Buzz
New York chef turns Michelin-starred eatery
into charity kitchen in COVID-19 crisis
BY ROSELLE CHEN
REUTERS
Chef Daniel Humm of
Eleven Madison Park, who
is used to being paid for
fi ne dining with exclusive black
credit cards, says his richest reward
during the COVID-19 crisis
is the grateful smiles of poor New
Yorkers fed by the Michelin threestarred
restaurant he has turned
into a charity kitchen.
Cooks at his Manhattan eatery,
which was named World’s Best
Restaurant in 2017 by the World’s
50 Best Restaurants Academy, are
preparing 3,000 meals a day for
frontline workers and underprivileged
New Yorkers, most of them
distributed at a Harlem church.
“I had a person the other day
who said, ‘Oh my God, this is
the best meal I’ve ever had,’” said
Humm, standing inside his darkened,
empty restaurant, which
was shuttered in mid-March by
the coronavirus pandemic.
Working alongside New
York City-based nonprofi t Rethink
Food, which transforms
Chef and owner Daniel Humm poses in the shuttered dining room of Michelin starred restaurant
Eleven Madison Park as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID19) continues in
Manhattan on May 20, 2020.
restaurant leftovers into dishes
for the disadvantaged, Humm and
Manhattan wine shop
adds rosé sampler
for pickup and delivery
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A local wine shop is offering deals for
pickup, local or statewide delivery
during the pandemic.
Chelsea Wine Vault is offering a wide
variety of wine and spirits at their Chelsea
Market store, located at 75 9th Avenue.
Pickups will be available curbside, or New
York City residents can opt to have their orders
delivered. A complete list of available
wines and spirits is available on Chelsea
Wine Vault’s website.
A highlight of Chelsea Wine Vault’s
latest offerings as summer approaches is a
Rosé Mixed 6-Pack Sampler. For $89.99,
patrons get a sampler offer six different
rosé wines with a wide range of taste, color
his staff have churned out some
of the 90,000 meals being served
and region origin.
The Sampler is made up of:
Bodegas Muga – Rosado Rioja 2018
Pierre Sparr – Cremant D’Alsace Rose
NV
Chateau Gassier – Le Pas du Moine Rose
Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire 2018
Beaurenard – Biotifulfox Rose 2018
Domaine Laroche – Mas La Chevaliere
Rose 2019
Feudo Montoni – Nerello Mascalese
Rose di Adele 2019
New York City orders for pickup or delivery
can be made by calling 212-462-4244
or via Mercato. Statewide deliveries can be
ordered through chelseawinevault.com.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHELSEA WINE VAULT
PHOTO BY REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON
each week to the needy during the
pandemic.
“When this crisis started happening
and we had to turn off the
lights for a minute, we were a little
bit in shock like everyone was,”
Humm said. “But then pretty
quickly, we felt like we wanted to
help in any way we can.”
Stripped of its tablecloths and
upscale clientele, the dining room
looks lonely compared with the
activity in the kitchen where
meals are prepared for distribution
at churches, soup kitchens,
community centers and housing
projects.
Humm transformed the
kitchen into a commissary using
private donations, and $250,000
donated by American Express, all
of which went through Rethink
Food.
After COVID-19 lockdown restrictions
lift and some normalcy
is restored, Humm knows he will
continue cooking not just for the
1% but for those facing extreme
poverty as well.
”Food is magical, it’s so powerful,”
he said. “I mean, there are
very few things in the world that
touch everyone.”
18 May 28, 2020 Schneps Media
/chelseawinevault.com
