Celebrity chef’s new pop-up Jersey Shore restaurant is coming this month

Reopening of outdoor dining during 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

Marilou Crane Halvorsen, president of the N.J. Restaurant & Hospitality Association (left) poses for a photo with Chef David Burke at his Drifthouse Restaurant in Sea Bright, N.J. during the reopening of outdoor dining on Monday, June 15, 2020. Burke is opening David Burke Asbury Kitchen, a pop-up restaurant, in Asbury later this month. (Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

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Even during a global pandemic that has brought the restaurant industry to its knees, Asbury Park has found a way to maintain its status as the Jersey Shore’s hottest food town — and it will soon have an anticipated pop-up restaurant to prove it.

Celebrity chef and Hazlet native David Burke will open David Burke Asbury Kitchen in Asbury Park in mid-August, according to a press release. The outdoor pop-up will be at 601 Mattison Ave., the former home of acclaimed southern restaurant Modine that closed partially because of coronavirus-slowed business.

Burke, who owns dozens of restaurants around the United States including The Drifthouse in Sea Bright, is working on a project in Asbury Park that has been delayed by the pandemic. Rather than wait, Burke decided to open a pop-up in the meantime.

“Fueled by passion, grit and a knack for artful innovation, Burke, one of the best known and most respected chefs in modern American cuisine, has been working on a project in Asbury Park, which has been delayed due to the pandemic,” according to the press release. “Meanwhile, Burke is rarin’ to go and wanted to get a foothold on Asbury’s exciting dining scene while the weather is still temperate and amenable to outdoor dining, which is currently the only type of dining allowed under state mandated COVID-19 restrictions.”

David Burke Asbury Kitchen will serve dinner seven nights a week and do brunch on the weekends, featuring a “modern American menu with a bistro-style flair.” Tuna tartar tacos, oyster and snow crab, Asbury Park Clams “Casino” Chowder and Burke’s signature “When Pig’s Fly” bacon clothesline appetizer along with cuts of prime beef for entrees.

This isn’t the first pop-up Burke has done down the shore during the pandemic. David Burke Provisions launched in May at his Drifthouse location, selling packages of premium beef, fish and more to cook at home.

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Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.

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