First look: Red Horse by David Burke opening soon in White Plains
Chef David Burke started his career in Westchester; his second job out of culinary school was at La Crémaillère in Bedford. So it only made sense that one day, after a decades-long career spanning top chef positions at River Cafe in Manhattan; numerous TV appearances, such as Bravo’s Top Chef Masters; two cookbooks; his own cookware line; and numerous restaurants across New Jersey, New York and North Carolina, he'd be back.
The 200-seat Red Horse by David Burke in White Plains, his first restaurant in the county, is tentatively scheduled to open in two weeks, after an unforeseen delay (watch their social media for updates). The restaurant, which is open for reservations, serves modern American food with Asian accents featuring prime aged steaks and whimsical pastries.
Like with everything Burke does — he's known for being a pioneer in American cooking and is the one behind the illustrious cake pop — the décor and food presentation are all about theater. "We're show-offs," he said. "We like to impress and offer that wow factor."
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To start off with, that means a life-size horse sculpture (black, not red) that will greet diners upon entering on Main Street. There's also a smaller red horse atop the restaurant's signage. And there's a fully functioning (red) pool table complete with the Red Horse logo in the lounge area.
Burke calls it "the cool table," and will be doing private meals here for groups of six to 10 (a cover would go on top so you can eat on the table, then shoot pool either before or after your meal). The table will also be available for Happy Hour and for anyone else who wants to partake, provided it's not already booked.
This is the first restaurant — his David Burke Hospitality Management Group has 15 in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Saudi Arabia, including one that will open in March in Rhode Island — that he's taken the reins of (pun intended). He had a hand in the design, decoration and concept. One of his biggest risks, he said, was installing red drum chandeliers that hang in the main dining room. "With all the windows we have, we needed something that brings a big space like this alive," he said.
He also brought in, along with the pool table (which had been at his New Jersey home), a 1930s/1940s-era phone booth tucked into the corner near The Opus hotel entrance. It came from Perona Farms Bar Room in Andover, New Jersey, that he's had for 27 years. Decorated with Andy Warhol print wallpaper, he describes it as a “cellfie phone booth" where "what happens in the cellphone booth, stays in the cellphone booth."
As to be expected — the restaurant is named Red Horse, after all — there are a variety of horses in various shapes, sizes and colors, lining the walls, including a replica of the painting near the front that first caught Burke's eye and inspired the restaurant's name. A prolific art collector, Burke first bought a painting of a red horse in New Hope, Pennsylvania, at the beginning of the pandemic.
“I loved the painting and my dad’s name is Big Red,” he said. That's when he decided to name his next restaurant Red Horse, using a logo based on the painting. His first Red Horse opened in Rumson, New Jersey, in 2021.
Like his Rumson spot, the White Plains restaurant features lots of bold red-and-white stirrup print wallpaper, hand-blown glass rods in a variety of hues and a backlit sea salt wall, a signature of all of his restaurants and a decorative nod to Burke’s famous patent on his Pink Himalayan salt dry-aging technique. The space also has horse sculptures throughout, as well as eight jockeys painted by local artists, on a ledge near the ceiling. The artists came through a collaboration with White Plains-based Arts Westchester.
Unlike the spot in New Jersey, this one features a carving table near the lounge area of the dining room where meats will be cut and sliced. There's also a ham slicer for servers to cut Catskill smoked ham and heat up corn cakes in the toaster. "We want to have a little activity out here," said Burke.
"We want people to walk away from an experience here and think it was exciting and unique," he added. "I want them to see something they haven’t seen in other restaurants, whether it's in the design, on the plate, or with the service."
What's for dinner
There's a lot of theater involved in a David Burke restaurant and that extends to the food. Signature items include the "must try" Clothesline Bacon, served with scissors so you can cut off a piece, and a pickle on the bottom that catches all the drippy maple glaze juice; a tableside little gem Caesar; and a shrimp and avocado "cocktail" appetizer served on a bed of nails with endive, veggie chips, Shishito peppers and shaved carrots.
Like at BLT before it (this restaurant takes its space), there will be popovers. There will also be warm corn cakes, heated up on the toaster at the carving station, featuring honey truffle goat cheese, boozy grapes and melon.
And, for those who've never had, there's a Japanese Pretzel "Crab Cake Raft," basically a crabcake enrobed with a “raft” made of pretzel sticks, Old Bay tomato jam and chipotle aioli as well as chorizo and octopus kebabs.
Other dishes include branzino with artichoke puree and Kalamata olives; roasted chicken with butternut squash, mushrooms and a Brussel sprouts farotto; pork chop with Jersey Shore "Clams Casino," with white wine, garlic, peas, baon and peppers; and lacquered duck with a sweet potato vanilla puree, foie gras dumplings, bok choy and kumquat gastrique. Diners will also find a variety of dry- and wet-aged meats such as ribeye, porterhouse and Tomahawk.
And, there's an extensive sushi menu. Fish dishes, it should be noted, are made with oil, not butter.
All is run under the guidance of Carmine Di Giovanni, corporate executive chef for David Burke Hospitality Management, who has been working with Burke to organize the kitchen and menu.
Meticulous detail and forethought can be found in every crevice of this restaurant, including with every place setting adorned with a Red Horse plate and salt and pepper grinders placed atop pink Himalayan bricks. Burke, who's literally "been there, done that" when it comes to the culinary world, has U.S. patents for several innovations, including a Himalayan salt aging process for beef, so it makes sense he would incorporate that feature.
The surprises extend to dessert where diners will be treated to playful presentations and out-of-the-box creativity, including a deconstructed banana split with a chocolate chip waffle, caramelized banana, vanilla gelato, and a cookie in the shape of a monkey on top accompanied by brown sugar caramel, chocolate sauce and cherries. Other sweet treats include a vanilla bean crème brûlée with a fortune cookie on top, sugared doughnuts and macaroons with whipped cream, passion fruit caramel and raspberry sauce; and Burke's signature cake pop tree, with red velvet, black and white raspberry, heath bar crunch and chocolate sprinkles.
If you go
Address: 221 Main St., White Plains, 914-467-5500, redhorsebydb.com
Hours: Dinner to start from noon to 10 p.m. daily. Happy Hour will run from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Two weeks (ish) after opening, the restaurant will start serving lunch and brunch.
Prices: Appetizers range from $18 to $35; entrees from $38 to $65. Burke also plans to offer weekly specials such as venison on Mondays, pork shank on Tuesdays, Dover sole on Fridays, etc.
Good to know: There's plenty of room for private dining, including one room that can acommodate up to 40. Outdoor seating for 80 on the patio in front is also planned.
Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @lohud_food or via the lohudfood newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Celebrity chef David Burke opening restaurant in White Plains NY
