DANIEL HUMM
CHEF
Daniel Humm is an author, speaker, and the transformative chef and owner of Make It Nice, the New York-based hospitality group behind the highly acclaimed Eleven Madison Park and direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand Eleven Madison Home.
A native of Switzerland, Chef Humm earned his first Michelin star at the age of 24. He has been consistently listed as one of the world’s best chefs, with both he and Eleven Madison Park receiving numerous accolades that include four stars from The New York Times, seven James Beard Foundation Awards (including Outstanding Chef and Outstanding Restaurant in America), first awarded three Michelin Stars in 2011, and reaching the #1 spot on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chef Humm transformed Eleven Madison Park’s Michelin-starred restaurant and its back-of-house into a commissary kitchen in partnership with Rethink Food, a not-for-profit organization co-founded by Chef Humm. He and his team prepared over 1,000,000 meals over the course of the pandemic for frontline workers and underserved communities and distributed them to churches, shelters, and food banks.
In 2021, he reopened Eleven Madison Park with a completely plant-based menu and became the first and only plant-based restaurant in Michelin Guide history to receive a three-star rating in October 2022. Gwendal Poullennec, the International Director of the Michelin Guides, has called Chef Humm and Eleven Madison Park a North Star that young chefs can fix their eyes upon as they navigate their gastronomic journey.
Chef Humm uses his global platform to advocate for equitable, sustainable food systems. He wants to inspire people both within and beyond the fine-dining world and build awareness around the transformative power of food. As a leading figure in the culinary realm, he ignited a conversation about challenging the definition of luxury in the food world and how it can be more purpose-driven at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021. He discussed the impact of our food systems on the environment at the 2023’s Global Citizen Summit, joining activists and world leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Macron in setting a global agenda for action on the most urgent issues facing humanity and the planet. In May 2023, he was the first chef to be invited to attend the 30th Anniversary of UNESCO World Press Freedom Day at the United Nations to put a spotlight on the critical importance of freedom of expression.
Chef Humm is the author of Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook, I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes, The NoMad Cookbook, and Eleven Madison Park: The Next Chapter. His next book, titled Eat More Plants, published by Steidl, will be available in October 2023.
He resides in New York and is a lifelong patron of the arts, supporting local and established artists through collaborations for Eleven Madison Park and other initiatives.