"When I moved to New York, I never thought that I would have only one job," says Daniel Humm. The Switzerland-born chef arrived in 2006 to run the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park, which he bought from Danny Meyer in 2011 and where he's been sole owner since 2019. "It turned out to be this magical place that's bigger than me, and it has defined my whole culinary career."
To mark his 20th anniversary, Eleven Madison Park is staging a 20-day retrospective menu of its greatest hits — a walk down memory lane that includes carrot tartare, a refined clambake, and the legendary celery root cooked in pig's bladder.
The clambake, first on the menu in 2011, arrives in a custom-made pot holding clam velouté in the center. Hot rocks surround it, and servers pour seaweed water over them at the table, creating the smell of the ocean.
The celery root dish, based on a Paul Bocuse classic, has inspired memorable reactions. "There's an L.A. artist named Paul McCarthy, and when he had the dish, he said, 'Oh my God, I feel like I'm eating a painting by Robert Ryman,'" Humm recalls. "It was the greatest compliment I've ever received. It was the first time in my career — after more than 30 years — I felt I did what I always tried to do."
Humm made headlines in 2021 when he announced the restaurant would serve only plant-based ingredients, and again last year when meat returned to the menu. Through all the changes, his commitment to refinement remains constant.
"I never finished high school, so everything that I know is through the language of food," Humm reflects. Twenty years in, he's still learning — and still speaking fluently.