WORD OF MOUTH with Leiti Hsu

Episode 24 Aired: Tuesday, February 18th 2014

David Burke

Welcome to WORD OF MOUTH with Leiti Hsu on HeritageRadioNetwork.org! Leiti, a fixture in NYC dining culture, is joined by in-studio guest #PEOPLEWELIKE David Burke, who at 26 years old helmed the kitchen at the famed, wildly innovative River Cafe. Now he's got an empire of restaurants in NYC and around the country.

We'll talk a flurry of new openings this year. David shares how his dad tried quite unsuccessfully to dissuade him from cooking by enrolling him in a cooking class. He recalls getting schooled on "how to open a clam the fastest" at his first cooking job at a New Jersey country club. Also, how he coped with getting the worst dish of the year as a chef in his 20s.

We'll #WINEedDown with Alex Lapratt, partner/sommelier of Atrium DUMBO. Named Best Sommelier by the American Sommelier Association, Alex hails from several Michelin 2 and 3 star spots like Atera, Jean-Georges, and Le Bernardin. He says that the truth about a wine list lies on the wines-by-the-glass page.

Tweet at #WOMshow @leitihsu.

Thanks to our sponsor, The International Culinary Center. Music by takstar.



"Back then, being a chef was not a great career choice... There was really nothing to compare it to... the CIA was in its infancy at that time." [20:00]

"My dad signed me up for a cooking school in a mall...he figured I'd be discouraged, it's all housewives, they drink wine, learn how to make a pot-au-feu or something...he thought I'd be like, this sucks. I came back and said, I signed up for all the other classes. [20:00]


"I'm like ‘Sh*t!,' the worst dish of the year! I was so devastated...the heat in my face...all of a sudden, here comes Drew [Nieporent] coming down the aisle [of the plane], telling everybody, ‘Look, that guy in the back! He's got the worst dish of the year!'" [33:15]

"I came in early to learn how to open a clam the fastest way...He took a meat hammer and started smashing the clams, and all the meat and the pulp and the shells went all over my shirt, and I was like, ‘OK, dumb question I guess.'" [27:28]

-- David Burke on WORD OF MOUTH with Leiti Hsu

Subscribe

From the Show

Tags

Sponsors

Sponsored by

Latest Episodes

An Accountant, a Fashion Model and a Chef Walk into a Bar

Episode 84, Aired: December 16, 2015

Chef Carla Hall, entrepreneur, star of The Chew on ABC, who's about to open her hot chicken restaurant Southern Kitchen in NYC. How this accountant-turned-model-turned lunch caterer ended up on TV. Why she found herself in tears on her knees in the shower at age 40, plus hamburgers, high school and...

Steven Satterfield

Episode 83, Aired: December 9, 2015

WORD OF MOUTH is live from across the Atlantic this week as Leiti is on the line from Berlin chatting with Erin Fairbanks in studio with Steven Satterfield of Miller Union in Atlanta and author of Root to Leaf. Steven believes in making the most out of the edible parts of the plant, from root to...

Kisses, Roadtrips, Fundraising Tips (Bo Bech, Geist)

Episode 82, Aired: December 2, 2015

We catch up with chef-partner Bo Bech of Geist in Copenhagen at Charlie Bird in NYC one weekend afternoon, November 2015. He's recently landed into town to start a restaurant here. But first, he'll host a popup series called The Bride of the Fox that will happen on a boat, in a firehouse, onstage at...

Mortality, Petanque, & Paris in the 1950s

Episode 81, Aired: November 25, 2015

This week on WORD OF MOUTH, Leiti visits celebrity chef, author and Dean, Jacques Pepin at the International Culinary Center. Beloved as Julia Child’s TV counterpart and a game-changer in American cuisine—and French food in America, we get to know this son of a cabinetmaker and a cook. We’ll talk...

Bongos with Matthew McConaughey, Manchester, the American South

Episode 80, Aired: November 18, 2015

This week on WORD OF MOUTH host Leiti Hsu kicks off thew show on the line with Jenna Zimmerman, TV producer and James Beard Awards judge. Talking about how she landed her dream job plus career highlights like playing bongos with Matthew McConaughey, she also forecasts the future of food media. After...

Ellen Yin (Fork, High Street on Market, High Street on Hudson)

Episode 79, Aired: November 11, 2015

Award-winning Philly restaurateur Ellen Yin behind Fork and High Street on Market. Now, she’s about to open High Street on Hudson, their first non-Philly foray; we’ll get a preview of the much-anticipated opening. And we'll get to know Ellen the rebellious Asian kid and learn how how landed in...

Related Editorial