David Burke and Donatella Restaurant

Aside from the name, which I consider an unfortunate exercise in narcissism, David Burke and Donatella Restaurant is a white-hot spot with a terrific and creative American menu.

Owned by the pastrami salmon king—Park Avenue Café chef David Burke—in collaboration with the stunning Donatella Arpaia, a corporate attorney-turned restaurateur (she also owns Bellini), the restaurant is set in an elegant townhouse on three descending levels. Enter at the top, and you stare through the center of a stark white room, straight back through to the main dining room two levels down, painted a blazing garnet red and lit with an opulent crystal ball of a chandelier. The room is sleek, and stylish, and feels almost like one of those clothing stores you are afraid to walk into. But instead of overpriced accessories and super-mod haute couture perched on the luxurious banquettes, you’ll find people, and very monied people at that. Let’s just say that the crowd is very Thurston Howell, the Third. Echoes of “LOVEY” can be heard throughout the room. Sure a couple of size two youngin's have made it up town, but for the most part they are seated next to men who appear to be their grandfathers, other than the fact that they are French kissing. Oh dear, a very disturbing scene.

Aside from the old men molesting their fresh young friends on gorgeous cushy banquettes, there were a few tables of lovely thirty-something women enjoying a night out together, and a couple of tables of cufflink-shirted men discussing what appeared to be some sort of boring business deals, but really the crowd is what you’d expect from the East 60s—lots of face-lifted, tummy-tucked, bejeweled women and men who believe that comb-overs are truly the most flattering way to style ones hair. Oy. My friend and I we were seated next to a table of four perfectly lovely and friendly neighbors. No comb-overs. No excessive jewelry. Just nice folks. Nice to know they do exist above 14th Street. News to me.

Now, enough with the UES bashing (for now), and onto the inventive and intriguing grub. The menu is a ton of fun to read, with whimsical dishes like Dayboat Sea Scallops Benedict ($14), loosely constructed loosely like the brunch classic. The foundation was a pair of crisp potato hash cakes, then spicy coins of chorizo under fat seared sea scallops, and to top it all off, a pair of poached quail eggs. Delish. There is also a fun dish called Crisp & Angry Lobster Cocktail—fried lobster in the shell served on a bed of nails. How fun is that. Please, don’t play with the nails. But one of the most amazing starters on the menu is the Wild Mushroom and Chestnut Consommé ($11). “Is that dessert?” the doctor seated at the table next to us asked when it was placed in front of me. Looking at my soup, I realized her question was not so out of left field. The consommé has a certain Willy Wonka wonderful factor to it, arriving with the ceremony of a giant sundae. Served in a large china crock that resembles an oversized soft-boiled eggcup, the soup is crowned by a poofy top hat made of golden buttery pastry, laced with Gruyere and slices of prosciutto. Break through the pastry cap, and your face is enveloped in the soft woodsy aroma of mushrooms and chestnuts. I’d like a facial in that. The soup is an intensely flavored mushroom broth, a rich chocolate color that gets a sweet, earthy nuttiness from the roasted chestnuts shining through. The contrast of the salty crust, that should by all means be broken into soft shards and floated in the soup, is divine.

On the main course side, our neighbors loved the Seawater Soaked Roast Organic Chicken ($26), that they said was the best bird they’ve tasted, while we were partial to the Confit of Roast Suckling Pig ($28), served with meaty clams cooked in a rich spicy bacon broth with roasted peppers and rosemary. The Dover Sole ($36), a pair of lush, lightly breaded and sautéed fillets, was served with these wonderful golf ball sized sourdough gnocchi lightly coated in poppy seeds. The gnocchi should be sold separately as a side. They were more like dumplings, with a creamy denseness to them, and they were terrific. The fish was plated with a tomato mint butter and some fried zucchini chips, a great flavor pairing, but it seemed more appropriate for summer to me than the dead of winter. But a taste of summer was somehow nice, nonetheless.

Desserts by James DiStefano are worth another mile on the treadmill, especially the light and creamy butterscotch panna cotta ($10), served in a martini glass layered with swirls of butterscotch caramel, and the warm and crisp apple tart ($10) with green apple confit, cider caramel and cinnamon ice cream. In vintage David Burke style, there is also a cheesecake lollipop tree with raspberries and bubblegum whipped cream ($16). I have a personal aversion to anything called a “lollipop tree,” especially when served with some sort of bazooka bubble gum, transformed into a whipped cream, so I stayed away from that horrific concoction. But maybe Gramps ordered one for his little girl.

David Burke and Donatella is at 133 E. 61st Street, b/w Park and Lexington Avenues (212-813-2121), www.dbdrestaurant.com.

Andrea Strong