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David Burke to take over management of The Bernards Inn in New Jersey

The celebrated chef and restaurateur will enter into hotel management for the first time

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

July 26, 2023

3 Min Read
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Celebrity chef and veteran restaurateur David Burke is taking over the food & beverage operations of The Bernards Inn, a 116-year-old property in Bernardsville, N.J., as well as management of its 20 guest rooms, marking his first foray into hotel management.

The agreement is a partnership with the inn’s owner, Hampshire Destination Properties LLC, a subsidiary of The Hampshire Companies.

Burke and his company, David Burke Hospitality Management, will rework the foodservice of the main bar and lounge area, a banquet hall with seating capacity for 200 people, an outdoor patio that seats up to 40, and two restaurants that are still in their conceptualization stages: A 120-seat fine-dining restaurant and a more casual 100-seat space.  

The Bernards Inn, which is a AAA Four Diamond property and a recommended hotel in the Forbes Travel Guide, is slated to reopen this fall, although the guest rooms will be renovated at a later date.

In terms of design, Burke said in a press release announcing the takeover that he plans to reflect an equestrian theme appropriate for the area, which is known as “New Jersey Horse Country,” and in line with his Red Horse restaurants in Rumson, N.J., and White Plains, N.Y.

This will be the 19th property under Burke’s management.

Related:David Burke shares his perspective on restaurant trends

“This is one of New Jersey’s greatest, iconic properties.” Burke, himself a New Jersey native, said in a statement. “Our goal is to bring it back to its glory days. We’re looking forward to creating a must-go, top of its class and quintessential dining experience focused totally on the guest experience.”

He added, “I have a great respect for New Jersey’s historic businesses, and I get a kick out of infusing them with new vigor and fun ensuring they continue into the future. When I walk in The Bernards Inn I feel its greatness like an old stadium or theater. I think, wow, if these walls could talk.”

Alex Imperatore, owner and senior real estate manager of The Hampshire Companies, based in Morristown, N.J., said he was pleased with the agreement. 

“We are excited to partner with chef David Burke given his excellent reputation for owning and operating numerous award-winning restaurants,” he said. “We feel it is time to raise the bar and infuse The Bernards Inn with new energy and an updated concept. With his culinary achievements, creativity, finesse and solid professional connections, we believe Chef Burke is the right professional to help us achieve our goals.”

Burke has had a long and storied career in restaurants, becoming executive chef of the landmark River Café in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the age of 26. He went on to lead the kitchens of the Smith & Wollensky restaurant group, including Park Avenue Café, Maloney & Porcelli, Cité, the Post House, and others. He went on to open critically acclaimed Davidburke & Donatella among other restaurants in New York City. He is credited with having invented a wide variety of dishes including the swordfish chop and cake pops. His Park Avenue Kitchen is slated to open in Manhattan later this year.

Related:Exclusive luxury food and beverage hotel experiences thrive in a difficult economy

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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