Eleven Madison Park Owners Daniel Humm and Will Guidara Are Parting Ways According to a Surprise Announcement
In the crowded New York dining scene, Eleven Madison Park has a well-deserved reputation as a stand out. Topping the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017, the three Michelin-starred staple has dominated among critics and foodies alike since the early 2010s, when chef Daniel Humm and his business partner, Will Guidara, bought out the restaurant from their mentor, restaurateur Danny Meyer, and began transforming Meyer's French bistro concept into a titan of destination dining.
Through its unsteady early days under their helm to the heights of the culinary world, the interplay between Humm, a Swiss chef who cut his teeth at San Francisco's Campton Place before Meyer lured him to New York to head Eleven Madison Park, and Guidara, a front-of-house maestro who took Meyer's service-first ideology and crafted it into corporate ethos (not to mention a 97-page staff training manual), has been a headline-grabber.
The duo frequently referred to themselves as best friends, envisioning a restaurant where food and service were of equal status—one where the tables were consistently packed for their over-the-top, multi-hour tasting menus, despite price tags that broke the $300 per person mark.
But while the restaurants of Humm and Guidara's Make It Nice group (which also includes the NoMad and NoMad Bar in Manhattan, among others) have continued to excel, the relationship between the two partners is now poised for change; they announced today in a joint email to staff and through a story in the New York Times that they would be parting ways.
"Over the years, we’ve been together for the greatest highs and achieved so many of our shared goals. But as in many relationships – individuals grow apart. We’ve often referred to our partnership as a marriage and, as you all know, with any close relationship there are bound to be ups, downs and challenging moments. That is where we find ourselves now," they wrote in their message to staff.
They explained that, in a move that has sparked rumors throughout the culinary world for months, they had played around with a variety of options for the departure, including splitting the business between them, before ultimately deciding that Humm would buy out Guidara's shares of Make It Nice. They also assured staff that none of the group's restaurants would be closing as a result of the split and that all projects currently in the works would continue.
While Humm is set to take over the current roster, Guidara (who also happens to be married to fellow food world entrepreneur Christina Tosi of Milk Bar) will be developing a new hospitality group "with industry veterans he has wanted to work with for some time," according to the letter. There are currently no additional details as to this new venture.
In closing their letter Humm and Guidara simply stated, "We are excited for what the future holds and thankful for all of you who have been, and will be, a part of this continuing journey. Given the chance, we would do it all again."
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