In June 2021, New York City fine-dining landmark Eleven Madison Park reopened after a pandemic closure with a bold change: a fully plant-based menu. “We realized that not only has the world changed, but that we have changed as well,” chef and co-owner Daniel Humm said at the time. The three-Michelin-star restaurant promised to deliver the same quality, creativity, and flair, just without meat.
Over the next four years, it maintained its Michelin status, drew praise from celebrity guests like David Beckham, and earned Humm a UNESCO ambassador title for food education. But behind the scenes, the menu shift proved challenging. Humm recently told The New York Times that the restaurant has struggled financially, particularly with securing large private events. “It’s hard to get 30 people for a corporate dinner to come to a plant-based restaurant,” he said.
That’s why in October, meat is returning to the restaurant. While the menu will still remain predominantly plant-based, diners will have the option to choose dishes featuring animal products, including oysters, lobster, and duck.
Eleven Madison Park
Eleven Madison Park is now embracing a more flexitarian approach to food
Humm says one challenge with a fully plant-based menu is that dietary preferences vary, and not everyone is eager to try vegan cuisine. He worries the plant-based approach, while well-intentioned, has ended up excluding some diners.
“Eating together is the essence of who we are, and I’ve learned that for me to truly champion plant-based cooking, I need to create an environment where everyone feels welcome around the table,” the chef said in a statement released by Eleven Madison Park.
Approaching his 20th anniversary at the esteemed restaurant, Humm knows his decision will draw backlash. After all, plant-based food is widely recognized as better for animal welfare, more sustainable than meat, and often healthier. That belief partly drove him back in 2021 to declare it was “time to redefine luxury as an experience that serves a higher purpose.”
Humm wasn’t alone in this philosophy. In London, Plates recently became the first vegan restaurant in the UK to earn a Michelin star. And in Paris, Alain Passard’s iconic three-Michelin-starred Arpège has also removed meat from its menu. “Today, I’m moving more towards a cuisine of emotion … closer to painting and sewing,” Passard said. “Today I’m a different chef.”
Arpège
Humm, however, is now taking a different path. He hopes a flexitarian approach will draw more diners through the door, and, in the process, win over more fans of vegetable-forward cooking. “To me, that is the most contemporary version of a restaurant,” he said. “We offer a choice, but our foundation continues to be plant-based.”
He added that “When people come in, and maybe they had one fish or a lobster or the duck but they also had 80 percent vegetable dishes. They might even like the vegetable dishes more.”
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
