you have to learn, and competition setting, they are constantly experience he will not soon forget! learn quickly, because you can waste a lot of highlighting the most stressful aspects of time you can’t afford by looking for a mixing can you describe the overall experience of the working in a kitchen, which makes it even bowl or a piping bag. There’s the fridge, there’s show? It was crazy! We had a great group of more stressful! If a batch of fresh vegetables dry storage, there’s your equipment, and this people that really defined the experience for me arrives in my kitchen, I can sit down with my is what you have to do—now do it right now! and made it a lot of fun to be a part of. staff and discuss what we are going to do with What else was challenging? How do you think you did? At first, I second- it. We have hours to plan. If an hors d’oeuvres Not all cooking guessed myself too much. Then I gained more party is announced, we have weeks to discuss processes can be done in 30 minutes, so I often confidence and realized that I wasn’t alone in the menu. And even if a pop-up party happens found myself doing the best I could given the this: I was there for David! That made it a lot with an hour’s notice, I have resources to pull circumstances, which meant doing things you easier. from. I have the entire Lower Manhattan area wouldn’t normally do. I also had to learn the to scour for ingredients, or I can call another mechanics of a different cooking system. Here, Did you know ahead of time that the chefs and one of David’s restaurants. I have options. In a we prepped in one area and cooked in another. sous-chefs would be split up? No idea at all! competition, you are in an enclosed area at the If I had to make something very quickly at We had no idea what we were walking into. We mercy of what you are given. So whatever you work, I would take over a station and stand certainly didn’t think Top Chef Masters would think you are going to do for that challenge over the stove, so that way I could chop and be easy, but it would have been better, for me usually goes out the window the moment the cook and watch the pot all at the same time. at least, if we were working as a team. timer starts! It’s just different. Was it stressful to think that your work affected But you had a great kitchen to work in? What did you take away from this experience? chef Burke’s challenges? Totally. I’ve worked Absolutely, but it wasn’t my kitchen. Every That I am probably not destined to be a TV for Chef Burke for more than 10 years. I was kitchen is set up differently. You could walk me star, but I had a great time. And if I had to never worried that he’d personally be upset at in blindfolded into my kitchen on a Tuesday jump out of a plane to win, I would have too! me, but that I would screw it up for him in the afternoon and I would be able to tell you where 2013 • davidburke 5 6 2013 • davidburke cHef Douglas Keane on Winning, conquering fears, anD four-leggeD frienDs Top Chef Masters’ “Top Dog” chef Douglas Keane raised in the Hot seat with $100,000 for his charity of choice, green Dog rescue project. chef franklin Becker His award-winning flagship restaurant cyrus in sonoma With three new restaurants opening up county maintained two michelin stars and received four stars in New York City next year, seasoned chef Franklin Becker is a busy man. When not in from the San Francisco Chronicle during its eight-year run.