The James Hotel food = David Burke Kitchen, therefore we ate at David Burke for breakfast, lunch, dinner, poolside and at the cocktail lounge.  All were the same menu.  While one would never think it possible, we got over-David Burke’d during our NYC Staycation at the James.  In general, the prices were quite reasonable except where alcohol is concerned.  Or room service.

Our first afternoon we had cocktails in the lounge area of The Garden.   We sat in a lovely little nook with two seats where we could take in the entire stunning outdoor scene.

Cocktails:
Sangria/Wine/Rum/Grand Marnier/St. Germain/Red 12/Pickled Veggies (drunken fruit)  $12
Margarita/mango $14
Teas/assorted concoctions orderable by the pitcher $14

The Sangria packed quite the wallop pretty quickly as you can see from the alcohol involved, so we opted to try David Burke’s food the night before our official reservation.  We moved to an umbrella table outside in the Garden restaurant.    By the way, we were seated right next to the man himself, so I took it as a photo opp.

There we tried a few interesting items.  They have these little appetizers called ‘Jars’ which contain great spread-type items.

Snacks:
Salmon Pastrami/Pretzel/Mustard  $8

Jars:
Ocean Cocktail/Horseradish  $7

Appetizers:
Lobster Soup/Lobster Dumplings/Coconut Fennel Creme/Red Watercress  $13

We loved the ‘Ocean’ which is essentially shrimp ceviche in cocktail sauce. It was served with Belgian Endive and you use it to scoop the Shrimp Cocktail. The best item of the weekend was the Lobster Soup dish which had the cutest lobster dumplings. They had the little feet sticking out the top of the dumplings. The flavor of the broth was incredible, which we discovered later they simmer all day right in the dining room in a really cool contraption pictured below.

At the pool over the weekend we tried the following additional items from the same menu. We did re-order the Ocean Cocktail, which was a favorite of the weekend. The tuna tartar tacos were stunning if nothing else. The pizza really looked good, as we had seen others order it. We were somewhat disappointed. The crust was too thick and they served it with deep fried paper thin mushrooms which tasted like soggy potato chips.  Most importantly, we kept the cocktails flowing and stuck with Bloody Marys, Margaritas or Tecate at $7 a can.  Naturally, we ran quite the tab.

Tuna Tartar Tacos/Whipped Avocado/Spicy Tobiko $15

Margarita Pizza/Basil/Tomato/Mozzarella $16

One of the 4 mornings we decided to do Room Service David Burke-style. This was generally a rip-off, but it was nice to enjoy breakfast in bed. They served everything on a really giant tray which can be placed right on the bed.

Breakfast:
Pot of Coffee $9
Orange Juice $5
Kitchen Omlette/Bacon/Spinach/Potato/Goat Cheese/Walnut Viniagrette $16
Eggs Benedict/Canadian Bacon/Garlic Spinach/Hollandaise $15

One evening we went to David Burke’s ‘Treehouse’ which is a bit of an oxymoron.  The treehouse has a few saplings planted in the center of tables and looks out at 6th Avenue.  It was the one area where we did not feel like we were in another world.  After a quick sangria we decided it was too much like being in New York City and went inside.  There we tried another jar.  Not very good, just OK.  We had dinner reservations directly after and this was a bit too much food, which we later regretted.

Jar:
Tomato/Eggplant/Ricotta  $7

And finally, we had a rather large dinner at David Burke Kitchen inside at the proper dining room.  I really was not in love with the decor.  The napkins were blue checked which made it feel like it was supposed to be a down-home Southern kitchen.  The walls were covered with large scale photos of food purveyors in their element.  We sat next to a huge picture of a weathered man holding a giant lobster.  Clearly this was to make clear we were dealing with a locavore restaurant focusing on fresh foods.  Got it.

We carefully chose our appetizers.  Steve was on a weekend Gazpacho kick and wanted to try theirs.  It featured shrimp, watermelon and yellow pepper creme fraiche.  I love escargot, so I was going with a clever dish called  Ants on a Log which was snails lined up on a marrow bone with parsley and garlic.  Sounds like heaven to me.  But our waiter talked us out of both!  He said the Ants on a Log was not a favored dish and he suggested we try two other items.  We did.  Both were very heavy with too many ingredients.  Did I need an egg on top of my duck meatball lasagne?  Does Camembert ravioli need lobster sausage?  And we had a full meal to follow.

Appetizers:
Duck Meatball Lasagne/Herb Striped Pasta/Farm Fresh Egg  $16
Sheeps Milk Camembert Ravioli/Lobster Sausage/XO/Almond $16

By the time dinner arrived I was ready for bed.  But we were there and had been looking forward to the meal for weeks.  We had ordered exactly what we wanted for our entrees, but unfortunately the waiter did sell us the  Side Dish of the day, squash.  Sounds simple enough.

Entrees:
Halibut/Black Olive Gnocchi/Fava/Saffron $33

Scallops & Pork Belly/Baby Cauliflower/Aromatic Herb Broth $28

Squash/Polenta  $10

Unfortunately, gnocchi with my halibut sent me over the edge.  And Steve had a rough time with the pork belly and scallops.  The squash was on a bed of polenta and drowning in yet more cheese. OMG.  We were just uncomfortably stuffed.  We actually took almost the whole damn thing in a doggy bag back to our room and stuffed it in the mini fridge.  We ate it for breakfast and it was too heavy then too.  We also realized we just were not getting some of the combinations.  Too many flavors.  Bummer.

So, go to David Burke – The Garden and enjoy its beauty with a big, fat alcohol-laden Sangria. Order the Ocean Jar and follow up with the Lobster Dumplings.  And if you want, go up to the pool anytime after noon for a cocktail.  It is small, but the view is great.  Check out pics in our review of The James Hotel.

http://davidburkekitchen.com/
23 Grand St. – Soho