dining out
David Burke at
Orange Lawn Dazzles
His signature dishes shine in a new setting
WRITTEN BY ESTHER DAVIDOWITZ
M
any of the dishes
on the menu at
celebrated chef
David Burke’s
latest venture,
a restaurant in
the second oldest tennis club in
New Jersey, are quite familiar. I had
already encountered his wildly cre-
ative clothesline bacon (bacon hang-
ing on a mini-clothesline secured by
wooden clothespins); his absurdly
delicious lobster dumplings (a
dumpling with a lobster claw for
a handle); his architecturally stun-
ning octopus and chorizo kebabs (the
proteins ride on skewers stuck into a
slab of wood), and his patented salt-
aged steaks.
He served them at David Burke
Tavern in Manhattan, Ventanas at
The Modern in Fort Lee and the
restaurant that catapulted him to
top chef status, River Café in
Brooklyn, N.Y.
34
FALL 2019 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
If you’re a Burke fan (count me
in), that’s not a bad thing. Burke
knows how to cook well, and how
to make food fun and entertaining.
Who else would come up with deli-
cious doughnuts that look like ten-
nis balls served in a plastic tennis
South Orange
DAVID BURKE AT
ORANGE
LAWN
305 N. RIDGEWOOD ROAD,
973-552-2280
DBORANGELAWN.COM
sleeve to serve at a tennis club? (No,
I’d never seen this one before.) The
chef’s creations are a hoot.
Much of the look of the restau-
rant, which is open to the public
(nonmembers pay a one-time $10
fee), is familiar, too. This, however,
is not a particularly good thing. The
CAN OF DONUTS
139-year-old clubhouse recently
underwent a $4 million renovation
and, unfortunately, ended up with
a dining room that would look at
home at a mid-range hotel chain.
White chairs with light-tan wicker
backs, dark wood laminate tables and
a wildly patterned carpet that could
pass as a Rorschach test all combine
to make the room look, well, meh.
But back to the food. The compli-
mentary popovers are a treat I’m not
likely to forget soon. As big as demi-
loaves of bread, these delectable rolls
dotted with poppy seeds were made
even more delectable by the addi-
tion of nutty Gruyere cheese to the
creamy pudding inside. You needn’t
slather on any table butter; these
popovers can stand on their own.
Don’t pass up his signature lob-
ster dumplings ($18), heavenly little
bundles of lobster that swim in a
reduced tomato sauce blended with a
nicely fiery Korean-style curry paste.
LAWN
LOBSTER DUMPLINGS