We paid $1,219.40 for dinner at Eleven Madison Park. Two people. Full tasting and their most expensive wine pairing. 

That was before tip.

Eleven Madison Park used to be service included, but no longer.

Oh and did I mention that we were required to prepay our reservation? And that our prepayment in full was non-refundable? So basically, we were going even if someone was sick. 

In 2017, Eleven Madison Park was voted the number 1 restaurant in the world. It has held three Michelin stars since 2012 (as of 2023, there are only 144 three Michelin star restaurants in the world). 

The craziest part, aside from Eleven Madison Park’s meteoric rise? They no longer serve animal products. Daniel Humm, the long-time Executive Chef, decided to go full vegan just a couple of years ago.  

No more butter-poached lobster and honey lavender duck. No more butter, cheese, cream, or eggs.

They still kept all three Michelin stars. The first vegan three Michelin star restaurant in the world. 

So we had to try it. 

Eleven Madison Park: the home of unreasonable hospitality   

Before we dive headfirst into the experience itself and whether it was worth that insane amount of money, allow me to explain why I even considered prepaying over $1,200 for the reservation. 

Daniel Humm used to have a co-owner, Will Guidara. Humm ran the kitchen and Guidara was his front-of-the-house partner. They split in 2019, agreeing to go their separate ways (shocking the fine dining world in the process). 

In 2023, Guidara published a book: Unreasonable Hospitality. I devoured it in a few days. One of my few five-star book ratings from this past year. 

Guidara’s book confirmed why Eleven Madison Park had an incredible service reputation. They became known for their trademark approach of delighting diners with bespoke surprises. 

One of my favorite stories from the book was Guidara overhearing diners who were visiting New York City say they had tried everything but a New York City street hot dog. So what did Guidara do? He bought hot dogs from a food truck and had the kitchen plate them fine dining style.

The diners were understandably floored. It was a gesture none of them would ever forget. 

And that’s the type of unreasonable hospitality they approached each of their patrons with every night. Sounds exhausting, to be honest. 

I had heard that Daniel Humm had maintained that same level of unreasonable hospitality even after buying out Guidara. So it’s safe to say my expectations were sky-high going into the meal

In the past year, we had also dined at Restaurant Daniel, chef Daniel Boulud’s flagship in New York City. It’s (only) a two Michelin star restaurant, and we had an incredible experience. You can watch that full review here.

If that type of magic and culinary wizardry happened at a two-star joint, then what should we expect from a three-star restaurant? 

A brief note on fine dining

At this point you might be thinking, why even spend this amount of money for any type of food? Some people refuse – on philosophical grounds alone – to spend over $1,000 on dinner. And I get it. 

But in my view, fine dining is more than the food. It’s a theatrical performance that you get to participate in and taste. It’s storytelling. Drama. Art. Risk. 

It’s getting dressed up and sharing a supernatural experience either with yourself (cheers to solo dining) or someone you love or enjoy. 

A great fine dining experience will challenge, surprise, and excite. It will tell a riveting story from beginning to end and maybe even evoke memories from your past or childhood. 

But best of all, fine dining is escapism. For a few hours, you’re transported to another world. One of complete order and control. A world of pure bliss and unreasonable hospitality.

When done well, it can be one of the best experiences of your life.   

Getting ready for the Eleven Madison Park experience

$1,219.40. I often have to retype that to remind myself of the crazy decision to spend that much money on one dinner with my wife. 

Before you even enter the doors of Eleven Madison Park, it feels like it might just be worth it. The restaurant overlooks one of my favorite parks in New York City, Madison Square Park. It sits at the base of a historic Art Deco building that also houses the Swiss bank, UBS. Which is fitting given that Executive Chef Daniel Humm is also Swiss. 

When you enter, you’re immediately hit with the grand nature of the space. Vaulted ceilings, massive windows, gorgeous modern art and classic decor. As if you’re dining in the Gilded Age. 

We chose the full 11-course tasting menu. Eleven Madison, 11 courses; I loved the attention to detail already. 

We paired this with their most expensive wine pairing. This significantly increased the costs from $195 to $365 per person – just for the wine – but we wanted their absolute best experience.  

Let’s assess the pros and cons of that overall experience. For a full breakdown of each course, check out this video review. 

The pros of the Eleven Madison Park experience

The vegan tasting menu is very innovative. It’s bold. Audacious. Adventurous. 

There are no imitation games, which I consider the lowest form of art. This menu charted its own course. From carrot tartare prepared tableside to cabbage on silken tofu with white truffles, I was overall very impressed. 

It was also very well executed. There were only a few notable exceptions that I’ll detail in the cons section below.  

Overall, the service was exceptional. Although they were not as unreasonably hospitable as I expected (which I’ll also get to more below), they were cordial and knowledgeable. The sommelier in particular was impressive. 

The wine pairings he served with each dish were as bold, audacious, and adventurous as the tasting menu itself. Many of the wines and champagnes were completely unknown to me, and I take pride in having at least an above-average knowledge of wine.

The cons of the Eleven Madison Park experience

Unfortunately, there were two underwhelming dishes. And if your restaurant has even one Michelin star, that’s unacceptable. 

The tonburi and the shitake mushroom courses underperformed. 

The tonburi was a mix of collard greens, kohlrabi and seaweed, folded into a brown sauce with Asian flavors. The texture was off — it was too soft and wet for my tastes, plus I’m not a huge fan of collard greens. The sauce provided good balance, so the dish wasn’t a complete fail, but I never needed to try it again.  

The shitake mushroom was our least favorite dish of the night. My wife and I both agreed. The mushrooms were grilled and placed on a bed of short grain rice with yuzu kosho. 

I’ve seen this mushroom dish on the Eleven Madison Park menu for at least a year, so it must be a fan favorite, but it wasn’t for us. Perhaps there was something wrong with our specific dishes, but the pile of rice underneath the mushrooms was way too wet and soggy. The proportion of rice to mushrooms was also off. Simply too much of the former.

Apart from these two underwhelming dishes, there were no surprises. Not even an amuse bouche. They knew it was my birthday but only placed one sad candle on the dessert plate with the most uninspiring “happy birthday” greeting I have ever received at a restaurant. 

No signature effort at unreasonable hospitality. The closest they came was walking me to the bathroom. 

In other YouTube videos I’ve seen patrons receive kitchen tours. We weren’t offered or given anything extra. 

It was disappointing given that surprises are a hallmark of fine dining restaurants. I expected Eleven Madison Park to be the best at them given their reputation, so the lack of anything was very deflating. 

To give you an example, at Restaurant Daniel, they rolled out a cheese cart to our surprise and had us pick multiple cheeses to try. It was fun and when you’re paying that amount of money, it makes you feel extra special. It makes the moment feel extra magical. 

I didn’t feel that magic at Eleven Madison Park. 

Finally, there were long stretches without service. As I mentioned in the pros, the service was overall exceptional, but there were at least two stretches where they seemed to forget about us for some 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Even though we had empty glasses or plates. 

Is Eleven Madison Park worth the cost of admission?

Based on the pros and cons listed above, I don’t think the experience is worth over $1,200 (before tip). I would much prefer to spend about $400 less and go to Restaurant Daniel again, despite it having one less Michelin star. I had a better overall experience there. 

And what’s up with no dress code at Eleven Madison Park? People were rolling in with dirty sneakers. If you’re paying anywhere close to $1,000 for dinner, wear some clean shoes and at least a nice sweater. Suits and ties may not be necessary, but t-shirts, jeans, and dirty shoes should be banned. 

Disrespectful dressers detrimentally impact the experience for everyone.  

Dress code aside, in weighing the pros and cons, I’d give our experience at Eleven Madison Park a 7 out of 10. 

Perhaps I’m being too nitpicky. Although it is one of the highest rated restaurants in the world. Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

In conclusion, fine dining experiences are still some of my favorite adventures in life. Especially when I get to share them with loved ones or great friends. I hope you embark on one of those journeys soon.