Grilled: NYC Food & Wine Festival kickoff

David Burke, davidburke & donatella

What was your first New York restaurant job?
That would be the Hotel Plaza Athéneé. I worked with Daniel Boulud as a fish cook.

When was that?
Oh, let’s see. That was 1984.

Wild times, huh?
It was awesome. But my first restaurant job ever was at the Holiday Inn in my hometown in New Jersey. I was a dishwasher. It was the beginning for me.