Chef and restaurateur David Burke and Lemay + Escobar senior partner and design principal Andres Escobar first collaborated five years ago on David Burke Tavern on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Now, they’ve come together for a second project—Orchard Park—this time, in the suburb of East Brunswick, New Jersey. The 5,700-square-foot modern American restaurant is situated on the grounds of the elegant 15-acre Park ChaÌ‚teau Estate & Gardens wedding venue and event hall. Here, they share the secret behind their successful collaborations.
Tell me about Orchard Park. How did it come to be?
David Burke: Brothers Joe and Barry Maurillo and their childhood friend Vito Cucci are the partners of the project, and they own a catering hall on the plot of land next door. They were building a hotel and a restaurant for the wedding guests, and they reached through mutual friends to open the restaurant. Once I saw the space, I said we’d be interested. I introduced them to Andres and told them he could transform a space like this into something magical—and that’s what happened. They hit it off right away and let a great designer do what he thought was right.
Orchard Park is located on the grounds of Park Château Estate & Gardens in East Brunswick, New Jersey
What was your menu concept for the restaurant?
DB: Since it’s such a big place, we created a modern brasserie. We don’t have every item from a brasserie available, because those menus tend to be larger and we opened amid COVID, but we made a smaller version. As we expand, we’ll start to do more of the raw bar and other things that you find in a brasserie. Our food and our brand tends to be on the higher price points. But we’re in a blue collar community—blue to white let’s call it—so we wanted to make sure we had a pizza oven in there and pastas on the menu so we could keep the price point down while still having high-end steaks and all the other stuff. It’s an everyday restaurant with approachable food.
How does the design relate to the food at Orchard Park?
DB: Usually when you walk into our restaurants, the ‘wow’ factor is the food. Here, the structure is very European—Orchard Park looks like something out of Versailles or in Paris—and when you walk in and you see the restaurant, you get a ‘wow’ factor before you get the menu. Also, traditionally, we would take over an existing space that somebody else lived at or worked at, and there’s always some component of the last restaurant four versions ago that’s left there. It’s like moving into an apartment. You can’t do much with a one-window apartment in New York, you kind of have to settle. But here we had a canvas and a great blueprint for [the design team] to work with and build on. And when you come in, you are kind of knocked off because it’s just gorgeous and sprawling.
David Burke and Andres Escobar
What is the collaboration process like between the two of you?
Andres Escobar: Dave and I have a very special relationship. We’re better friends than client and designer. We laugh all the time, shoot the shit, and talk—we have a great time and it just evolves. We’ll share ideas, and they can be crazy, cool, or very whimsical. David has the knack for design by virtue of his creativity. He’s creative in terms of graphics, food, and presentation. It’s a very humorous, friendly sort of collaboration. Nothing offends David, nothing offends me. We like some stuff, we don’t like some stuff, so it flows. It’s not your typical approach.
DB: I’m big on the salt walls, so one example with this particular project, I said, ‘Let’s put a little salt here.’ But Andres will say, ‘Let’s make the whole wall salt.’ I would have never spent that much money on the salt or thought the whole wall [in the private dining room] should be it, but now we have this museum-quality piece of art in there made out of salt. He swung for the fences, where I would have shot for a double, you know what I mean? And the impact is much greater that way. I’m just an idea guy. When you’re given a blank slate and a pretty good budget to build something, you can see what a good designer will do.
AE: I’ve been fortunate enough to have lived in Paris and Brussels, so when he told me a brasserie, it’s not something that I had to figure out. I knew exactly what the feeling is, and also how to make it have a more American style with a feeling of comfort.
DB: You could go there a hundred times and you wouldn’t get bored. There’s nothing not to like. It’s fundamentally brilliant and also very welcoming.
What else sets this space apart from your other restaurants?
DB: I’m a big art guy, I love artwork in all my restaurants. There is not one piece of art in this restaurant, except that wall. There’s not one painting. There’s not even a sign that says where to go to the bathroom. There’s nothing frame. There’s only mirrors. At the end of the day, the space didn’t need it. The art is in the design. And one of the best things is the lighting, which is just gorgeous.
AE: It’s custom and not repetitive. It is kind of like one of a kind everywhere you are.
DB: And it’s not clunky. They’re like floating orbs, and that would be more modern for a brasserie. In a brasserie, you’d find round white bulbs that are painted or frosted, but here, they’re clear and they look like they’re just dangling. They’re beautiful.
The restaurant accommodates 170-plus seats inside and an additional 70 outside on the terrace
From a design perspective, was there one thing you were really excited to see come to fruition?
DB: With the maître’d stand, specifically, I usually like things that can move, but this was permanent and it was big. I originally didn’t want a stand, I wanted someone standing with a book in their hand so they can move. I was going to change it, but it turned out to be gorgeous. And I had these two salt orbs that are actually for foot massage. That’s our only lighting there and it leads you right to look at the salt wall. It’s one of the first things you see and you immediately see custom-crafted quality workmanship. That’s the whole idea, it was built to last. When you see it come alive and it looks even better.
What are some of the biggest differences between opening a restaurant in the suburbs versus an urban setting?
DB: The opportunities that exist in the suburbs are really good. You can afford to buy real estate, which, for people in the restaurant business, is important. In New York, nobody owns anything and you’re paying rent at ridiculous rates. The margins keep decreasing, and you basically have to charge $60 for a roast chicken to survive in New York now. Your menu prices have to be so high.
Customers in the suburbs want good food and a good value, and if it is good, they’ll come back. You can do business on Tuesdays and Wednesdays now. There was always an excuse to not go out during a week, but now people started working from home and all of a sudden life’s a little different.
What has the response to Orchard Park been like since it opened?
DB: We’re extremely busy considering COVID. We continue to do extremely good numbers and that’s without the bar open. Right now, we’re probably tracking a little below 50 percent of what we would do without COVID. So we’re pretty happy.
Inside, the restaurant features a large rectangular bar and lounge, dining area, and wine room
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