David Burke is the chef-owner of five restaurants, with three in New York City, one in New Jersey, and one in Las Vegas. He is planning to open two new restaurants in Connecticut at the Foxwoods Casino and Resort. David trained at the Culinary Institute of America, and soon thereafter the New Jersey native headed to France, where he staged with notable chefs such as Pierre Troisgros and Georges Blanc. He also studied pastry arts under Gaston Lenôtre. He returned to the United States and spent three formative years as Waldy Malouf's sous chef at La Cremaillere in Westchester County, New York, where he developed a solid foundation in French cooking.

At the age of 26, David became the first American, and one of the youngest chefs on record, to win France's coveted Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Diplome d'Honneur, an award given to the chef who shows unparalleled skill and creativity with his native cuisine. This same competition also saw David receive Japan's Nippon Award of Excellence. The awards and nominations continued: In 1995 he was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Best Chef, NYC award, in 1996 he received the Robert Mondavi Award of Excellence and was one of the first Americans to receive the CIA's August Escoffier Award, and he was named one of Nation's Restaurant News' 50 Top R&D Culinarians. In 2003, David received honors as "Best Culinary Prankster" from Time Out New York.

David went on to work at the River Café, working first as a sous chef under Charlie Palmer, then ascending to executive chef and earning three stars from The New York Times. His dedication to the restaurant's pastry program, which gave the same serious consideration to desserts as to the savory aspects of the meal, became a benchmark of his tenure as executive chef. At this time, David began experimenting with interesting ingredients and cooking techniques.  

In 1992, David opened the Park Avenue Café with Smith & Wollensky CEO Alan Stillman., and then in 1996 he took on the position of vice president of Culinary Development for the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, where he remained for 12 years. David teamed up with energetic restaurateur, Donatella Arpaia, to open davidburke & donatella in January of 2003. He focuses entirely on the cooking, with Donatella  heading up front of house operations. Next came, David Burke at Bloomingdale's. David also opened up Primehouse in Chicago's James Hotel in conjunction with B.R. Guest's Stephen Hanson. The Burke empire continued to grow last year when he purchased Fromagerie, a fine dining restaurant in Rumson New Jersey, where he had worked in his early years. The most recent addition to the Burke empire, David Burke Las Vegas, is in the Venetian Resort, Hotel, Casino.  

David is actively involved with culinology, an emerging discipline which marries traditional culinary arts with innovative food science to vastly improve the nutritional and flavor profiles of mass-produced foods. A board member of the Research Chefs Association, he is the advisor for J.Manheimer, Inc., one of America's oldest flavor developers, and the consultants to such well-known companies as Aramark. He is also the spokesperson for Sam Adams beer. “We are looking to develop foods that stay ahead of the curve of what America eats,” he explains enthusiastically.

David’s first cookbook was Cooking with David Burke, followed by New American Classics. His website is davidburke.com.