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Business partners, chef Daniel Humm and general manager Will Guidara, will be shaking things up at Eleven Madison Park this fall
The pristine dining room will soon become part broadway theater, as interact theatrics are introduced to the Eleven Madison Park experience
New York classics, like these black and white cookies, will be the inspiration behind changes at Eleven Madison Park
This carrot tartare is an example of one of the new, unique menu items

Eleven Madison Park in a Brand New NY State of Mind

By Mikaela Flynn on July 30, 2012 / No Comments / Categorized Celebrity Chefs, Featured, Good Reads, Photos

Eleven Madison Park has already made its mark (and a big one at that) in the highly competitive New York dining scene. The award-winning restaurant (three Michelin stars, four stars from the New York Times, and a James Beard Award-winning chef, Daniel Humm) is already a success story with a formula that obviously works. But rather than coasting through and riding the wave of success, Eleven Madison Park has announced that it plans to instead turn things upside down on Madison Avenue.

Starting this fall, Humm and general manager, Will Guidara, plan to shake things up at the fine dining establishment by offering a bit more razzle dazzle than your typical evening out. The business partners, who currently sit on top of the restaurant world, have decided to let the creative juices flow by turning the Eleven Madison Park experience into a true New York City tribute complete with new menu items that will feature magic tricks, performance, and illusions. Think Central Park picnics, Broadway shows, and cheesecake. These New York classics along with other local inspirations and interactive theatrics will be a part of the nearly-four-hour $195/person tasting menu offered shortly after Labor Day weekend at Eleven Madison Park.

Why the change-up? As Guidara explained in the New York Times article, “How many times in your life do you have an opportunity to leave your own legacy?” That’s a good point, Mr. Guidara. By revamping the world-renowned restaurant they are absolutely taking a risk since it is difficult to judge how their loyal diners and critics will respond to the change. But when you are on top of the world it is hard not to go anywhere but down, so by shifting gears and tackling something new and unique, Humm and Guidara will continue breaking new grounds in the culinary world.

Chef Chris Santos' Jewels on Toast: crostini with whipped ricotta, peach, chile, basil and honey
Gramercy Tavern's skewers of okra stuffed with eggplant purée, sherry vinegar, parsley and mint
Chefs behaving badly: the two Daniels from The Meatball Shop (and the ladies who put up with them)
Chef Daniel Holzman's seriously good chicken meatballs with pesto over corn salad
Ommegang BPA - the perfect pairing with Chef Daniel Holzman's chicken meatballs
Fatty Crew's smoked lamb belly with fermented tofu and summer bean salad
$A 200-strong crowd filled Brooklyn Winery to say no to fracking in the Marcellus region of New York$
A 200-strong crowd filled Brooklyn Winery to say no to fracking in the Marcellus region of New York

No To Fracking (But Yes To Delicious Food and Drinks)

By Julia Blanter on July 27, 2012 / No Comments / Categorized Celebrity Chefs, Featured, Photos, Unique Events

Take a good cause, add great food and perfectly-paired drinks. A winning formula to raise awareness about fracking in New York State.

A 200-strong crowd filled Brooklyn Winery last night for Taste of the Marcellus to say no to fracking the farms, breweries and wineries of the Marcellus Shale, but yes to sampling over a dozen delicious bites from Gramercy Tavern, Beauty & Essex, The Meatball Shop, Telepan and many other restaurants. And what better way to bring the issue home than for each restaurant to serve the very same produce, beer and wine that is in danger?

Tasting Chef Chris Santos‘ crostini topped with whipped ricotta, peach, chile, basil and honey (paired with Brooklyn Winery Stainless Steel Aged Riesling), or Chef Daniel Holzman‘s chicken meatballs with market-driven pesto and corn salad (perfect with Ommegang BPA), you can’t help but feel passionate about a cause that threatens the incredible ingredients and suppliers behind each dish.

Considering the restaurants and toques supporting the movement – Bill Telepan, Mario Batali, Michael Laiskonis, Elizabeth Falkner, Amanda Freitag and many more – expect to see and hear more about the issue – and hopefully more delicious fundraisers like this too.

Salad of organic barley, Nueske's applewood smoked bacon, roasted mushrooms + micro cilantro
Adam and Harris with Chef Dave Martin
Hoisin + cider-marinated heritage pork tenderloin with peach + plum salsa over roasted summer squash ratatouille
Pork's perfect partner: pinot from Row Eleven Wines
Heirloom tomato, watermelon + blueberry salad with goat cheese
Chef Dave Martin in the kitchen
Crème fraiche panna cotta with candied cherries, Dave's savory shortbread cookie with Nueske's wild cherry bacon + dried cherries
Pork, pinot, Parlor: perfect

The Perfect Threesome: Pork, Pinot, Parlor

By Julia Blanter on July 26, 2012 / No Comments / Categorized Celebrity Chefs, Featured, Photos, Underground Eats, Unique Dinners, Unique Events

The magic word: pork. The magician: Top Chef’s Dave Martin. And the magic potion: pinot, of course. Perfect.

Underground Eats took over Parlor for the second in our Tuesday night residencies at the sexy member’s-only club this week with a stellar four-course dinner for 45. Guests dined on a salad of organic barley, Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon and roasted mushrooms; hoisin and cider-marinated heritage pork tenderloin with peach and plum salsa and summer squash ratatouille; succulent Saranac root beer-braised heritage pork with heirloom tomato, watermelon and blueberry salad; and a cloud-like crème fraîche panna cotta served with bacon and dried cherry shortbread cookies. All perfectly paired with stunning Row Eleven pinots.

Parlor’s house DJ spun all the right tracks to get the after-party kicking along beneath giant blow-ups of supermodels and Seventies superstars. In one nook, Kate Moss stares down, before her “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels“ days. She just needs to try one of Chef’s addictive bacon shortbread cookies and she’ll change her mind.

It was a beautiful day to be out in the Hamptons
The hosts of the eventing, Chopped judges, Chris Santos, Alex Guarnaschelli, James Beard Foundation President, Susan Ungaro, Ted Allen, Maneet Chauhan, Marcus Samuelsson, Aarón Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian
Incredible foie gras mousse with honeysuckle gelée and blackberries by the talented Iron Chef alum Chris Hastings of Hot & Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama
Chilled pea soup with lobster by Jeremy Culver of Fulton, NYC
Pastry chef Meredith Tomason of Craft in NYC
Chef Tomason's tarte tropezienne with strawberries and sicilian pistachios
Aliya Leekong of Junoon prepared a beautiful spiced crab salad with smoky curry leaf–corn pudding and cucumber–mint lassi
These amazing "Champagne pâte de fruits" by The Modern's Marc Aumont were served over a bed of Pop Rocks so each bite offered a bit of bubbly that coincided the evening's Champagne theme
Wouldn't be a proper summer evening without lobster! Luke's Lobster did not disappoint
The man himself, Todd English, doing the dirty work and shucking oysters for hungry guests
Top Chef's Dave Martin with Underground Eats' Mikaela Flynn
There was plenty of flowing Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne for everyone
Delicious shrimp and calamari with corn, tomatoes, basil, and Calabrian chilies prepared by Lincoln Ristorante's Jonathon Benno
The host of Chefs and Champagne and Food Network's Chopped, Ted Allen, with Underground Eats' Mikaela Flynn
We'll toast to that! The stars of the evening, the chefs!

Chefs and Champagne: Coverage of the Festivities

By Mikaela Flynn on July 23, 2012 / No Comments / Categorized Celebrity Chefs, Featured, Photos, Unique Events

It was a beautiful summer evening in Sagaponack, Long Island this weekend as hundreds of food enthusiasts, chefs, and vacationers flocked to the picturesque Wolffer Estate Vineyard for this year’s Chefs & Champagne New York event.

With plenty of bubbly and wine being poured, tipsy, hungry guests mingled with rockstar chefs and sampled exquisite food by premier restaurants like Eleven Madison Park, Craft, The Modern, Hot & Hot Fish Club, Junoon, North Fork Table & Inn, and Acme. Between bites of spiced quail with thyme–fennel relish (an amazing dish by Jehangir Mehta) or grilled chipotle shrimp with heirloom tomatoes by chef Chris Santos of Beauty & Essex, one may have caught glimpse of Todd English tirelessly shucking oysters for mouth-watering fans or Ted Allen “clink-ing” champagne glasses with fellow Chopped judges Marcus Samuelsson and Geoffrey Zakarian.

With too many James Beard Award winners to count in attendance, the evening was packed to the brim with crowds, food, interesting conversations, and plenty of star-gazeing. Browse through the above photo gallery for event highlights.

Hang out with Dan Kluger at A City Farmer, A Chef + A Host...
...then mingle with Gramercy Tavern's Michael Anthony at Taste of the Marcellus
...and chow down on Buddhist cuisine with filmmaker Erik Shirai

Good Eating For A Good Cause – Or Three

By Julia Blanter on July 20, 2012 / No Comments / Categorized Celebrity Chefs, Featured, Photos, Unique Dinners, Unique Events

Let’s not pretend we’re not ruled by our stomachs. Sure, dining for a cause sounds noble, but it also sounds dull as dishwater. So here’s a novel idea: eating for a good cause and ticking off some Michelin stars at the same time.

Underground Eats is getting behind three delicious fundraisers where you can get your fix of celebrity chefs and fantastic food and drinks, with a side of feel-good factor.

First up is A City Farmer, A Chef and A Host dinner on Tuesday, July 24th with a very unique night out benefiting healthy eating initiatives by non-profits Just Food and The Sylvia Center. Chefs including Locanda Verde/The Dutch‘s Andrew Carmellini, ABC Kitchen‘s Dan Kluger and Laurent Gras will be joined by a bevy of incredible hosts – think the Fabulous Beekman Boys, author James Frey and cookbook author Matt Lee – for 12 concurrent dinner parties happening all over Manhattan, Brooklyn and Harlem. Buy tickets here.

Then on Thursday, July 26th over a dozen leading chefs are saying no to fracking with a grand tasting of special dishes using the best produce from the fracking-endangered Marcellus region of New York State. Show your support while also enjoying unlimited tastings from James Beard’s 2012 Best NYC Chef, Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, plus Bill Telepan, Zak Pelaccio of Fatty ‘Cue and Fatty Crew, The Meatball Shop‘s Daniel Holzman and many others. There’ll also be cocktail, wine and beer pairings and an after-party at Brooklyn Bowl with unlimited Ommegangs. Who said you can’t fundraise and be tipsy at the same time? Buy tickets here.

Finally we’re celebrating a brilliant new project by one of Anthony Bourdain‘s cameramen, Erik Shirai. We fell in love with Erik’s stunning debut food film The Last Meal, and when we heard his plans for the next in his I Am What I Eat film series, we had to get behind it. On Wednesday, August 1st we’re throwing a party, film screening and silent auction for Erik’s trip to Tokyo to tell the story of Buddhist cuisine shojin ryori. There’ll be plenty of tastings too – way more interesting than your typical after-work pizza and beer. Buy tickets here.

The Bloggery by Underground Eats