The Swiss Touch in the Culinary World: In Conversation with Chef Daniel Humm
Eleven Madison Park’s chef and co-owner Daniel Humm guides us through his Swiss roots, culinary influences, and career breakthroughs during our interview in Washington, D.C.
Who helped to make you the chef you are today?
Daniel Humm: First of all, my mom was an amazing influence. She always cooks at home, she bakes, and she goes to the farms to buy her ingredients. Then, I had two great mentors in Switzerland. I started my apprenticeship when I was 14 years old at the Baur au Lac, for Chef Viktor Geiser. He really made me fall in love with the craft and cuisine. And then, I worked for Chef Gérard Rabaey at Pont de Brent. He has three Michelin stars and had a strong influence on my cuisine.
How did you become the chef of the best restaurant in the world? [i]
DH: At 40, I managed to create the dish I always wanted to create. I always wanted to cook this way, but I was never able to do it until that dish and then when I created that dish, I knew something special had happened. So now I was happy, on the one hand, that I did it, but then, on the other, I was like, “Wow, now I’m 40 years old. I have one dish.” So I knew we needed to put language to what we did to do it again with other things. So I came up with four fundamentals that our cuisine stands for. And with those four fundamentals, we’ve been able to create many, many more dishes. Number one is the dish has to be delicious. And that sounds very obvious, but it’s not always that obvious. Secondly, it has to be beautiful. For me, beautiful is minimal. It’s also effortless, not forced. Number three, it has to be creative. Every dish has to add something to the conversation. It could be an element of surprise; it could be a new flavor combination; it could be a new technique, but something that’s not been done before. And then, number four, is it needs to have intention. Every dish needs to have a story. It needs to have a reason why it exists. And it could be as simple as two ingredients grown on the farm next to each other and you make a dish and that’s a beautiful story. It could also be a historical reference; it could be a childhood memory; it could be inspired by an artist’s work or whatever, but it just needs to make sense. It can’t be random.
Looking at Swiss culinary history, does it inform your creations?
DH: It’s taking the humble things and bringing them to life, making them special. The magic of cooking is really there because to use a potato or pork belly or something humble and turn it into something that’s luxurious is the magic that cooking can do. Also, the ingredients grown around New York are kind of similar to the ones you can find in Switzerland, like a lot of root vegetables, a lot of orchard fruits. So I am comfortable using them. I don’t go for the crazy flavor combinations — I want a carrot to taste like a carrot.
Beyond the culinary realm, what else influences you?
DH: My first influence is the product itself. The second is certainly art. I always try to cook in a very minimal way. Art is a big passion of mine; most of my friends are artists. I’m attracted to minimal art just because it inspires reflections and it pushes boundaries.
When you go back to Switzerland, where do you go and where do you eat?
DH: Actually — it’s so cliché — but I do love the Kronenhalle in Zurich. I grew up in Zurich and I’ve gone to that restaurant for probably 40 years. It just feels so good for me to be there. Beyond that, there are so many beautiful places — I love Zermatt for snowboarding, Lake Leman for swimming, and Ticino, where I actually lived in Ascona for a year.
Tonight is the Soirée Suisse at the Swiss Embassy and we are celebrating Switzerland’s culinary landscape. Do you feel you are a culinary ambassador for your home country?
DH: I think growing up in Switzerland has definitely influenced me a lot. Obviously, my palate, you know, the foods I like. My cuisine is not necessarily Swiss. But the professional ethos behind it is: I think in terms of excellence, in terms of drive, in terms of perfection. My motto is “make it nice.” We are a company driven by the kitchen and the dining room equally. And I think the name also embodies that. We don’t care for excellence if it can’t also be done with great hospitality. It has to be both. And you know, it’s easier to be excellent and you don’t care about how people feel, but that’s not an option. So it has to really be good.
Tonight’s main theme is “Food For Thought.” Can you tell us what is, in your view, the future of food?
DH: Away from meat. That’s something we’ve been doing a lot, cooking with vegetables. Not necessarily vegetarian, but making the vegetable much more the star of the dish rather than always the meat or the fish. Also, people are starting to compost and give a little more thought to where the ingredients are coming from. When I grew up, to get your vegetables at the farmer’s was much cheaper than the store. I wish it would still be the case, as it would motivate people to eat healthier.
Switzerland is ranked the most innovative country in the world. Do you see that reflected in the food industry and in your cooking?
DH: I know there’s always amazing new products coming from Switzerland, and a lot of innovation in cheese making. In Swiss restaurants, for a while it was kind of hard to do something different, but now a new generation of chefs is changing the culinary landscape. I am thinking, for instance, of Andreas Caminada.
Speaking of innovation, what role does social media play in your business?
DH: It’s becoming really important. All our guests are on social media. What I like about social media is that you can tell your own story; you’re not so dependent on the media as much as you used to be. I wish I wouldn’t have to do it because it’s really time-consuming, but it’s a great tool. And it is evolving so quickly. Who knows, in five, ten years, what it will be?
[i]Eleven Madison Park was named Best Restaurant in the World on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/dining/worlds-50-best-restaurants-eleven-madison-park.html
