Jan 2, 2026 | By Gregory Mottola
David Burke • Chef/Restaurateur •
photo by Liga Privada
Sizzling strips of bacon hang on a clothesline while Humpty Dumpty sits on a ledge, pretending not to notice. There’s a glowing amber wall made of Himalayan salt bricks. Small trees grow cake pops and cotton candy. This is the type of surreal scene you’ll encounter at any one of the many restaurants owned by David Burke. He’s perhaps America’s most whimsical chef and he loves cigars. So much so that about 20 years ago, Burke skirted New York City’s smoking laws by parking a limousine right outside his steakhouse and allowed patrons to step in and light up.
Burke, now 63, has since built a meat-centric restaurant empire that includes his namesake Tavern in Manhattan, Red Horse Steakhouses in New Jersey and SeaHawk Prime in South Florida. Despite his sleepless schedule, he smokes about once a week, gravitating toward cigars from Drew Estate such as Pappy Van Winkle and Liga Privada. “It’s a celebration and it brings people together,” he says. “It can be solitary or social. People that have cigars want to share. And they want to hang out afterward. That’s the reason the divorce rate is so high with chefs.”