Hot dogs aside, how do you put New York on a plate, especially in the context of a fine-dining restaurant? Not only did chef and Eleven Madison Park proprietor Daniel Humm try but he succeeded to such a degree that his restaurant became one of the most talked-about in the world. This fall, he celebrates Eleven Madison Park’s 25th anniversary with a tasting menu, entitled “This Is Our Path,” which nods to the past, present, and future. And in late October, he publishes Eat More Plants, which traces the menu’s evolution from carnivorous to plant-based. Herewith, he shares his key components to the good life.
—Ashley Baker
Airport: Zurich, where I buy my favorite chocolate-covered almonds.
Alibi: I am in the kitchen!
App: FaceTime. I travel frequently for work, and I cherish being able to connect with my family and friends this way.
Bag: My bike’s travel case.
BEDTIME: I love The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Bike: A Cannondale. It’s the brand that I always rode when I was competing, and I still have so much love for their constant innovation. It’s been fascinating to watch how much these bikes have changed over the years.
Birthday: Taking a few hours to myself to go on a long bike ride or a long run, and then dinner with friends.
Breakfast, weekday: Fresh fruit from the farmers market in Union Square with some green juice and sometimes muesli or coconut yogurt.
Car: A BMW. I got to drive their electric car, and it’s been by far the best electric car I’ve seen. I love their technology, innovation, and design.
Cocktail: I may be biased, but the bar team at Eleven Madison Park makes my favorite cocktails. Sebastian, our beverage director, crafts incredible combinations that always have a root in the classics.
Cocktail appetizer: The black-truffle tart at the EMP bar. It always brings me back to my childhood visits to France.
Couple: The Couple, a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois.
Date: October 3, when we kicked off our 25th anniversary with a special retrospective menu offered throughout the month, in partnership with Rethink Food. Through all of our ups and downs, I cannot thank our community and team members enough who believed in our vision and encouraged us to push harder. This retrospective shows how we remain steadfast in our mission, and I’m excited for what we are developing in our plant-based future.
Diet: My diet is mostly plant-based, but I also recommend the book The Longevity Diet. There is a fast-mimicking diet called ProLon that I enjoy for its health benefits.
Dinner, weekend: I love when I have the weekends to myself. I go to the market to buy fresh produce and cook it simply alongside baked rice with seaweed and ginger in my donabe.
Disguise: I hope I never need one.
Dress: Anything made by my talented friend Gabriela Hearst.
Drive: I’m constantly inspired by the drive of my team that keeps us reaching for higher mountains. Nothing would be possible without it.
Enemy: Our changing climate.
Escape: Recently, I’ve really gotten into surfing. I’m not very good at it, but when I get to be in the water early in the morning by the Rockaways, it feels magical.
Excuse: Gone surfing!
Family: My three wonderful daughters and my amazing team.
Fit: A white James Perse T-shirt and my Nike Air Force 1s.
FLAW: Where do I begin?
Good-bye: A jar of granola. It’s how we say good-bye to every guest at Eleven Madison Park.
Hideaway: Montauk.
Hotel: Baur au Lac, in Zurich. It’s a beautiful, family-run hotel, and it was where I first started in the kitchen at 14 as a commis.
Indulgence:
Being in a museum just before closing, when it is usually just me, the art, and the security guards.
Jacket: My chef’s jacket, which is also my work uniform.
Last Meal: A shojin ryori in one of the temples of Kyoto.
Lunch, weekday: A Greek salad with peak-season tomatoes.
Match: Tennis, which is such a beautiful sport. I love going to see the U.S. Open.
Movies: Documentaries.
Musician: I love Miles Davis. He and his music have been a huge influence on me and the restaurant.
Name: Being called “Dad” by my daughters.
Nonfiction book: My first art book, Eat More Plants, consists of my personal journals over the past few years. It’s a very intimate insight into my thoughts and creative process through my drawings and sketches and how I reimagined Eleven Madison Park as a plant-based restaurant.
Piece of advice: “It’s all about progress, not perfection.”
Podcast: How I Built This, by Guy Raz.
President: I loved listening to President Obama speak.
Ride: I got to visit Bill Hamilton when I was in Kauai years ago, and he made me a custom surfboard that I cherish.
Saying: “Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not.”
Shoes: My clean white Nike Air Force 1 trainers. These are my one constant, and I switch them out frequently.
Singer: Billie Eilish.
Street: Madison Avenue.
Time of day: Early morning, middle of the day, afternoon, evening—I love it all. People always ask if I’m a morning person or a night person, but I can’t decide.
Vacation: I recently spent a few weeks with my three daughters in Puglia, Italy. It was magical.
View: The reservoir in Central Park. I ran the Boston Marathon for the first time this year, and did a lot of my training at my go-to running spot: the Central Park loop. I often meet my chef de cuisine, Dominique Roy, for a revitalizing run and some out-of-the-kitchen thinking.
Wake-up time: Usually at seven a.m., to meet up with my trainer.
Weekend bag: One that always has my running shoes. I love to run wherever I am in the world. It keeps me grounded.
Work of art: When I was 10 years old, my parents took me to see Monet’s Water Lilies at the Musée de L’Orangerie, in Paris. I started crying, and I didn’t know if I was happy or sad. That was my first exposure to the influence of art that continues to this day.
WRITING IMPLEMENT: A ballpoint pen from Caran d’Ache, made in Switzerland.
Daniel’s Essentials
