Daniel Humm (born September 21, 1976)[2] is a Swissplant-based chef and owner of Daniel Humm Hospitality, the New York-based hospitality group behind the highly acclaimedEleven Madison Park,[3][4][5] Clemente Bar, and direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand Eleven Madison Home. In September 2024, he was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for food education due to his advocacy for sustainable food systems.
In 2003, Humm moved to the United States to become the executive chef at Campton Place in San Francisco[6] where he received four stars from theSan Francisco Chronicle. Three years later, he moved to New York to become the executive chef at Eleven Madison Park, and in 2011 he and his business partnerWill Guidara purchased the restaurant fromDanny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group. In 2017, Eleven Madison Park became number 1 onthe World's 50 Best Restaurants. In October 2024, Humm opened Clemente Bar, a cocktail bar and tasting counter on the second floor of Eleven Madison Park.
Over the course of Humm's tenure, he and Eleven Madison Park have received numerous accolades, including four stars fromThe New York Times, sixJames Beard Foundation Awards (including Outstanding Chef and Outstanding Restaurant in America), three stars from theMichelin Guide, and the #1 spot onThe World's 50 Best Restaurants. In 2011, Humm and Will Guidara purchased Eleven Madison Park fromDanny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group, and the following year also opened the critically acclaimedNoMad New York which garnered three stars fromThe New York Times, one Michelin Star, and a James Beard Foundation Award. In 2018 Humm and Guidara opened NoMad Los Angeles, their first restaurant outside of New York City. Humm and Guidara parted ways in July 2019[7] with Humm buying out Guidara from Eleven Madison Park. In late 2019, Humm opened Davies and Brook,[8] his first restaurant outside the US at London's historicClaridge's.
In January 2020, Humm made the decision to end the partnership with the NoMad group of hotels in New York, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas.
Humm is the owner of Daniel Humm Hospitality group and the author of five books:Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook,I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes,The NoMad Cookbook,Eleven Madison Park: The Next Chapter,Eat More Plants, andEleven Madison Park: The Plant Based Chapter. Humm is a co-founder ofRethink Food, a New York City-based nonprofit aimed at creating a more equitable, sustainable food system. When theCOVID-19 pandemic led to Eleven Madison Park temporarily shutting down, Humm partnered with Rethink to keep a dozen chefs on staff, preparing and delivering meals to first responders and food-insecure communities throughout New York.[9] At its peak, Eleven Madison Park was producing 3,000 meals a day to be served throughout underserved neighborhoods inThe Bronx andBrooklyn.[10]
The restaurant continues to support this cause in a number of ways — including giving excess ingredients to Rethink Food and donating a percentage of the revenue from each reservation at Eleven Madison Park.
In the fall of 2024, Humm opened Clemente Bar, a bar and dining hotspot, on the second story of Eleven Madison Park. Clemente Bar was born of a collaboration with, and named for, the Italian contemporary artistFrancesco Clemente, who painted numerous original works within the bar space.
In November 2021, Humm left Claridges after they rejected his proposal for a vegan menu due to concern about the potential response from regular customers.[11] That year, he reopened Eleven Madison Park with a completely plant-based menu. Eleven Madison Park became the first and only plant-based restaurant in Michelin Guide history to receive a three-star rating in October 2022. The restaurant again received a three-Michelin-star rating in 2023.
While brainstorming for the plant-based menu he would soon debut at Eleven Madison Park, Humm kept a creative journal documenting the restaurant's transition in 2021, which was later published by Steidl Publishers under the titleEat More Plants.[12][13] In January 2024, a docuseries titledYou Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment on Netflix included Eleven Madison Park and Humm's decision to have the restaurant change to plant-based cooking.[14] Also, in early 2024, Humm announced Eleven Madison Park's first-plant based cookbook, set to be published in November 2024.
Humm has commented that he converted to plant-based cooking due to environmental concerns such asclimate change andoverfishing.[15]
In September 2024, Humm was appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for food education. Through his work with UNESCO, Humm serves as an advocate, discussing the need for sustainable food systems and to protect and preserve food culture around the world.
Humm is plant-forward in his personal life.[16] He has said that he prefers terms such as "plant-forward" or "pro-planet" to describe his diet, noting, "This is the future. We’re not saying anti-meat, but we're saying pro-planet. All we have to do is reduce how much animal protein we consume."[17]
Eleven Madison Park has attained "Best of the Best" status,The World's 50 Best Restaurants’ nomenclature for restaurants which have topped the annual poll of The World's 50 Best Restaurants and are therefore no longer eligible to be voted on in new editions of the list.
