Eat More Plants. A Chef’s Journal

Born in 1976, Daniel Humm is chef and owner of Make It Nice, the New York-based hospitality group behind Eleven Madison Park and Eleven Madison Home. Throughout his time at Eleven Madison Park, Humm and the restaurant have received numerous awards including four stars from the New York Times, seven James Beard Foundation Awards, three Michelin Stars and World's Best Restaurant in 2017. In October 2022 Eleven Madison Park became the first and only plant-based restaurant in the history of the Michelin Guide to receive a three-star rating. Humm is co-founder of the non-profit Rethink Food which provides free meals to those in need throughout the USA. His books include Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook (2011), I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes (2013) and Eleven Madison Park: The Next Chapter (2019).

Eat More Plants. A Chef's Journal is a collection of Daniel Humm's drawings and handwritten thoughts charting the re-imagination of his acclaimed three-Michelin-Star restaurant Eleven Madison Park as wholly plant-based in 2021. Shaped by the seasonality underlying Humm's cooking, the book is structured into a section each for spring, summer, fall and winter. His drawings are spontaneous and painterly, celebrating the bounty of predominantly local fruits and vegetables that inspires his creations-from familiar characters such as the carrot and cherry to the more exotic elderflower and matsutake mushroom. On the back of the drawings Humm has written notes on the ideas, beliefs and uncertainties behind his decision to re-invent (and risk) the 25-year story of Eleven Madison Park: "Our cooking should not conform to society, it should be a resolution / Most days we see endless possibility, some days fear clouds our vision / This isn't just an artistic experiment, it's our livelihood." The result is a revealing visual diary of a chef dedicated to pro-planet values as the basis of fine dining, and the liberating realization that following traditions had been his greatest limitation.