As weeks of restaurant closures turn into months, the dining landscape is markedly different now than at the start of stay-at-home orders in March.
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After closing its doors mid-March, Eleven Madison Park, one of the world’s most renowned restaurants, is now questioning reopening after the coronavirus pandemic.
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In a new interview with Bloomberg, Michelin-starred chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park, who’s been using his posh kitchen to cook meals for first responders and those affected by the COVID-19 crisis, said that his restaurant might not reopen after the pandemic subsides.
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“There is definitely a question mark over Eleven Madison Park—if it will reopen,” Humm told Bloomberg. “It will take millions of dollars to reopen. You have to bring back staff. I work with fancy equipment in a big space. I want to continue to cook with the most beautiful and precious ingredients in a creative way, but at the same time, it needs to make sense.”
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He transformed Eleven Madison Park into a commissary kitchen producing 3,000 meals a day to feed the hungry, something he hopes to continue doing if and when the restaurant is able to reopen.
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“The infrastructure to end hunger needs to come out of the restaurants,” he said. “Any way that EMP reopens and it’s like a blank canvas right now, we would need to redefine what luxury means — it will also be an opportunity to continue to feed people who don’t have anything. I don’t need to only feed the 1% anymore.”
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