ALL IN A DAY’S BURKE: The 3,400-square-foot townhouse includes a wall featuring five paintings by Chagall and a Picasso. (Michael Sofronski)
GREEN BACK: Burke likes to have his morning coffee outdoors, where he can enjoy this view. (Michael Sofronski)
DAVID BURKE KITCHEN: Burke almost never cooks at home. (Michael Sofronski)
He’d rather spend time looking through all his windows. (Michael Sofronski)
There’s nothing exciting about the utilitarian façade of David Burke’s high-rise building. But walk through his front door of his art-filled townhouse in Fort Lee, NJ, and you’re knocked out by the stunning wall of windows that overlooks Burke’s outdoor space — and the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline beyond.
“The view here is incredible,” Burke says. “It’s kind of unique. The storms are great to watch from the patio.”
The renowned chef and owner of seven restaurants — Townhouse, Fishtail, David Burke at Bloomingdale’s on the Upper East Side, the new David Burke Kitchen at SoHo’s James hotel and spots in Chicago, Connecticut and New Jersey — Burke moved from a rural Jersey area into the Fort Lee building 12 years ago. It was supposed to be a stopgap.
“I was living in Scotch Plains in the woods,” Burke, 49, says. “I got tired of the commute and I wound up here. I said I’d stay for a year and move on, but it’s easy living. I love having a yard but not having to deal with it.”
Until two years ago, the single father of three owned a smaller residence next door (there are six townhouse units and hundreds of smaller apartments in the complex). He then upgraded to a three-bedroom, 3,400-square-foot duplex, which he recently renovated.
Burke knocked down walls upstairs to create a huge master bedroom, took down most of the mirrored paneling from the ’70s and gave the whole place a lick of paint. Outside, he put out potted flowers, a glass dining table and all-weather couches on the patio, where he enjoys his morning cup of coffee.
Inside, as you’d expect in a bachelor pad (Burke’s children live elsewhere), the furniture is either black and leathery or neutral. And there are plenty of gadgets. In the den, an enormous TV takes up an entire wall; in the kitchen, a juicer, a Cona coffeemaker that looks more like a piece of lab equipment, a lipstick-red espresso machine and a red toaster oven all take up counter space. They’re almost never used.
“I like my kitchen, but I don’t cook here,” Burke says. “I cooked for a TV shoot a year ago and, honestly, I didn’t even have any oil or vinegar in the cupboards. I have snacks and coffee, but sometimes I don’t even have cream and sugar. Usually, when I entertain, it’s at one of the restaurants.”
One thing Burke has plenty of is storage space, including a bedroom closet the size of most Manhattan living rooms.
“There are nooks and crannies everywhere,” he says. “There’s closets I don’t even know about.”
There’s also plenty of fabulous art. In the living room, five paintings by Chagall and a Picasso hang on a bright-orange feature wall. Two Picassos are displayed above the couch, and a Matisse takes up another wall. Burke’s also a big fan of blown glass (he’s even taken a couple of lessons in it), and a handful of pieces by glass artist Dale Chihuly are prominently displayed on a table.
“I like art. I’ve always had an eye for unique stuff,” Burke says. “In the early ’90s, a friend started to bring me stuff. I bought so many paintings that I had stuff under my bed after awhile. I have about 18 Chagalls now, but most of them are in my restaurants. And I don’t buy them anymore; I’m trying to collect modern stuff now.”
The New Jersey native would one day like to take painting classes and create his own masterpieces. And maybe he’ll even design his own home, a place as whimsical and innovative as the food he creates in his restaurants, like the molten chocolate cake he serves at Fishtail in the can it’s baked in, along with mixing spoons with which to ladle cream and various toppings. Or the lobster soup at David Burke Kitchen that is heated through in one of his beloved Cona coffee percolators.
“I’d like to design a house with a waterfall inside and indoor balconies that spin around to be outdoors,” Burke says. “That would be fun.”
For now, though, his days are taken up with running his culinary empire, which employs more than 500 people, from his Upper East Side office. It includes a line of kitchenware for sale on QVC and his own coffee blend, as well as sauces and steaks that he sells at his restaurants.
The chef has enough on his plate to keep him away from home most days from 9 a.m. until midnight.
This summer, he’s traveling, too, taking each of his kids — Connor, 23, Dillon, 21, and Madeline, 14 — on a trip.
“Sometimes, I work six or seven days a week. I’ve always worked a lot; I work too much sometimes,” he says with a smile. “But when I get tired, I take off.”
Burke, though, is still looking to expand his empire. If he found the right real estate, he would like to open a restaurant in Fort Lee. “The clientele is high-end,” Burke says of his neighborhood. “There’s a lot of wealthy retirees, professional athletes. I would do a steakhouse with a twist, with a raw bar and a little sushi. Maybe even a drive-through.”
David Burke’s favorite things:
* His Cona coffeepot: “I bought some to use at Townhouse, but the lawyers said I’d get sued thanks to the open flame.”
* The Grand Prix des Meilleurs medal awarded to Burke in 1988 at a 10-day cooking event in Tokyo.
* Chagall’s “The Dance” painting
* A pot of paintbrushes, carved out of wood and covered in paint splatters, from Venice
* The Dale Chihuly glass basket
* A huge antique bell
* An oil painting of an apple by Javier Mulio