They’re finally chickening out.
Eleven Madison Park, one of the world’s most acclaimed restaurants, is ditching its vegan-only menu just four years after it swore off meat.
The vegetable-focused diet was simply costing too much green — and not the right kind, according to its lauded chef.
“It’s hard to get 30 people for a corporate dinner to come to a plant-based restaurant,” Daniel Humm told the New York Times.
“I very much believed in the all-in approach, but I didn’t realize that we would exclude people. I have some anxiety that people are going to say, ‘Oh, he’s a hypocrite,’ but I know that the best way to continue to champion plant-based cooking is to let everyone participate around the table.”
Humm formally announced the major menu switch-up in an announcement on the restaurant’s website that admitted the limited, plant-based diet excluded a wide range of guests and their cash — and the change left some pro-vegan diners disappointed.
“We’re absolutely pissed off. We came halfway across the country just to eat here. I am vegan and he is vegetarian. And then we find out about this day we get here. [Serving meat] is something totally against our principles,” said Lily Adams, who with her husband Peter, traveled from Nevada to eat at Eleven Madison Park.
“It’s the epitome of hypocrisy. We are already paid for a reservation. So we don’t have much of a choice. I think it was $250 or something for a five-course menu for two people, it’s $225, each I mean.”
While running the first restaurant in the world to earn three Michelin stars for entirely plant-based dishes “felt like walking on water,” Humm said too many customers made it clear that they were left unsatisfied with his “land caviar” and smoked potatoes.
“It became clear that while we had built something meaningful, we had also unintentionally kept people out. This is the opposite of what we believe hospitality to be,” Humm wrote in the statement.
“The all-or-nothing approach was necessary to develop our expertise, but that too, comes with its own limitations. As a chef I want to continue to open paths, not close them.”
Starting October 14th, Eleven Madison Park will once again offer fish and meat — as well as its famous honey-lavender-glazed duck.
The news also comes as Humm is shopping a book about working at the resturaunt, which has been known as a regular stop for celebs and power players — from David and Victoria Beckham’s date night there last year to Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel throwing an alleged “hissy fit” when he wanted his meal served more quickly than the usual multicourse dining experience which can take up to three hours.
Unsurprisingly, the announcement has ruffled the feathers of vegans.
Gene Baur, the president and co-founder of advocacy group Farm Sanctuary, told The Post that while financial concerns are legitimate, the exclusion excuse is not:
“It’s unfortunate. I’m disappointed … The interests of the animals are not being included,” he said.
“Because Eleven Madison Park made such a public statement, and with such a kind of focus of vegan food this feels a little bit more upsetting than it than if it wasn’t so widely discussed.”
Others were quick to slam the restaurant on social media.
“So good to hear climate change and animal ethics have been solved and we can focus on the most important moral issue: maximizing profit,” one user wrote.
“Yesterday, you were the owner of the world’s most famous vegan restaurant. An inspiration. Somewhere vegans could aspire to visit for special birthdays and special occasions. Today, you are the owner of just another restaurant. I fell for your act. I thought you cared. You didn’t,” wrote another.
The dinner items had been stripped from its $365 nine-course menu back in 2021 when the award-winning restaurant reopened from Covid-19 lockdowns.
At the time, Humm said he was inspired to take an environmentally sustainable approach — Animal-based foods, especially red meat, dairy, and farmed shrimp, are generally associated with the highest greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations.
“The way we have sourced our food, the way we’re consuming our food, the way we eat meat, it is not sustainable,” Humm said at the time.
Whether the return to meat will include sustainable approaches to animal consumption — such as only offering free-range and organic items — is unclear.
Neither Humm nor Eleven Madison Park immediately responded to The Post’s request for comment.
Critics were quick to slam the vegan shrine, including one hangry food critic who roasted a beet dish for tasting like “lemon Pledge” — but patrons continued to flock to the NoMad eatery in droves.
Eleven Madison Park continued to rack up accolades and its Michelin stars — but the fish-less flood dried up this year.
Bookings for private events grew sparse, and wine sales took a nose-dive: “For wine aficionados, grand cru goes with meat,” he told The Times.
Customers will still be able to order an all-vegan menu if they choose — but customers are warned that the fixed $365 price applies whether they’re gobbling up tofu or turkey.
