A conversation with Daniel Humm, the Swiss chef and restaurant owner of Eleven Madison Park in New York. His cuisine is focused on locally sourced ingredients, with an emphasis on simplicity, purity, and seasonal flavors.
What changed for you during the pandemic?
I’m a co-founder of an organization, Rethink Food. And we provide meals for food insecure New Yorkers. And during the time of the pandemic, I turned Eleven Madison Park into a community kitchen, and we cooked close to a million meals for food insecure New Yorkers. And I was in New York the entire pandemic. I got to know a New York that I never knew, and I felt guilty of it. I felt that how could I have lived here for so long and not trying to help to solve this problem?
Was there a mindset shift there that occurred during the pandemic?
I was focused on these accolades and I guess on the 1%. And during the pandemic, I just realized how meaningful this work was. I was happier during the pandemic than I was in a very long time. I enjoyed cooking more than I had in a long time. And so I reconnected with food in a very powerful way. And I realized that food is this beautiful language that can make change. And so, at times I felt like, “Oh, wow, I wanted to be this great chef. I achieved all of these things. Maybe this is my new chapter.” And so then I started to think about, “Okay, if we reopen, what would that look like if I put my creative hat back on?”
All of these things that we used to celebrate as luxurious, now when you step back and you think about them, it’s all a little bit gross, right?
I think just like we all have our ways and you’re born into a certain way, and then you’re building your life into a certain way, and we don’t always continue questioning everything that we do. But during the pandemic, I felt like, well, I’m celebrated as this innovative chef at the forefront of dining, and I just really felt almost guilty, because I felt, well, if I’m really that, I’m the expert here, I should point things out. I’m like, “Hey guys, this old idea isn’t right anymore. We need to rethink what we eat and what luxury is, and what these things do to us and to the planet.”
All of these things that we used to celebrate as luxurious, now when you step back and you think about them, it’s all a little bit gross, right?
I think just like we all have our ways and you’re born into a certain way, and then you’re building your life into a certain way, and we don’t always continue questioning everything that we do. But during the pandemic, I felt like, well, I’m celebrated as this innovative chef at the forefront of dining, and I just really felt almost guilty, because I felt, well, if I’m really that, I’m the expert here, I should point things out. I’m like, “Hey guys, this old idea isn’t right anymore. We need to rethink what we eat and what luxury is, and what these things do to us and to the planet.”
All of these things that we used to celebrate as luxurious, now when you step back and you think about them, it’s all a little bit gross, right?
I think just like we all have our ways and you’re born into a certain way, and then you’re building your life into a certain way, and we don’t always continue questioning everything that we do. But during the pandemic, I felt like, well, I’m celebrated as this innovative chef at the forefront of dining, and I just really felt almost guilty, because I felt, well, if I’m really that, I’m the expert here, I should point things out. I’m like, “Hey guys, this old idea isn’t right anymore. We need to rethink what we eat and what luxury is, and what these things do to us and to the planet.”
