NYC Michelin Star Restaurant Becomes Soup Kitchen During Crisis

Eleven Madison Park has three Michelin stars that weren't being put to good use during the quarantine, so they had to rethink their approach. Enter: ReThink.ReThink is a nonprofit food commissary that uses excess foods typically tossed out by grocery stores and prepares them into ready-to-eat meals. Eleven Madison Park just announced that while the social distancing is underway, they would be joining ReThink in their fight against hunger. 

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Turning the lights back on.. I've been struggling with what to do since we closed our doors. All of our worlds have been turned upside down. We need to stay safe, we need to protect each other and the vulnerable. But I need to help New York City--it's given so much to me, even if I can help just a little bit. With our friends at Rethink Food NYC who have partnered with @americanexpress, we found an answer. We are blessed to have a beautiful and spacious restaurant and kitchen, we have a team that is looking to work, to cook; The city needs food to help those in need--Starting today, we have turned Eleven Madison Park into a commissary kitchen with the goal of producing thousands of meals per day for those who are working in the front lines and those who are deeply effected by the current crisis. I believe the storm is still coming, and will be for some time, and if we can do just a little something, these dark days can be just a bit brighter. Thank you to my team, to Rethink, to @americanexpress to support this effort, and to this beautiful city. Please help us keep this going and donate @rethinkfood.nyc #chefsforamerica #makeitnicewithdorindamedley

A post shared by Daniel Humm (@danielhumm) on Apr 1, 2020 at 11:17am PDT

Chef and the owner of Eleven Madison Park Daniel Humm announced in a statement, "I believe the storm is still coming and will be for some time, and if we can do just a little something, these dark days can be just a bit brighter." The restaurant's Instagram page announced that it has also teamed up with American Express and Resy to make these hard times a little easier. 

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Please be safe out there, it’s really scary what’s happening around us. Let’s protect each other . Before we take care of others, we need to take care of ourselves. Making sure our team members are leaving with fresh vegetables and grains to their homes so we can all avoid grocery stores. #makeitnicetogether

A post shared by Daniel Humm (@danielhumm) on Apr 5, 2020 at 1:00pm PDT

According to Daniel, each meal costs $5 to $6 to fully create. He has a team of 12 chefs making about 1,000 meals a day, but they're hoping to increase it to 3,000 meals in the near future. As per Matt Jozwiak, the founder of ReThink, "Dignity is something that I fear is going to get lost in this scurry to get people food. We wanted to make sure that when we were making food, it was beautiful."