A $365 multi-course meal at a top Manhattan restaurant and the aisles of Costco are, somehow, united in at least one thing: a focus on protein.
Eleven Madison Park, a critically acclaimed restaurant in the city's Flatiron district, is reintroducing meat to its menu after going entirely vegan four and a half years ago. Daniel Humm, the chef and owner, said in a statement on the restaurant's website that the vegan menu had "unintentionally kept people out" and that adding meat options aligns with the goal of ultimate hospitality.
It also aligns with the country at large.
A protein obsession is booming, from cereal to pizza to endlessly complicated workout drinks. The craze is seemingly everywhere in American culture these days: the Make America Healthy Again movement emphasizes grass-fed meat, patients on Ozempic are encouraged to eat high-protein diets, and the podcasters of the manosphere swap tips on the carnivore diet. Gym bros are posting on TikTok about injecting peptides; dairy is back in vogue after years of oat-milk dominance.
Eleven Madison Park became vegan after the pandemic, partly because of environmental concerns, and dealt with internal chaos and allegations of underpaying staff after the switch. Even now, the menu will remain largely plant-based, with diners having the option to add fish or meat to certain dishes. Humm didn't mention any recent health trends as part of the reasoning behind the change, but he nodded to financial incentives, especially when it comes to business clientele, in an interview with the New York Times.
Private events are a crucial form of revenue for the restaurant, and Humm said he'd seen bookings drop off in the past year.
"It's hard to get 30 people for a corporate dinner to come to a plant-based restaurant," he told the Times. Representatives for Eleven Madison Park did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Reservations for the fall open on September 1, according to the restaurant's website, and the new menu hits tables on October 14. By then, it will become clearer whether the promise of getting jacked — or as jacked as you can get on tiny, tasting menu food — is a savvy business move at the highest echelons of the food world.
