MEAT IS BACK

In the story of our evolution, he has turned from the open field back to the branches.

It feels like losing an ally.

When Chef Daniel Humm announced in 2021 that Eleven Madison Park would go entirely plant-based, it was a moment of hope — proof that the fine dining world could lead with vision, creativity, and compassion. For those of us working to end the use of animals in food, it felt like one of the strongest voices in gastronomy had joined the chorus.

Now, that voice has shifted. The same kitchen that once declared it would no longer serve the bodies of animals will bring them back to the plate. And with that single decision, one of the most high-profile examples of a cruelty-free future in fine dining has dimmed.

The decision by Eleven Madison Park to bring animals back onto their menu is deeply disappointing. As a restaurateur myself, I understand that difficult choices sometimes need to be made to protect a business — to safeguard jobs, to preserve years of effort and dedication. But when the choice is between life and death — and in this case, the lives of animals — the equation changes entirely. No job, no accolade, no business model can justify ending a life that was never ours to take.

What saddens me most is not simply the change in direction, but what it reveals. Chef Humm, for all his talent and vision, seems never to have engaged with the question of animal consciousness when he first embraced a plant-based menu. It appears he never asked himself the most urgent question any modern human should: How does my life — and my work — impact other living beings?

Four years ago, the decision to go plant-based was framed as innovation, as leadership. But it was also an opportunity for a deeper awakening — to recognise that animals are not ingredients, but sentient individuals who value their lives as much as we do ours. That recognition does not fade with the quarterly earnings report; it is not something to trade when the winds of commerce change.

It is painful to see someone so intelligent, so modern in other respects, fail to awaken to the moral reality that his choices directly determine the fate of conscious creatures. We are in a constant state of evolution. Since the moment our ancestors first stepped down from the trees, we have been growing in intelligence, in awareness, in empathy. To progress is to expand that circle of care — not shrink it.

By bringing animals back onto the plate, Chef Humm has, in a sense, reversed course — not stepping forward into the future of food, but retreating into an outdated vision of what a great restaurant must be. It is a loss, not just for the animals, but for the potential of our shared humanity.