It’s a remarkable timeframe for a guy who commits to scratch cooking and the granular details of customer service, an approach he honed in gigs at the Omni Severin Hotel, The Capital Grille, Sensu, and Prime 47 steakhouses. “To have fine-dining service at a bar is virtually unheard of,” he says. “But at FoxGardin, guests don’t pour their own wine, water glasses are never half-full, and we have linens. We pay attention to details.”
The Den hosts a leaner version of the operation, with counter service and dishes served in 5 minutes, but Burgess remains laser-focused on technique and ingredients. One dish he doesn’t have to worry about: the gooey butter pie turned out by his mother, Jane, with its graham-cracker crust and smooth cream-cheese filling. “It’s funny to see people’s faces when they have it,” says Burgess. “It’s basically the greatest thing ever.”
