I had walked past David Burke Kitchen a few times but never been, so it was a nice treat to head over there for my friend Kristin's birthday this past weekend. David Burke Kitchen is located inside the James Hotel in the basement area for what's kind of no man's land of not quite Tribeca but not quite Soho either. I'm guessing they are banking on the allure of David's celebrity chef persona to draw people in? Meanwhile, the space itself was really nice, spacious and perfect for a group dinner.
While I will admit that it's hard to be a waiter to a slightly rowdy group of 11 people, the service really seemed off the mark. We all started the afternoon with a round of drinks and it just took forever to get them served, even though there wasn't really anyone else in the restaurant. Then a different waiter came to take our order, but when we asked for additional items like ketchup, we were directed to another person. On top of that, the pace was just incredibly slow and disorganized. So that was kind of a bummer. But on to the food instead. The menu is split between more brunch-y items like benedicts, omelets, and chicken and grits and lunch items such as burgers, crab cakes, and grilled salmon. Having a split personality menu always makes for a difficult decision for me, but I finally opted for the Kitchen Eggs Benedict ($17) and a side of homefries ($7) - mostly because the menu didn't list any additional items that came with my eggs (although this turned out to be a mistake). Other people at the table got a variety of other things such as the pretzel crab cake, legs and eggs, and kitchen omelet. I did like the way they present the food in that they wheel out a cart with all our dishes and then distribute them that way. I don't know what it is, but there's something about food that gets wheeled out in a fancy cart that I find fascinating. My benedict came with Italian sausage polenta, spinach and tomato hollandaise AND unbeknownst to me, a side of homefries! If I had known that, I would have totally ordered a different side like bacon (which Jill actually got, so I probably wouldn't have ordered it). Instead, I was faced with 2 helpings of homefries. Although I will say that they were well cooked and seasoned and let's be honest, there are definitely worst things in life than having too many potatoes and peppers. The benedict itself was tasty, if not a bit mushy with the polenta and spinach. The eggs were poached well with a super super runny yolk but at one point everything on my plate became a mixed mess with the yolk, polenta, spinach, and sauce. The muffin at the bottom had no chance in holding it all together. While it wasn't a traditional benedict, the flavor profile was good and the sauce was tart and sweet at the same time. I must have really liked it because I cleaned my entire plate, including the two helpings of homefries that I had. I nibbled on a piece of Jill's maple glazed bacon and it was awesome. It's pretty heavy on the fat and it was on the less crispy side, but I didn't mind that at all. I also had a sliver of the sticky bun, but wasn't too impressed with that. By the time it got to me, it was pretty much destroyed and I didn't get much of the sweetness, more of the breaded part, which wasn't too impressive.
All in all, most of us liked our food and the space was great. They also have a great cocktail list to make for a nice afternoon boozy brunch. My one gripe was the service. It was sporadic, slow and disorganized. Plus when we went to pay, we each put in our cards and only after 15 minutes did the waiter tell us that they only took 8 cards. That just would have been something nice to know in the beginning. There's not much else in the immediate area and the James Hotel does seem like a nice less "scene-y" hotel than The Standard or NoMad, so it's worth a look if you're down around that 'hood. Total bill: $63/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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