The Ledger
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Eleven Madison Park will reintegrate fish, shellfish, and duck in October
“In October, we will reintegrate a few animal products, such as fish or shellfish, and yes, we will bring our duck back, our honey lavender glazed duck.”
Eleven Madison Park Decided to Reopen as 100% Plant-Based
“So we decided that our restaurant will be a hundred percent plant-based.”
Humm realized real food culture change requires avoiding dietary dogmatism
“I feel like I started to realize that to create real change, we can't be as dogmatic.”
Humm Packed the Dining Room With Friends for the NYT Critic
“So on nights that we thought he would come, we would invite a bunch of people, friends, regular guests. So the restaurant felt full when he came.”
Humm: The US can end hunger if restaurants provide 200 subsidized meals
“So if we cook more family meals, And we give, you know, every restaurant gives 200 family meals a day to people in need, and somehow we figure out through the government, through tax, ah, cuts, through fundraising, we figure out that, that we can pay for these…”
Eleven Madison Park's revenue dropped significantly after its plant-based pivot
“We definitely saw a dip in, in, in revenue because the audience we're catering to became a lot smaller.”
Eleven Madison Park's plant-based transition raised its labor costs by 20%
“Our labor costs went up by, like, 20%.”
Humm argues fine dining will always exist as a cultural institution
“Fine dining will always be, will always exist. Because it's the highest form of cooking. It's like saying there won't be any ballet anymore, or any classical music, or, I mean, this is part of the culture.”
Yelling in the Kitchen Is a Sign of Weakness
“I always feel that when a chef is loud and yelling, it means that he's overwhelmed, and it's a weakness, absolute weakness”
New York Showed No Mercy to Gordon Ramsay or Alain Ducasse
“I mean, look at Alain Ducasse, I think Robichon, really, Gordon Ramsay, some of the biggest chefs came to New York and failed, and the city was done with them, and they never got a second chance.”
Wealthy Investors' Passion Project Restaurants Never Survive
“A lot of people try to allure you with this very wealthy guy who wants to have this restaurant, and it's sort of like his passion project. These things never, ever, ever work out because people get bored of it. It only works if it makes money.”
Hospitality Drives Repeat Diners Much More Than the Food
“I think hospitality is arguably more important than even the food. I think the food maybe brings the guests to the restaurant, but then the hospitality makes Makes the guest return and return.”
Business Expansion Caused the Famous Humm and Guidara Split
“I think in our partnership also with Will, this is kind of when things started to be where we didn't Always see eye to eye. And I felt like a lot of these opportunities were taking my time away from the things that I really wanted to do. And so I felt that whe…”
Eleven Madison Park won't revert to traditional butter and meat glazes
“We will never revert back to Butter glazes, chicken stock, the demi-glace. It's fundamentally changed, because we have learned, in some ways, to make things even better.”
Humm admits he would have lacked courage for pivot knowing fallout
“If I would have known all the things that I know today, I don't think I would have had the courage To go down this path.”
Eleven Madison Park is the first plant-based restaurant awarded three stars
“There's never been a restaurant. That received three Michelin stars with a plant-based cuisine.”
Suppliers felt Eleven Madison Park turned its back after plant-based switch
“Some of our suppliers were upset, and they felt like somehow we are turning our back on them, which of course in a way we did because we stopped ordering certain things”
Minimalist Cooking Leaves No Room to Hide Mistakes
“It's easier to add things, but if you only have two things on the plate, then everything has to be perfect.”
Business Success Can Make Culinary Work Less Satisfying
“When you're starting to be pulled in a lot of different directions, it's harder to measure your accomplishments, and so in a way, it's less satisfying as a chef when you start having more success, you know, you're doing interviews, and you're talking to guests…”
Naming One Restaurant the World's Best Is Ridiculous
“I mean, it's kind of ridiculous to say that there is a best restaurant in the world. There isn't. There are many”
Cooking Vegetables Requires Much More Creativity Than Meat
“To really see the creativity of a chef is by watching them work with vegetables. If you have a carrot and you want to make that into a meal, it's not so clear what direction you're going to go. It definitely requires more thought, more preparation, more organi…”
Humm: Long-tenured teams matter more than decor or food in fine dining
“The most valuable thing is, is to, are the people, the team. The value of them having worked together for a long time, that's what makes the best restaurant in the world. Like, I was always saying, like, you know, we can have the most beautiful dining room, an…”
Humm: Delivering high-end luxury meals felt inappropriate during the COVID-19 crisis
“I don't think the world right now needs to have honey lavender roasted duck delivered in fancy packaging with burgundy wine.”
Humm: Only 10 of 300 staff volunteered for EMP's relief kitchen
“Well, really, I got 10 responses out of 300 people, which was quite, you know, that, that was a difficult part.”
Eleven Madison Park employs over 200 people to serve 100 daily diners
“It's fundamentally different, but we have over 200 people working in a restaurant that serves a hundred people.”
Humm Dropped Out of School at 14 to Cycle Professionally
“When I was 14 years old, I had the opportunity to join a team and actually to really pursue it as a professional career and sort of leave school behind.”
Daniel Humm Still Designs Dishes by Hand-Sketching on Paper
“I have thousands of these still today, it's actually, I still work like this.”
Humm Earned His First Michelin Star After Six Months as Head Chef
“So quickly that after six months I was named discovery of the year and received a Michelin star.”
Eleven Madison Park Survived Nights With Only Four Guests in 2008
“Like we had so many meetings in those six months where we said, hey, we lost money every month, like huge amounts. I mean, we had nights where we had four guests. In the restaurant.”
EMP Never Had an Empty Seat After Its NYT Review
“The review came out, and it was a glowing review, and we never had an empty seat since that day.”
EMP Cooked Over One Million Relief Meals During the Pandemic
“We've cooked over one million meals out of the kitchen of 11 Madison Park since March.”
Eleven Madison Park Prepared for Bankruptcy During the Pandemic
“We faced bankruptcy. You know, we had engaged bankruptcy lawyers to understand what that means, what that would look like.”
Humm: Eleven Madison Park furloughed 300 staff during the pandemic
“And it's amazing that in this crisis where I had to let go, you know, furloughed 300 people, my closest people, people I've worked with for many, many years, and, ah, just in this difficult time, again, somehow food, ah, was there”
Humm: Eleven Madison Park produced 5,000 relief meals daily during the pandemic
“Yeah, so we're making 3000 meals a day here at 11 Madison, and by this Monday we activated a second kitchen of our fast casual restaurant, and we're Doing 2000 additional meals, so we're producing 5000 meals a day right now.”