Daniel Humm built his reputation on precision dining at Eleven Madison Park, the three-Michelin-star icon of New York fine dining. His newest project ditches the ceremony. HUMM opened on October 10 in the West Village as the chef's first fully à la carte restaurant, built around a wood-fired oven and a loose, playful mood his team describes as 'soulful and simple'.
The kitchen is run by executive chef Dmitri Magi, a longtime EMP figure and managing partner of the group, and nearly everything passes the flames — from tomato-studded focaccia to 'Brigitte's Roast Chicken for Two', named after Humm's mother. The menu is scattered with references to Humm's career: a duck au poivre nods to EMP's much-loved honey-lavender lacquered bird, vegetable dishes carry forward the plant-based push from his EMP and Clemente Bar era, and milk and honey — a childhood dessert obsession that appears on all his menus — shows up as soft serve with honeycomb and shortbread.
Standout plates lean precise rather than fancy: raw-bar scallops veiled in yuzu and pistachio, and a deceptively simple pickle spread of celtuce, beets, kohlrabi and turnips in sesame paste that showcases the restaurant's deal with Magic Farms, an upstate New York farm in Hoosick Falls that grows exclusively for Humm's restaurants.
The room, however, is anything but casual. Spanning 5,000 square feet with soaring ceilings, it was designed by French designer Pierre Yovanovitch in rich reds and oranges with velvet banquettes. Art lovers get a bonus: a custom sculptural host stand by Rashid Johnson, works by Roni Horn and Louise Bourgeois on the walls, and a sprawling 1,200-square-foot ceiling fresco by Francesco Clemente — stars, clocks and animals that took over two months to paint. A roving martini cart is on the way, and in the meantime wine director Michael Duffy's 1,500-label list, heavy on Champagne and Burgundy, keeps glasses full.
For travellers, this is an easy high-low win in Manhattan: a genuinely grand setting withingredient-driven food you can order à la carte, no tasting menu marathon required. Book ahead — anything with Humm's name on it in New York fills fast — and consider it for a celebratory dinner that won't consume an entire evening.
