Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant in New York which recently became an all-vegan establishment, has become the first vegan restaurant to ever receive three Michelin stars.
Tonburi (seed caviar).Photo credit: Gary He/Bloomberg
Eleven Madison Park, before it became vegan, received three Michelin stars in 2011, before being named the world’s best restaurant six years later. However, following a 16-month shutdown due to the pandemic, owner Daniel Humm and his associates decided to reinvent the restaurant and its menu, making it entirely plant-based.
“Eleven Madison Park is a fine dining restaurant located in the heart of New York City”, states the restaurant’s website. “The restaurant overlooks Madison Square Park, one of the most beautiful parks in Manhattan, and sits at the base of a historic Art Deco building on the corner of East 24th Street and Madison Avenue. Located here since 1998, it underwent a full-scale renovation and redesign in the summer of 2017.
According to the site, the restaurant “has been owned by Chef Daniel Humm since 2011 and during that time it has evolved considerably, both in food and in experience. Our tasting menu consists of entirely plant-based courses.” Guests can also “visit the bar for a more abbreviated version of the tasting menu, light snacks, or simply for a cocktail or glass of wine.”
The site notes that every dinner purchased at Eleven Madison Park “allows us to provide meals to New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity. These meals are served from the Eleven Madison Truck, which is operated by restaurant staff, in partnership with Rethink Food.”
“This chapter has been the most exciting time of my entire career as a chef”, says Humm. “Cooking plant-based has been meaningful and expansive. We made the commitment to use our creativity toward a plant-based future because that’s where our food system needs to go. I am not a scientist, nor a climate change expert, but I am a chef.”
He continues: “We have seen first-hand what is happening to the quality and availability of our ingredients. There’s no question that plant-based food is better for the planet, and it doesn’t mean sacrificing deliciousness. We’re excited to share with you our newest collection of plant-based essentials, developed in the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park in collaboration with some of our most-loved artisans and local purveyors. We’ve been working on these items for a long time, and they’ve become an essential part of our everyday lives. We look forward to seeing how you use them in yours.”
Whereas the restaurant previously served items like glazed duck and poached lobster, now you’ll find meals such as celtuce steamed dumpling with salad and avocado, Kohlrabi with Tofu, Hazelnuts and White Truffle and corn with rice and chanterelle mushrooms and grilled squash with poblano pepper and seitan.
Although Eleven Madison Park is not the first vegan restaurant to receive accolades by Michelin, it’s the first to receive three stars.
