Chef
Daniel Humm
Chef-Owner, Eleven Madison Park
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Sulmona, Italy
Known for
- Plant-based fine dining at Eleven Madison Park
- Three Michelin stars retained post-2021 vegan pivot
- Topping World's 50 Best Restaurants 2017
i. Biography
Plant-based luxury dining in New York has been tested at full fine-dining scale at Eleven Madison Park, where Daniel Humm’s work centers the purity, clarity, and structure of plants within a locally sourced ingredient frame. The restaurant’s position in the city is not incidental: it operates in a market that measures technique, service, sourcing, and consistency in public, night after night. The current idiom is regional produce handled with restraint, with sustainability treated as an operating condition rather than a garnish to the menu.
Training and Lineage
Classical hotel apprenticeship remains one of the trade’s clearest foundations: repetition, station discipline, and the hierarchy of a serious kitchen. Daniel Humm entered that system in 1990 at Baur au Lac, an education that preceded his move into American fine dining. From 2003 to 2006, the Executive Chef role at Campton Place in San Francisco placed that training in a different dining culture and brought his cooking wider notice. The New York chapter has been built through long tenure and institutional control. Daniel Humm has been chef/co-owner of Eleven Madison Park since 2006, giving the restaurant the continuity required to revise its cuisine without abandoning the standards of luxury service. His work also extends through Rethink Food, which he co-founded, Daniel Humm Hospitality, and Clemente Bar, opened in New York in 2024.
The Work Today
The current craft problem at Eleven Madison Park is plant-based fine dining at the level of a major New York tasting-menu restaurant. In Daniel Humm’s hands, Swiss training and contemporary dining practice are applied to vegetables, fruits, grains, and regional sourcing with the expectation that the menu carry structure, progression, and finish without relying on conventional luxury anchors. Clemente Bar in New York and Daniel Humm Hospitality sit alongside that work as part of the same operating practice.
Signature
Signature dishes include Milk and Honey dessert, roast chicken, and poached chicken with black truffles.
Honors
Recognition has marked both the restaurant’s service system and its shift into plant-based dining. In 2022, Eleven Madison Park became the first plant-based restaurant to be awarded three Michelin stars. In 2017, it was Number 1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The James Beard Foundation awards attached to Daniel Humm and the restaurant record a broader operating standard across kitchen, dining room, and bar: Outstanding Service (2016), Outstanding Bar Program (2014), Outstanding Chef (2012), and Best Chef New York City (2010).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Daniel
What is Daniel Humm's day job?
Daniel Humm is chef-owner of Eleven Madison Park.
Where did Daniel Humm train or study?
Daniel Humm trained at Baur au Lac.
What recognition has Daniel Humm received?
First plant-based restaurant to be awarded three Michelin stars (2022).
