Chef David Burke has taken over management of THE STATION at 45 Mine Brooke Rd.
David Burke Adds to His New Jersey Restaurant Roster by Taking Over Historic Space
Giving Visual and Culinary Glow-up to Popular Local Haunt for Mid-April Debut
BERNARDSVILLE, NJ, April 8, 2026 – David Burke, the international award-winning chef acclaimed for his novel creativity and often whimsical approach to modern American cuisine, is assuming stewardship of a beloved New Jersey institution, Bernardsville’s The Station restaurant in a landmark 148-year-old building across the street from the town’s historic train station. He anticipates debuting the 100-seat (plus 60 outside) Station Tavern with a new, warmer look that expands upon, the restaurant’s vintage railroad station lounge theme and a new seasonal, smaller, easier-to-navigate menu (some items culled from the current one) on April 18. All without closing the space, except for Mondays and Tuesdays.
What will not change is the restaurant’s casual tavern-style atmosphere wholesome, family friendly culture, outdoor dining on the expansive patio (energized with live music), the sports vibe at the bar and modest prices for the casual American fare.
Witness a burger, dressed with lettuce, onion tomato, pickle and choice of cheese (aged cheddar, pepperjack, white American, Swiss, blue) and presented with fries cooked in beef tallow—more flavorful, crispier and healthier than their fried in vegetable oils brethren—for $17 or rotisserie baby chicken with choice of side and unlimited fries (served in a long-handled church collection basket) for $24. Then there’s the crispy pork cutlet Cordon Blu, mashed potatoes and broccoli, also $24. The most expensive menu item will be steak fries, grilled marinated skirt steak with chimichurri and the endless-served-in-church-collection-basket fries.
Occupying the ground floor (in space that has been a restaurant / pub since 1954) of a circa late 1860s edifice built as a private home and then converted into the Claremont Hotel in 1878,, Station Tavern’s menu will break down into seven categories: Appetizers (Bavarian pretzel with stout mustard, warm cheese sauce to French dip crisps, shaved prime rib, caramelized onions, gruyere); Wings Rings and Tender Things; including house made mozzarella in the cheese’s eponymous sticks; Burgers and Handhelds; Steak Frites, where the unlimited, church collection basket presented fries accompany a salmon steak and grilled pork chop, in addition to the beef steak; Classics and Cutlets, the likes of chicken Parmesan with rigatoni marinara, Burke’s once featured in The New York Times millionaire’s meatloaf crowned with shrimp and served with herb roasted potatoes and broccoli and his signature maple glazed bacon gracing rigatoni carbonara Finally, the work-in-progress Desserts, soft serve, sundaes and what Burke describes as, “Some sort of state fair-like fried candy or cookie,” are certainties.
In true tavern tradition, the square 20-seat centerpiece bar will pour a broad spectrum of libations, from seasonal signature cocktails and mocktails to local beers, with 12 brews on top. Boozy milkshakes, too. A daily happy hour, a hallmark of all David Burke restaurants, will be in play at the bar.
There will be a rotisserie built into the bar, dispensing the seductive aroma of roasting chicken with lemon, garlic and thyme and a carvery on the bar near the newly opened-to-view kitchen. Kids’ menu as well and, to help simplify meals for busy local households, a robust takeout and delivery program, featuring some healthful options.
At Burke’s direction, the space’s stark white walls have been transformed with rich, dark blue paint accented by an even darker-almost-black-blue on the crown and ceiling molding throughout. Cheerful cherry red faux leather booths, framed by massive mirror-image murals of retro steam trains going in opposite directions, are being installed in one corner of the dining area. While the restaurant’s complement of columns is being enrobed in charming black-and-white locomotive print wallpaper.
Brass gear wall sconces will shed light on the renewed space, along with the current pendant fixtures refreshed with cherry red exteriors and gold interiors. They will be joined by a vintage Union Pacific Railroad chandelier sporting Mason jar-like lamps. All will cast a complimentary glow on the colorful growing collection of antique train engine embellished bells adorning the walls.
While Burke selected all the décor elements, one has special meaning, a framed page from the July 11, 1978 edition of The New York Times. It boasts a story about his father, also David Burke (known as Red), who was a career train motorman.
The Hampshire Companies, owner of the building, tapped Burke to infuse new life into the 44-year-old restaurant in the wake of his success with another property in its portfolio, the transformation the restaurant at the Bernards Inn into a modern American steakhouse, Red Horse by David Burke (just a block-and-a-half up the road).
In addition to Station Tavern, Burke operates or directs the culinary aspect of four other restaurants and a bakery in New Jersey.
Station Tavern, located at 45 Mine Brook Rd., Bernardsville, NJ 07924, will be open daily with an all-day menu, noon to 9 p.m. on weekdays, noon to 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays. Brunch specials will be added to the menu mix on weekends. www.stationtavernbydb.com.
