So amiably and briskly was Will Guidara recounting his eventful career in the restaurant business that it took a moment to catch up with the discordance of something he had said a few sentences earlier: “Fine dining and hospitality don’t necessarily go together.”
Wait, how’s that again? Isn’t fine dining supposed to represent the apotheosis of hospitality? More claret, madame? May I debone the turbot for you, monsieur?
Guidara clarified: He was speaking of the many circumstances that can make a fancy-restaurant experience feel “cold”—stiffly formal service; an unnavigable wine list; a highfalutin cult-of-chef ethos to the point where the customers feel like they’re doing the kitchen’s bidding rather than the other way around.
And, indeed, there are many reasons, in theory, to be totally intimidated by the prospect of dining at Eleven Madison Park, the Manhattan restaurant that Guidara runs with co-owner and chef Daniel Humm. It is as highly decorated as a restaurant can be, with four stars from the New York Times, three from the Guide Michelin, and a Grand Award from Wine Spectator. It is expensive, offering no à la carte options, only a $225-per-person degustation menu. It occupies an imposing, high-ceilinged, park-facing space within the Metropolitan Life North Building, a muscular Art Deco tower whose entryways are framed by mighty limestone arches.
Denne historien er fra October 2015-utgaven av Saveur.
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Denne historien er fra October 2015-utgaven av Saveur.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Raising a Better Bird
Blue Apron founder Matt Wadiak has moved onto greener pastures, where happy chickens roam free.
One Good Bottle
Tamara Irish is a natural winemaker. Way natural.
My Not-So-Secret Garden
Good (vegetable-laden) fences make good neighbors in one tiny town.
Pralines: How They Cook 'Em in New Orleans
Pralines: How They Cook ’Em in New Orleans
My Father's French Onion Soup
Postwar Paris had a lifelong influence on James Edisto Mitchell—both as an artist and a cook BY Shane Mitchell
Our All-Time Best Recipes
If anyone should know if a recipe’s a keeper, it’s the person tasked with making sense of the original instructions—from the far reaches of Sri Lanka, say, or a famous chef who measures nothing. This might explain why many test kitchen staffers named favorites that their predecessors had tested and recommended. (Though a couple put forth recipes they developed themselves.) And while Saveur never shies away from the oddball authentic ingredient, the fare on the following pages is the stuff we cook at home, over and over again. Consider it global comfort food.
Genever Is the Original Juniper Spirit
Don’t call it a comeback. Or gin
Tending The Bines
Overshadowed by high-end viticulture, the art of growing hops for beer might not always get the recognition it deserves.
Field Of Dreams
The son of an innovative pea farmer is carrying on his father’s legacy.
Jamaican Jerk Marinade - Fire And Spice
Jamaican jerk is more than a marinade—it’s a smoky, flame-grilled cooking style that uses the best ingredients of its home island.