Eleven Madison Park is an exclusive fine dining establishment overlooking Madison Square Park in Manhattan. The restaurant has received accolades from World's 50 Best, as well as 4 stars from The New York Times and 3 stars from the Michelin Guide.
And upon its much-anticipated post-pandemic re-opening — the waiting list for a seat is supposedly 15,000 people long — the popular restaurant has switched to a completely plant-based menu,
Kate Krader of Bloomberg sat down at Eleven Madison Park to experience their new Dining Room Tasting Menu, a seasonal mix of 8-10 courses that costs $335 per person. The way she describes it, her meal was certainly memorable:
If there is one dish that represents the precision, nuance, and, especially the labor-intensiveness of the new menu, it's the unassuming cucumber course that appears about 1 ½ hours into the meal. It looks like any old fish tartare. But it consists of minutely chopped, compressed cucumbers layered in a gradient with equally tiny bites of sweet, crisp melon over a base of avocado cream—all punctuated with threads of silky, smoky daikon. Powdered cucumber skin is sprinkled on top. It takes two cooks all day, every day to chop and prep, due to the short shelf life of the fresh cucumber.
In fact, time is the ingredient on full display throughout the menu, thanks to 35 to 40 hardworking chefs in the kitchen.
Krader goes on to describe an immaculate, almost immersive performance art experience in fine vegan dining. A typical meal apparently lasts around 4 hours, and that's the way it's meant to be. If you can't afford 4 hours and $335 a person, Eleven Madison Park also offers a 6-course "bar tasting menu" alternative for $175 a pop.
At least the price includes tax and tip?
We Ate Eleven Madison Park's $335 Vegan Menu, and Here Is What It's Like [Kate Krader / Bloomberg]
Image: City Foodsters / Flickr (CC 2.0)
