TEXT Andres Damm | First Published IN CHAPTER №VIII “ELEMENTS” – SUMMER 2023
The constant search for the perfect and most exclusive ingredients is considered an essential component of outstanding culinary art in top gastronomy. At the same time, the conviction that commodity value and rarity define how noble raw material is currently dominates. However, in addition to caviar, Wagyu fillet and lobster, some of the leading figures in haute cuisine – such as the highly decorated chefs Daniel Humm and Alexis Gauthier – are now raising the often still unrecognized potential of purely plant-based enjoyment to a new level with great finesse and redefining the highest art of cooking with progressive creativity.
When New York’s Eleven Madison Park restaurant at its post-Covid reopening in June 2021 declared that it would offer exclusively vegan dishes from now on, it resembled a thunderbolt. By some of the press, Daniel Humm, Swiss chef and owner of the cult establishment was taken from the Olympus of cooking and put into the lowest spheres of gastronomy. Not least the fact that they dared to charge 335 dollars for a nine- to ten-course menu without meat or fish – today it is even 385 dollars – seemed to upset quite a few critics more than cheap sparkling wine does.
»When we were closed during the pandemic, Miles Davis’ model of endless reinvention was permanently on my mind. I quickly realized that we had to come back from the pandemic closure with something meaningful, just keep doing what we were doing, that wasn’t an option«, is how Daniel Humm describes the process towards vegan Eleven Madison Park in an interview with Chapter. Precisely because the world and its food system are in such a fragile state today, the celebrity chef knew it was his responsibility to use the restaurant’s influence and creativity to redefine luxury with an exclusively plant-based cuisine.
Eleven Madison Park, Citrus Anise Variation, Winter 2023
»So much of what we eat is part of our identity, and I want people to be open to creating new traditions for a better future«, says Humm, describing his approach and also explaining what this has meant explicitly for him and his gastronomic transformation, »Our restaurant was known for its lavender-roasted duck and suckling pig, and at first vegan cooking felt limiting and scary. But over the past two years, we’ve found the opposite – how liberating it can be to cook for a more beautiful, sustainable, healthy and delicious future«, Humm honestly and proudly sums up what has been accomplished.
Impressions of the Eleven Madison Park menu, created by Daniel Humm and his team.
The Swiss gastronomer, who had received every major cooking award in the world to date, including three Michelin stars ten years in a row, took a risk with his radical move. But the new concept was not only met with rejection, despite the many initial criticisms. The Guide Michelin finally claimed in October last year that Eleven Madison Park continues to deserve the highest rating, i.e. three stars, with its purely plant-based cuisine. A novelty, because so far it is worldwide the only vegan restaurant in this illustrious league.
Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture is responsible for the interior of Eleven Madison Park.
Even if Humm is currently the most consistent three-star chef in terms of plant-based cooking, there are certainly other grandees of gastronomy for whom »fruits and vegetables« are far more than just supporting players to fish and meat. In Paris, Alain Passard, who has been consistently awarded three stars since 1996, does not cook purely vegan, but the menu of his restaurant L’Arpège reads like a tribute to the diverse produce from the in-house gardens. Passard speaks quite poetically of »Grands Crus du Potager«, or the great plants from the vegetable gardens, which for him represent the most formative component in his work. His way of cooking changes with the seasons and the ingredients they produce. In addition to the fine menus in his restaurant, Passard also offers baskets to order at home, offering seasonal fruits and vegetables.
He has been searching for perfect vegetables since he was a child , says Alexis Gauthier.
In the UK, Alexis Gauthier is also a radical advocate of vegan haute cuisine. His restaurant, Gauthier Soho, has been cooking purely with plants since 2021. The Avignon-born chef confesses that the switch was no easy undertaking. »Although we have been the most vegan-friendly gourmet restaurant in London for the last ten years, this final step still came as a big shock to many of our customers and clients. Some had been visiting us for 25 years, they came to us for marriage proposals and anniversaries, they associated generations of family celebrations with us. For the older clientele, it’s harder to eat a vegan diet. Many of them simply cannot imagine a meal without animal meat. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a few of those customers and clients.« But overall, for Gauthier, who is a strict vegan himself, the move was important not only because of his convictions, but also positively impacted restaurant operations. »Since going purely vegan, we’ve been able to attract a new younger crowd. Our customers and clients now visit us not only for the restaurant experience, but also for our moral standpoint«, Gauthier sums up in an interview with Chapter.
»Comme Un Fromage« (Eng: Like Cheese): Gauthier’s enthusiasm is for experimenting with plant-based ingredients.
However, as good as the customer response is, there is also potential for conflict with colleagues back home, he explains frankly. »Some chefs and cooks have seen my decision as an insult to French gastronomic tradition. But for me, France is a nation of innovation and stands behind some of the most groundbreaking ideas and technologies in history. Only when it comes to food, France is sometimes still stuck in the past. Fortunately, that’s changing; lately I’ve seen and tasted some incredible new plant-based gastronomy products from my old homeland.« When Gauthier talks about vegan cooking, you can sense his almost missionary passion. His lifestyle and work are a commitment to animal welfare, but also to environmental protection. As a chef, he has prepared thousands of different animals over the years, but that is not something he mourns. From today’s point of view, in his opinion, cooking with meat lacks creativity and especially seasonality.
A view of Alain Passard’s vegetable garden “Bois Giroult”. Here he grows over 450 varieties of vegetables, which form the basis of his cuisine.
»Meat, because of animal fats, has only one level of flavor – hearty, while plants have a full, glorious spectrum. The real skill in any kitchen is the sauces, seasonal fruits and vegetables, herbs, spices and putting these delicate things together«, Gauthier says. As little as animal ingredients and their preparation excite him today, Gauthier’s enthusiasm for experimenting with plant-based ingredients is even greater. »I’ve been searching for perfect vegetables since I was a kid. It never ceases to fascinate me how nature can produce such a variety of flavors and colors; it is endless. I still get excited when the new season’s produce arrives.« This diversity can also be admired in its beauty on the plates at Gauthier Soho. Colorful, in diverse shapes and states of aggregation. There are also surprising creations such as the vegan caviar, which Gauthier humorously serves in a retro tin, or the vegetable foie gras.
»The most important ingredient of the future is creativity, time and manpower«, Gault & Millau recently wrote. No doubt, exactly these ingredients mentioned are not only important, but also valuable. A fact that more and more gourmets are also becoming aware of – with the side effect that forward-looking creativity completes the pleasure at the highest level.
