Charles Burke
Executive Chef of the Grand Summit Hotel, a Summit,
New Jersey landmark for over 130 years, Charles Burke is proud to work
with a team of professionals that knows how to extend their hospitality.
Chef Burke believes in listening to the guests, and then gives them
whatever they want. "It's a very simple recipe."
A New Jersey native, Chuck was first introduced to the restaurant business
at the age of twelve. He washed dishes standing on a milk crate at the
restaurant where his mother and grandmother worked, Libretti's in Orange,
NJ. He attended college in pursuit of a degree in civil engineering,
but was lured back to the restaurant business; and graduated from the
New York Restaurant School in 1985.
One of his instructors lined him up with his first job at One Fifth
Avenue. He spent five years at various New York City restaurants, but
wanted to learn the hotel industry. Back in Jersey, Chuck worked under
the direction of Executive Chef Louis Spost at the Short Hills Hilton,
a AAA 5 Diamond Award for both lodging and the Dining Room Restaurant.
There he quickly learned hotel restaurant operations, the challenge
of room service and developed an interest in the high volume and fast
pace of the catering department.
With a desire for large volume operations, Chuck was invited to join
the opening team of the Ocean Place Hilton in Long Branch to work with
Executive Chef Tony Sindaco. Burke gained a wealth of experience there
since they had both a ballroom and an exhibition hall for events.
A few years later, an opportunity to work under the tutelage of Chef
Steve Jilleba, CMC, CCE, AAC at the Des Moines Club took Chuck and his
wife to live in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Chef Burke returned to New Jersey and the Grand Summit Hotel in 1998.
In 2000, Chef Sindaco invited Chuck to assist him as guest chef at the
James Beard House, truly a memorable experience. Burke takes pride in
a featured article in Culinary Trends magazine "Grand Summit Reaches
New Heights"
Presently, he is the most proud of his team getting the People's Choice
Award for both the best Crab Cakes and the best Chef's choice item at
the 2nd annual Crab Cake Festival at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ.
"After all, food is local; and it really is all about the people for
me."