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and whole roasted fish. Because
he’s an advocate for sourcing local ingredients, he’ll feature bison from Fossil Farms in Boonton and oysters from the Barnegat Oyster Collective.
The lower-level restaurant will be called The Bernie, featuring small plates, events and live music. It will relaunch after the main restaurant opens.
In a first for Burke, his team will also manage the hotel. They’ll take over op- erations for the 20 guest rooms about six months after the restaurant opens.
“It’s another opportunity for us to be in the full hotel business,” he said. He plans changes to the guest rooms and amenities by spring.
Imperatore said it was Burke’s idea to run the hotel as well.
“We’re in the real estate business,” Imperatore said. “We don’t manage hotels, we don’t manage restaurants, really. So we said, ‘If this is something you’re interested in, we’d like to hand the whole thing over.’”
He said that, while Hampshire will have a say in guest room renovations, Burke is running the restaurant at his
discretion.
“He’s got this ‘wow’ effect, almost,” Imperatore added. “All of his art and his designs and his plates are just very unique and very different than the standard restaurant you go into.”
The goal is to help bring fine dining into the post-pandemic era. Upscale restaurants suffered the most during the pandemic, Imperatore noted, while eateries at mid- to lower price points performed better. Hampshire also owns The Station restaurant next door to the inn, which actually increased profits through COVID.
“I think the fine dining is coming back,” he said. “It’s just much slower than we had hoped for.”
Burke said, “I think the fine dining ex- perience has gone sideways a little bit in New Jersey, where the best restau- rants in the state aren’t necessarily fine dining.” His plan for the new Red Horse is that the dining room will be more polished, with guests in busi- ness attire: “Fresh candles, quieter room where you can actually hear your date or your family, or have a business meeting.” The connected
Hampshire Destination Properties, a subsidiary of The Hampshire Cos., acquired the 116-year-old Bernards Inn at 27 Mine Brook Road in Bernardsville in 2006. The fami- ly-owned company has teamed with celebrity chef David Burke to help breathe new life into the restaurant and hotel after business suffered during the pandemic
tavern room and the bar room will be livelier, he said.
The downstairs restaurant has stayed open through the renovations, and Burke’s team is working with the existing team, with plans to add staff as needed.
Burke and Imperatore both hope
to attract new customers as well as existing fans. The chef added that they’re trying to bring the inn back to its status as “another option for that county to have a good meal and a
good time.”
Imperatore, meantime, said Bernardsville is trying to redevelop the downtown, so it’s a good time to revitalize the inn. Judging by the positive comments he’s seen on Facebook, “I think the town’s also very excited about it.”
Marlaina Cockcroft is a freelance writer based in New Jersey. Other publications she writes for include New Jersey Monthly and School Library Journal. RE
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