Eleven Madison Park Is Bringing Back Meat
When chef Daniel Humm reopened Eleven Madison Park in 2021, after the restaurant had been closed for over a year during the height of the pandemic, he did so with a new vision: an entirely plant-based menu. It was a groundbreaking, albeit shocking, decision for the Wine Specator Grand Award–winning restaurant to make in the name of sustainability. While the choice was met with both praise and criticism, the EMP team carried on, committed to the mission, but also committed to the chance to challenge their creativity as chefs.
With the menu change, the restaurant continued to garner the level of cachet and success it had been known for. In 2022, EMP retained its three Michelin stars and became the first restaurant in the world to achieve this distinction with a plant-based menu.
However, this fall, the kitchen is reintroducing meat to the menu. According to Humm, the goal of this shift is inclusivity; he and his team realized that a plant-based menu inadvertently discouraged meat eaters from dining there. “The all-or-nothing approach was necessary to develop our expertise, but that, too, comes with its own limitations,” Humm said in a statement. “As a chef, I want to continue to open paths, not close them.”
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Finances are also a motivation for the change. As reported by the New York Times, private event bookings, as well as wine sales, at EMP were down over the past year, with Humm quoted as saying that “for wine aficionados, grand cru goes with meat.” Eleven Madison Park has been a Grand Award winner since 2011, with a cellar currently storing 22,000 bottles.
The new menu, which debuts Oct. 14, will continue to be “plant-based,” according to Humm—meaning it will still prioritize those ingredients over animal products. Yet, it will incorporate some meat and fish elements into the seven-to-nine-course tasting menu ($365). Think an oyster here, some lobster there—and of course, bringing back the restaurant’s once-signature honey and lavender glazed duck. A vegan tasting menu option will still be offered.—Cassia Schifter
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What’s Thomas Keller’s Latest Venture? Burgers & Half Bottles
On a typical summer afternoon in Yountville, California, in the heart of Napa Valley, temperatures climb into the 90s, folks are riding bikes around town, wine tasting rooms are pouring flights and restaurants are busy serving food and drinks. It is no different this week, except that on a corner of Washington Street where a Mexican restaurant used to sit, a new pop-up spot is buzzing with energy. A line of eager diners stretches around the block as local families and tourists wait to snag a table.
That place is Burgers & Half Bottles, a new pop-up from chef Thomas Keller—the name behind some of America’s most acclaimed fine-dining restaurants, Grand Award winners Per Se in New York and the French Laundry in Yountville.
The idea connects to a moment back in the 1990s when Keller was at an In-N-Out Burger and a friend brought along a half bottle of Ridge Zinfandel. That simple pairing of a red wine with burgers and fries inspired this limited-run concept in the former La Calenda space (Keller’s restaurant dedicated to Mexican cuisine, which closed suddenly at the end of 2024).
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Burgers & Half Bottles is a family-friendly, fast-casual restaurant featuring American fare, Napa and Sonoma wines and local beers. The 13-week pop-up will remain open until Halloween. The service is walk-in only, with guests seated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Date opened: Aug. 2
On the menu: Chef de cuisine David Hodson, who has worked with Keller since 2009, is churning out American Wagyu burgers—hundreds of them. “On Saturday, we did 350. On Sunday, it was 500,” he told Wine Spectator, after selling out in their first two days. Beyond patties, the restaurant offers spicy buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches and lobster rolls. Bouchon Bakery, also part of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, provides the breads and pastries, including country bread, Viennois buns and Thomas Keller “Oreo” cookies for ice cream sandwiches. Classic milkshakes are available in chocolate, vanilla or strawberry. Weekly specials include BYOB Thursdays with no corkage fee (limit two bottles) and a happy hour on Friday afternoons with pints of beer at half price and all wines available by the glass.
What’s on the wine list? The small, curated list of 20 half bottles focuses on local Napa and Sonoma wines, including names such as Merry Edwards, Dominus Estate Napanook and Mayacamas.
What’s on tap? In a collaboration with Russian River Brewery, outside the pop-up sits a 1965 Volkswagen “Brew Bus” retrofitted with six taps, offering local beers such as Pliny the Elder, Velvet Glow, STS Pils, Happy Hops and a rotating limited-release brew. For an alcohol-free option, Lost Coast Brewery’s root beer is also on tap. The handful of bottled beers includes St. Helena Brewery’s Mad Fritz, and there’s also a cider from Brooks Dry Cider in San José, California.
The design: Elements of La Calenda remain in the mosaic tiles on the wall and the open kitchen, but the front-facing bar is now the ordering station. Diners can choose from indoor and patio seating.—Chris Cardoso
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