Haute Restaurants: Davidburke & Donatella

Davidburke & Donatella

It’s been just over three years since davidburke & donatella opened the front doors to their glamorous, smartly styled restaurant in an Upper East Side townhouse on East 61st Street near Park Avenue – and it remains fully booked.

Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, then honing his skills in France by working with a number of notable chefs, the award-winning Burke made headlines at the River Café where, as its executive chef, earned the restaurant three stars from the New York Times. From there he went on to impressive stints at Park Avenue Café and One C.P.S.

Original to the max when it comes to the food and theatrical presentation you’ll know from the moment the brioche in mini copper pans are set down, that you’re on an E-ticket ride to gourmandville.

Appetizers include day boat sea scallops “benedict” (potato pancakes take the place of English muffins) topped with sunny-side-up quail eggs and slices of chorizo (standing in for ham) and a green apple-infused lobster bisque paired with a crispy lobster roll.

Main dishes we love include the superb-tasting cumin-dusted lamb porterhouse with grilled eggplant and a pomegranate mint glaze and the lobster “filet mignon served up with a heaping mound of curried shoestring potatoes and black honey and fennel candy.

Brilliantly conceived desserts are indescribable but our favorite is a tree of chocolate-dipped cheesecake lollipops.

133 East 61st Street, New York
212 813-2121
www.dbdrestaurant.com

Alain Ducasse At The Essex House

Eschewing the ordinary, dining here is elegant but never pretentious. Opened in 2000, the Michelin-star eatery continues to wow its guests with exquisite dishes and flawless service.

Every detail is seen to right down to a cart filled with nearly a dozen bottles of water for you to try, a half-dozen selections of champagne by the glass from a trolley and the posh “doggie bag” with just-made brioche for tomorrow’s breakfast.

A seasonal menu is a tour de force of classics ranging from foie gras to shaved-at-your-table truffles. Executive chef Tony Esnault (he worked with Ducasse at the three Michelin-star Louis XV restaurant in Monaco) continues to deliver dishes made with the finest ingredients from the finest American suppliers.

We love the Spring Aquatic tasting menu. Seven-courses, two standouts include poached Maine lobster, diver sea scallops and geoduck clams served with a green apple mustard and the mosaic of selected vegetables served with a natural dressing. A front runner among the á la carte starters include duck foie gras terrine (Oh, the rhubarb and strawberry chutney that comes with it!)

Desserts are dazzling masterpieces, but we’re partial to the confection of velvety milk chocolate layers filled with a bittersweet coffee mousse served with a caramel emulsion.

158 West 58th Street, New York
212.265.7300
www.alainducasse.com

The Forge

As you walk into The Forge, you realize immediately – if you weren’t already informed beforehand – that you are standing in a place of historical significance. English oak paneling and Tiffany glass suggest high prices and haute cuisine, and that’s exactly what you get. Each elegant dining room possesses its own character and features high ceilings, ornate chandeliers, and European artwork. The atmosphere is elegant, but not stuffy. Whether you come in Wednesday night which is a South Beach party, or Sunday night, which is a Soul Kitchen Party, or any other night, The Forge promises the same stellar experience it’s been providing its patrons for more than 15 years.

Executive Chef Andrew Swersky, winner of the prestigious James Beard Award, is the latest addition to The Forge’s culinary team. As head of the award-winning restaurant, Executive Chef Swersky has garnered many awards and accolades for his culinary expertise. Sitting down with proprieter and host extraordinaire Shareef Malnik, we enjoyed one of the best meals ever ingested. We started off with two appetizers that are both new to the menu: Giant “U2” Shrimp Cocktail ($20), a choice selection of, just as the name suggests, gargantuan Gulf shrimp, and the Tuna Tartare Four Ways ($24), accompanied by nine signature sauces that take a total of 40 hours to prepare.

As an entrée, we chose the Famous Bone-In Filet Mignon. It is a very rare cut of meat that is not found anywhere else in the world, hand-basted over an oak wood fire and served with a sumptuous sauce. They have a very wide variety collection of wines, over $5 million worth, that range from $35 to over $150,000 per bottle.

432 West 41st St, Miami Beach
305.538.8533
www.theforge.com

Vita Ristorante Pizzeria & Bar

As we enter Vita, Mynt Entertaintment Group’s supper lounge, we realize that we were not just in any local Italian Restaurant. Set up across the Famous Mynt Lounge and Rok Bar Clubs, Vita offers great food for the who’s who of Miami.

While the indoor seating is appealing, it’s the garden that offers the best seats in the house. The sleek, spare modernity of the décor includes dropped spotlights, shaded glass, Tuscan bricks and woven rattan chairs. Sitting down with Italian brothers Luciano Sautto, the executive chef, and Enrico Sautto, the pizza chef, we learned that the Sautto family has been in the pizza business for over 100 years. They were brought in specifically to deliver some of the finest Italian food on the Beach.

But the real treasure here is the multi-course meal, plated and served the way Italians intended it to be, starting with Tartare di Tonno (Yellow-fin tuna tartar) and Carpaccio di Manzo. Luciano recommended two dishes for the entrée, the special Fettuccine al Caviale Beluga and Medaglioni di Filetto alla Piemontese. Sautto credits proprietor Robert Caan and his love for caviar with the famous Fettuccine al caviale Beluga; Caan also loves great pasta. We tried the two together, and quickly designated it our favorite dish on the menu. We also sampled the Filet, which was just as good as any top steak house. For dessert, we tried a couple, but their speciality is obviously their cannoli.

1906 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach
305.538.7855
www.vita-restaurant.com