You don't just "read" the Eleven Madison Park book. You survive it. Honestly, if you’ve ever flipped through the original 2011 oversized red volume, you know exactly what I mean. It’s heavy. It’s intimidating. It feels less like a collection of recipes and more like a manifesto from a kitchen that was, at the time, hell-bent on becoming the best in the world. And they did it.
Daniel Humm and Will Guidara didn't just write a cookbook; they documented an obsession. Most people buy it for the coffee table. It looks sophisticated. The photography by Francesco Tonelli is essentially art. But for those of us who actually try to cook from the Eleven Madison Park book, it’s a quick descent into madness involving agar-agar, glucose powder, and tweezers. It represents a specific era of New York dining—that transition from old-school French stuffiness to a whimsical, almost obsessive level of precision that defined the 2010s.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Eleven Madison Park Cookbook
A lot of people think this is a guide for the home cook. It’s not. It really, really isn't. If you’re looking for a quick Tuesday night dinner, you’re in the wrong place. There’s a recipe for "Granola" in the back that is famous for being the one thing a normal human can make without a culinary degree, but even that requires a specific level of commitment to luxury grains.
The biggest misconception is that the book is outdated because the restaurant went vegan in 2021. People see the suckling pig recipes or the lavender-honey glazed duck—the legendary dish that arguably put EMP on the map—and they think the book is a relic. But they're missing the point. The Eleven Madison Park book isn't about the ingredients. It’s about the architecture of a dish. It’s about how to think like a three-Michelin-star chef. It’s about the "Grid."
The Grid and the Philosophy of Minimalism
In the early days, Humm used a grid system to develop flavors. It was all about finding four ingredients that worked together perfectly. No more, no less. This minimalist philosophy is baked into every page of the first book. You see a dish like "Beet: Roasted with Goat Cheese and Rye." It sounds simple. Then you look at the recipe. It’s four pages long. There are six sub-recipes. You have to make a beet glass, a beet puree, a rye crumble, and a specific type of goat cheese mousse.
It’s madness. Pure, beautiful madness.
Why the Second Book Changed Everything
Then came Eleven Madison Park: The Next Chapter. If the first book was an introduction, the second one was a victory lap. It was released after they hit Number One on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
📖 Related: False eyelashes before and after: Why your DIY sets never look like the professional photos
The tone changed. It became more about the stories. Will Guidara’s influence is all over this one. He’s the "service" guy, the one who famously bought a hot dog from a street cart for a table of tourists because they mentioned they hadn't tried one yet. That’s the "Make It Nice" philosophy. This book focuses more on the "Dreamweavers"—the staff members whose entire job was to create "Legends" (bespoke, over-the-top experiences for guests).
- The stories are better.
- The recipes are even more complex, if that's possible.
- It covers the 2017 renovation of the dining room.
- It includes the transition to a more New York-centric menu (think "Everything Bagel" infused flavors and celery root cooked in pig bladder).
The contrast between the two books is basically the history of modern fine dining. We went from wanting to be French and perfect to wanting to be local and soulful, but still perfect.
Can You Actually Cook From This Book?
Kinda. Sorta. Maybe.
I’ve tried. Most "normal" people fail because the Eleven Madison Park book assumes you have a full staff of commis chefs to peel your grapes. Seriously, there are recipes that require you to peel grapes. Who has time for that?
But here is the secret: you use it for the components. You don't make the whole dish. You make the "Carrot Vinaigrette." You make the "Lemon Curd." You learn the technique for roasting a chicken that involves shoving herb butter under every square inch of the skin. That’s where the value is. It’s a textbook disguised as a coffee table book.
The Essential Tools You’ll Need
If you’re serious about tackling a recipe from the Eleven Madison Park book, your standard kitchen setup won't cut it. You need:
👉 See also: Exactly What Month is Ramadan 2025 and Why the Dates Shift
- A Chamber Vacuum Sealer: For all those compressed fruits and vegetables.
- A Chinois: A standard strainer is too coarse. You need that ultra-fine mesh to get the sauces "EMP smooth."
- A Precision Scale: We’re talking 0.01g increments for the hydrocolloids.
- Infinite Patience: And maybe a glass of wine. Or three.
The Controversy: The Plant-Based Pivot
We have to talk about the elephant in the room. In 2021, Daniel Humm announced that Eleven Madison Park would no longer serve meat. No more honey-glazed duck. No more lobster poached in butter.
This move sent shockwaves through the food world. Some called it brave; others called it the end of an era. Consequently, the original Eleven Madison Park book became even more of a collector's item. It’s now the only way to "experience" the old menu. If you want to know how they made that duck, you need the book.
There is a newer, plant-based book now, but it feels different. It’s more about the farm (Magical Hare Farm) and the philosophy of sustainability. It’s beautiful, but it lacks the "brute force" culinary technicality of the first two volumes. There’s something visceral about the original books that the newer, greener version hasn't quite captured yet for the hardcore hobbyist.
Is It Worth the $200 Price Tag?
You can usually find the 10th-anniversary edition for a decent price, but the original prints can get expensive. Is it worth it?
If you are a student of hospitality, yes. If you are a chef, it’s mandatory. If you are a casual fan of food, it might just sit there and make you feel guilty for eating frozen pizza. But honestly, even just looking at the plating diagrams is worth the admission. It’s about seeing what happens when humans push a craft to its absolute limit. It’s about the "unreasonable hospitality" that Guidara talks about.
The book teaches you that "good enough" is the enemy. It shows you that if you’re going to serve a strawberry, it should be the best strawberry in the world, prepared in five different ways, and served on a custom-made ceramic plate that costs more than your shoes.
✨ Don't miss: Dutch Bros Menu Food: What Most People Get Wrong About the Snacks
Practical Steps for the Aspiring EMP Home Chef
Don't dive into the deep end immediately. You will drown in demi-glace. If you just bought the Eleven Madison Park book, start here:
1. Master the Granola. It’s the "gateway drug." It uses wild fennel seed and high-quality olive oil. It will change how you think about breakfast forever. It’s also the gift the restaurant used to give to guests as they left.
2. Learn the Sauces. Flip to the back. Look at the base purees and vinaigrettes. These are the building blocks. A carrot ginger emulsion from Daniel Humm will make a grocery store carrot taste like a million dollars.
3. Study the Plating. Don't try to replicate it exactly, but look at the use of negative space. Notice how they use color. It’s a lesson in visual balance that applies to more than just food.
4. Focus on One Component. Next time you roast a chicken, use the herb-butter-under-the-skin technique from the book. Just that one thing. Don't worry about the three different side dishes and the foam. Just do the chicken.
5. Read the Essays. Don't skip the text. The stories about how they almost went bankrupt or how they decided to change the service model are more valuable than the recipes. They teach you about branding, resilience, and the "why" behind the "what."
Ultimately, the Eleven Madison Park book isn't a set of instructions. It's an invitation to care more about the details than is strictly necessary. That’s the real "Eleven Madison Park" secret. It’s not the duck. It’s the obsession.