Exclusive Update: The Chef Who Shocked the Culinary World and Why He’s Changing Course Again—Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 August 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2021, Daniel Humm shook up the dining world by making his 3-Michelin-star restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, 100% plant-based.

No meat. No butter. No cream.

It was a first in fine dining, igniting global headlines, industry backlash, and endless debate.

Now, in an exclusive podcast conversation with Guy Raz, Daniel shares his next bold decision—he's reintroducing animal products. Daniel shares what he learned from his years of plant-based cooking and how the experiment forever changed his creative vision.

This is a story about risk, reinvention, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.

In this episode:

How a creative rut at the peak of his career sparked a radical transformation.
The hidden economics of running a world-class restaurant without meat.
The backlash—and surprising supporters—of the plant-based pivot.
Why EMP will remain 90% plant-based, but welcome more people back to the table.
What Daniel believes is the future of fine dining.

Listen to the original 2021 HIBT episode with Daniel Humm: https://wondery.com/shows/how-i-built-this/episode/10386-eleven-madison-park-daniel-humm/

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Transcript

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