Dining out can be a social event, a celebration, a convenience, and occasionally, an experience. At Eleven Madison Park – a fine dining restaurant located at 11 Madison Avenue in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City – it’s safe to say that one can expect to leave this place having had an elevated experience, with spine tingling emotion.
Some quick history: After being included in Food & Wine’s list of Best New Chefs in 2005, Daniel Humm became the Executive Chef at Eleven Madison Park in 2006, purchasing the restaurant in 2011 and taking top spot on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017. Other accolades include four stars from the New York Times and three stars from the Michelin Guide, a rating he’s retained for the next decade.
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With all the fanfare for a recipe that was clearly working, many in the culinary world were shocked when Chef Humm chose to convert Eleven Madison Park into a completely plant-based restaurant.
They didn’t need to worry. Michelin was so impressed with his new menu that they awarded it three stars, making it the first fully vegan restaurant in the world to achieve that recognition.
In an appearance on The Tonight Show in 2022, Chef Humm told his good friend Jimmy Fallon how nerve-wracking the decision was. “It felt like I would leave a lot behind, these techniques that I’ve perfected and the ingredients that I’ve worked with,” he said. “What I found is that using plants and vegetables to cook is liberating. It’s so beautiful. It’s the future, and in a way, I’m looking back and now I think I was limited before.“
One might expect the vibe at one of the top restaurants in the world to be stuffy, perhaps even snobby, but that isn’t so here. It’s an upscale, yet relaxed spot and the entire team is welcoming and happy to answer any questions about their menu and their wines. Guests feel well looked after.
My personal meal experience was a work of art, with each course plated beautifully. And while the portions looked small, the meal was filling and very satisfying.
The ‘bread rolls’ need a special mention as they have the crispy crust and soft insides of the most perfect croissant. They’re accompanied by sunflower butter, presented in the shape of a sunflower with the plant-based butter as the petals and a sunflower-based spread as the inner disk. Simply divine. The croissant is an item that is almost impossible to replicate in vegan form and this was such an incredible feat that I had to ask for a second serving.
“What I found is that using plants and vegetables to cook is liberating. It’s so beautiful. It’s the future…” – Chef Daniel Humm
Other dishes on the tasting menu included fairytale eggplant with a chickpea stuffing, tempura fried with bird’s eye chili. Eaten with your hands, this is a standout dish with depths of umami flavour. A sesame pretzel with chocolate capped off a truly exceptional meal.
On the beverage side, the restaurant has three wine cellars on site that hold over 20,000 bottles combined. The wine list is a five-pound tome, and it would take an hour to go through it. The impressive list has 400 bottles under $100, with another 900 bottles priced between $102 and $200. They also have a great selection of non-alcoholic cocktails, and all of their cocktails (alcoholic and non) are also plant-based.
A tour of the kitchen and one of the wine cellars revealed no screaming chaos. It’s a calm machine back there with a philosophy of holding each other to the highest standards possible. I asked the head chef on duty what it was like to experience the changeover to a plant-based menu. He said that while at first it was challenging to come up with main dishes, he learned so much and feels he has become a better chef. “It was easy to rely on foie gras and caviar to impress diners, but now it’s all about invention.”
This sentiment is echoed by others on the team, from their wine director to our server—neither of who consider themselves vegan, but both said they have become more plant-forward.
Chef Humm has been clear that his decision to move to a fully plant-based menu is not anti-meat, but rather pro planet. It’s about progress, not perfection. Change happens slowly and if we all can just reduce how much meat we eat we can have a better world and a better climate. Certainly, this is a fact that vegans and non-vegans can all agree upon.
A foodie and wine lover, Priya Rao has been active in the world of vegan food & wine since 2011 and is the co-founder of the duo, The Social Herbivore with Master Sommelier, Jennifer Huether. Priya’s vegan-focused contributions to VineRoutes help build awareness for the plant-based enthusiast and curious alike.