Another success story for celebrity chef David Burke, this time Downtown in SoHo.

The easy to understand menu offers good quality modern rustic American food that is all locally sourced from New York farms.

I have enjoyed both an excellent lunch sitting outside on their terrace as well as a fun dinner with a group of friends inside the main restaurant.  The service is friendly and attentive; and I know a few of my local friends have been back and had an equally good experience.

When I was there for lunch they had a good value 3 course prix-fixe menu for under $25, where you simply just chose from the à la carte menu.

We started our lunch with two of their delicious homemade “jars” (spreads), consisting of Tomato, Eggplant and Ricotta in one and Ocean Cocktail and Horseradish in the other.  Even the paper covers are handwritten with what’s inside giving that genuine homemade feel.

Out of the selection of 10 starters we opted for the Lobster Soup, which consists of a lobster dumpling, coconut fennel crème and red watercress.  I had the Pastrami Salmon with horseradish, mustard seed and capers.  For our main course my friend had the Short Rib Ravioli in garlic almond milk and sweet peas, whilst I had the beautifully presented Crispy Tuna roast with beet, grilled leek, sour plum sauce and ginger.

To finish off I had the most delicious Apple Tart with vanilla ice cream, apple cider caramel and fennel chip whilst my friend had the Cassis Panna Cotta with macerated berries and lemon anglais, again just beautifully presented and equally as tasty as it looked.

David Burke’s ‘quick glance’ wine list is simple and good with a mix of wines from both the East and West coasts of the US plus one or two European wines from Spain and France.  We enjoyed a glass of the 2008 Deep Sea Central Coast Californian Chardonnay.  He does however, also have a more extensive wine list available on request and at dinner we did have a far more expensive wine at just over $100.

I should mention that there are two bars in the restaurant, one in the main restaurant and then their glass enclosed Treehouse Bar on the upper level by the terrace, where they serve an interesting mix of cocktails and specialty drinks and lighter snacks such as flatbreads, pizzas and those amazing spreads.

Open for Breakfast Monday to Sunday from 7am to 10am.  Lunch Monday to Saturday from 11am to 3pm.  Sunday Brunch from 11am to 4pm.  Dinner 7 days a week from 5pm to 10pm.