What Makes Eleven Madison Park's Food Truck Unique
In the heart of New York City, Eleven Madison Park has built a reputation as one of the best restaurants in the world. Since its new ownership in 2011, the restaurant's 3 Michelin stars and $335 tasting menu have made it into an exclusive establishment with a wait-list to match. But in 2020, esteemed chef Daniel Humm made a pivotal decision and, after 18 months, announced that he'd reopen Eleven Madison Park's doors with an entirely meatless menu (via New York Times).
The year and a half that led up to the restaurant's reopening were characterized by a heightened social awareness — especially concerning food supply chains. But, the impact of chef Daniel Humm's decision goes beyond serving plant-based food with a friendlier environmental impact. While the restaurant's menu prices may not have changed, the deployment of the Eleven Madison Truck is a way for it to combat food insecurity after years of the pandemic have exacerbated the city's hunger crisis (via City Harvest).
A new restaurant model
In partnership with Rethink Food, a NYC-based non-profit organization co-founded by Humm himself, the Eleven Madison Truck serves as a bridge between food waste and food insecurity. In a circular model, Eleven Madison Park puts money from each meal they serve in their restaurant towards distributing food to fellow New Yorkers in need. The food truck is an addition to the restaurant's commissary kitchen, where Eleven Madison Park's chefs create meals from the restaurant's extra ingredients and donations from the restaurant's farmers to distribute them to communities across the city (via Eleven Madison Park).
From Brooklyn to Manhattan, to Queens and the Bronx, the Eleven Madison Truck prioritizes the same high-quality approach to food they've always taken to make as much of an impact as possible (via Eleven Madison Home). Today, the decked-out Eleven Madison Truck delivers as many as 2,000 meals a week (via Town & Country) — that's nearly 400 meals a day. The truck can be found parked at Queensbridge, a public housing development in Queens, every day serving food from morning to night.