Daniel Humm on the Plant-Based Future of Fine Dining

Throughout his life, Daniel Humm has constantly pushed himself to the edge. So when Covid-19 arrived, he understood the importance of a quick pivot. Forced to close Eleven Madison Park—his three-Michelin-star Manhattan restaurant, named No. 1 in the world in 2017—he had to lay off all of his staff. Facing bankruptcy, Humm reflected on the many food-related issues that the pandemic was heightening, including meat-production carbon emissions, food insecurity, and broken supply chains. The extremity of the situation gave him the courage to boldly transition Eleven Madison Park to an entirely plant-based menu when the restaurant reopened earlier this year, in June. It’s one of several ways that Humm is using food to shift perspectives, in the hopes that his approach will lead to environmental and health impacts far outside of the restaurant world.

Dogged determination and an inescapable internal call to follow his instincts are chief components of Humm’s successful three-decade-long career. After earning a Michelin star in his first executive chef position at age 24, for an inn in the Swiss Alps called Gasthaus zum Gupf, he helmed the kitchen at Campton Place in San Francisco, where he relocated to in 2003, and proceeded to hone his artful and intentional cooking style. Three years later, at the invitation of restaurateur Danny Meyer, Humm moved to New York to become the executive chef of Eleven Madison Park, which he now owns. 

Recently, Humm has modified his cooking for a higher purpose. With Eleven Madison Park’s new dishes, for example, he has created a circular ecosystem in which the purchase of each dinner funds meals for New Yorkers in need. Earlier this year, he launched Eleven Madison Truck, which serves meals to food-insecure areas of New York in partnership with Rethink Food—a nonprofit, for which Humm serves as a co-founder, dedicated to creating more equitable food systems. 

On this episode, Humm speaks with Spencer about cooking and hospitality as performance, why time is his most luxurious ingredient, and what he would say to New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells, who recently wrote a cantankerous review of Eleven Madison Park’s updated menu.

Show notes:

Full transcript[02:33] Eleven Madison Park[04:06] Rethink Food [18:49] I Love New York (2013)[47:13] Brad Cloepfil[59:17] Campton Place[01:01:54] Danny Meyer[01:01:54] Daniel Boulud[01:08:47] The New York Times’s September 2021 review of Eleven Madison Park[01:11:12]  Eleven Madison Truck