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One of the world's best restaurants may not reopen – and they are making thousands of free meals daily for the homeless        -Bloomberg

The future of Eleven Madison Park in New York, named the No. 1 restaurant in the world in 2017, is uncertain, says chef-owner Daniel Humm. “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.”

 

The closing of the luxurious, 80-seat restaurant in mid-March was unexpected for the chef. Humm considered doing delivery, then rejected the idea. Instead, he decided he could start fighting the escalating issue of hunger in

New York through Rethink Food. As a

board member of the non-profit that uses 

leftover food from restaurants and 

corporate kitchens to provide meals for 

people in need, he had the kitchen, 

contacts to suppliers, and the ability to 

raise money.In early April, Humm 

transformed EMP into a commissary 

kitchen and began producing almost 

3,000 meals a day to feed hungry people

around the city. He calls it “the biggest 

lightbulb moment.”

 

If EMP were to reopen, Humm says, he will continue to use his restaurant to feed the homeless and hungry, along with the very fortunate. “The infrastructure to end hunger needs to come out of the restaurants. 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 those in need.”

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