Daniel Humm has been at the helm of Eleven Madison Park for two decades, shaping a culinary language of precision, seasonality, and constant reinvention. Although that’s what has earned his restaurant three Michelin stars and global acclaim along the way, it’s his shape-shifting vision that extendeds beyond the plate. From his role as co-founder of Rethink Food to his deep engagement with the art world, Humm approaches hospitality as a cultural practice that nourishes both community and creativity. His restaurants and home alike reflect this ethos, featuring contemporary works by artists like Rashid Johnson, Olympia Scarry, Rita Ackermann, Sol LeWitt, and Francesco Clemente, creating spaces where visual and culinary expression intersect.
Daniel Humm, portrait to by Ye Fan, courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
Now, as he celebrates 20 years in the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park, Humm enters a new chapter defined equally by reflection and forward momentum. Recent months have seen a flurry of activity: a limited-edition Retrospective Menu, which was available at the restaurant earlier this year from January 7–26; the unveiling of The Studio, an intimate new dining concept tucked inside of Clemente Bar; a Charleston pop-up that extends his restaurant’s philosophy to new terrain, open through October; and the release of his first children’s book, Daniel’s Dream, inspired by his own early imagination. These projects, alongside ongoing collaborations and evolutions within the restaurant itself, underscore a defining trait of Humm’s courageous career: a commitment to growth.
Humm reflects with Whitewall on legacy, creativity, and the ever-evolving language of food, and why there are no rules for dreams.
Inside Eleven Madison Park
WHITEWALL: You’ve been in the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park for 20 years. What does this milestone mean to you?
DANIEL HUMM: Being in the kitchen at Eleven Madison Park for 20 years felt like the perfect moment to pause and reflect. For me, the language of food is incredibly beautiful- it’s how we tell our story without words. Over two decades, that story has unfolded in ways I could have never imagined.
The retrospective menu was a limited offering that showed a playback of the dishes that defined different chapters of the restaurant’s history. It was a chance to revisit those moments, to see how ideas evolved, and to honor the team and creativity that shaped each era.
We’ve accomplished so much at Eleven Madison Park, yet I truly feel as if I’ve only scratched the surface. This milestone isn’t just about nostalgia, it’s about growth. It’s about recognizing how far we’ve come, while reminding ourselves that the next chapter is still being written.
Photo by Evan Sung.Courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
WW: What do you hope Eleven Madison Park is known for?
DH: At the beginning, my focus was on progression and earning the next recognition. I have immense respect for every accolade, and I don’t take any of them lightly. But after receiving three Michelin stars and being named the best restaurant in the world, we realized achievement alone couldn’t be the destination. We needed to pause and ask ourselves what growth truly meant beyond awards.
Now, I want Eleven Madison Park to be known for its courage and for never standing still.
What matters to me is that we’ve consistently questioned what fine dining can be. Whether it was redefining luxury through a dish like the Carrot Tartare, going fully plant-based, or evolving again to embrace choice, the common theme has been reinvention.
If people look back and say that EMP expanded the language of food and made fine dining feel both emotionally resonant and culturally relevant, that would mean everything. Ultimately, I want it to be known as a place where creativity and hospitality met at the highest level, and where evolution was always part of the story.
“I want Eleven Madison Park to be known for its courage and for never standing still.”
Daniel Humm
Courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
WW: The restaurant recently staged a three-night-only collaboration with Chef Virgilio Martinez from Central in Lima. How did this menu bring out the best of gastronomy from two distinctly different geographies?
DH: When we welcomed Virgilio Martínez from Central to Eleven Madison Park, it felt like a conversation between two landscapes. Our geographies are very different, with Peru’s diverse ecosystems and New York’s seasons shaped by upstate farming, but we’re both deeply rooted in place. Our partnership with Magic Farms keeps us in constant conversation with the land, just as Virgilio’s work explores altitude and biodiversity in Peru. The menu became a meeting point between those worlds.
As a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Food Education, I think a lot about how food preserves culture and carries knowledge forward. This collaboration reflected that, not by recreating traditional dishes, but by expressing where we come from through our current thinking. It wasn’t about contrast, but about shared values: seasonality, sustainability, and using food as a language to tell the story of a place.
Tonburi with Avocado, Fava Bean and Mint, photo by Francesco Tonelli.
WW: Chef Virgilio explores ingredients and cultures from the Pacific coast to the Andes and the Amazon in an approach he calls “World in Evolution.” How did EMP honor that and complement it? With what kind of research, ingredients, cultural identity, etc.?
DH: What I admire about Virgilio’s “World in Evolution” is that it’s not just about ingredients, it’s about understanding the ecosystems, cultures, and histories that shape them.
At Eleven Madison Park, we honored that by responding in the way that feels most true to us, by going deeper into our own landscape. Our work with Magic Farms in upstate New York keeps us closely connected to the rhythms of the season, and we approached the collaboration with a shared commitment to local terroir, studying the Peruvian ingredients Virgilio brought and the environments they come from, the altitude, the soil, the communities behind them.
Rather than trying to reinterpret Peru through a New York lens, we complemented his perspective by presenting our own ecosystem with equal clarity. The menu was about dialogue—understanding where ingredients overlap philosophically, even if they are from different geographical locations. It became a cultural conversation between biodiversity in Peru and seasonality in New York.
Exploring The Studio
The Studio inside Clemente Bar, photo by Jason Varney.
WW: Last Fall, Clemente Bar also unveiled a pre-fixe tasting counter named The Studio, which is an extension of the bar on the same floor. Tell us more about this space, and what’s special about its offering and atmosphere.
DH: The Studio is a more intimate and focused extension of the bar but still with the same alluring, art-driven energy from Francesco Clemente’s work. I’ve always believed that the most meaningful dining experiences feel like a conversation, and that’s what this space is meant to be. There are only a handful of seats at the counter, so guests are close to the process. They can watch each movement and every dish unfold in real time.
This year, we welcomed Sushi Master Chef Eiji Ichimura for a multi-month residency. His approach to omakase is precise and disciplined, so bringing his perspective into our world has created a beautiful dialogue between Japanese tradition and our own culinary language.
The Beverage Director, Sebastian and the Wine Director, Adam, also have built a beverage program that matches that intention with a focused selection of sake, rare Japanese whiskies, and full access to the Eleven Madison Park wine list, so the experience feels complete.
Bringing Back Meat at Eleven Madison Park
Photo by Evan Sung, courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
WW: Recently at EMP, as well, you reintroduced meat to the menu, which hadn’t been available for years. Why?
DH: When we made the decision to make Eleven Madison Park fully plant-based in 2021, it was a creative challenge and a reflection of what the world felt like at that moment. We wanted to prove that a meal without animal products could be every bit as luxurious and emotional as anything we’d done before.
The journey was incredibly meaningful. We built a new culinary language, pushed ourselves in ways we never had, and were honored to receive three Michelin stars for that menu. I’ve found that progress isn’t linear. Creativity moves in cycles. You build something, and when the very rules you created begin to feel limiting, you have to take it apart in order to create again.
To me, true hospitality means making space: for choice, for connection, and for a restaurant that can stay open, relevant, and constantly evolving.
Eleven Madison Park Teams Up with The Charleston Place
Courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
Courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
WW: Eleven Madison Park unveiled a year-long partnership with The Charleston Place, offering the South a bite of EMP’s classics. Why here? What’s special about this collaboration?
DH: Charleston is a city with a deep sense of place with strong ties to its land and its traditions. When the opportunity came to partner with The Charleston Place, I didn’t see it as bringing New York to the South, I saw it as starting a conversation and an opportunity to connect and grow through the experience
What makes the collaboration special is that it’s not a replica of Eleven Madison Park. We’ve brought our philosophy and certain defining dishes, but everything is grounded in Lowcountry ingredients and shaped by the Charleston community. It’s an exchange, and that’s what makes it meaningful.
Debuting a Children’s Book
Savory black and white cookies in a white box with blue and white bakery string, prepared by Executive Pastry Chef Mark Welker, courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
WW: You also recently released a children’s book named Daniel’s Dream, inspired by your own childhood. Why was this important for you to share with the world?
DH: Daniel’s Dream is very personal to me. As a child, I was always writing and drawing on the walls, imagining, dreaming, creating my own world. In a way, I’m still doing that today. We have words I’ve written on the walls of the kitchen for all the staff to see, like “endless reinvention,” constantly reminding my team that there are no fixed boundaries to what we can create.
A few years ago, I attended a conference where some of the most thoughtful voices speaking about the future of our planet were incredibly young. It struck me how powerful children really are: how open, imaginative, and fearless they can be. They will shape the future of food, of hospitality, of everything.
Daniel Humm and Francesco Clemente inside Clemente Bar, photo by Jason Varney.
WW: The premise of the book is based off of a real-life moment in your childhood, when, at school, you were asked to draw what your dream house looked like. Take us back to this moment and share why it was such a pivotal moment in your early life.
DH: I remember sitting in school and being asked to draw my dream house. Instead of drawing something traditional, I drew a house so intricate, I couldn’t fit it on one piece of paper. I was scolded at school, and when I was sent home my mother greeted me with the biggest roll of paper I had ever seen, allowing me the space to build my dream. She had always believed in me.
That moment stuck with me because it was a time I was really able to explore what came naturally to me. That wasn’t just a drawing, it was a vision. Looking back, it reminds me how instinctive our dreams are when we’re young. The book is really about protecting that instinct and about encouraging children to trust the picture they draw before the world tells them to make it smaller.
WW: What is the lesson found within the book’s pages?
DH: There are no rules for dreams.
“There are no rules for dreams.”
Daniel Humm
Art at Home and at Work
WW: This continues the thread of your dedication to creativity—from culinary to art collecting and curating for your restaurant. What new acquisitions have you made for EMP or your home? Any new names?
DH: Art has always been part of how I think about a restaurant. Food is one language, but art shapes the emotional atmosphere of a space. I recently acquired a small work by Paul McCarthy for my personal collection, who is an artist I love.
Looking ahead, especially with a new project I am working on in the West Village, I’m excited to collaborate with several artist friends and bring their work into that space to share with the world.
Francesco Clemente and Daniel Humm, photo by Ye Fan.
WW: What are some artists on your radar right now?
DH: Daniel Turner is someone whose work I respect deeply. It may not be the loudest moment for conceptual art, but everything moves in cycles. When the pendulum swings, meaningful work endures.
I currently have an eye out for the work of a very young painter named Marika Thunder. Nicole Wittenberg, Sarah Crowner, Yves Scherer, and Marie Hazard are also artists whose perspectives feel distinct and compelling right now.
WW: Are there any exhibitions you’re excited about seeing in the city right now? Or this year? Or outside of the city?
DH: I recently saw an incredible Helene Schjerfbeck exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art that stayed with me. The restraint and emotional depth were so beautiful and powerful.
In Paris, I’m looking forward to the Gerhard Richter show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton and the Philip Guston exhibition at the Musée Picasso. Seeing how different artists wrestle with reinvention always inspires me since it’s not so different from what we try to do in the kitchen.
Daniel Humm, portrait by Craig McDean.
WW: You’re also a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and co-founded Rethink Food. What’s happening behind the scenes there today? How can people get involved?
DH: The language of food is so powerful, and together with UNESCO we are working to demonstrate how choices around food can create solutions and empower future generations. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have a larger platform to spread this awareness.
Our work with Rethink Food translates those values into action. We work with restaurants and community partners to create nutritious meals and support a more equitable food system. People can get involved by volunteering, donating, or attending events like the annual marathon we run in support of the Rethink community. Every contribution helps move the system in a better direction.
What’s Next for Daniel Humm
Photo by Ye Fan, courtesy of Eleven Madison Park.
WW: What else are you working on this year?
DH: This year is really about evolution. At Eleven Madison Park, we marked 20 years with the Retrospective and continue to refine what the restaurant looks like at this moment.
We’re also building on the energy at Clemente Bar, which has taken on a beautiful life of its own, including a multi-month residency in The Studio for an omakase experience with Chef Ichimura.
I’m also working on a new project in the West Village, which will be an exciting new chapter and a chance to explore a fresh expression of hospitality.
