On a recent trip to New York, and after our impeccable mostly vegetarian meal at Arpege in Paris last year (Arpege has since gone full vegan), I knew I had to try three-starred Michelin Eleven Madison Park’s vegan tasting menu. They have since added meat back into their menu, but vegan cooking is something that I would rarely attempt, and so it’s always extra special for me to go out to a place that is doing things that I could never or would never try at home. Our experience at Eleven Madison Park was absolutely amazing, although it did make me appreciate the fact that I am, indeed, an omnivore!

The ambiance here is refined and elegant, with a dash of old-school. The chairs and booths are extremely comfortable, and the service is top-notch. We had a primary captain for our table, however we also had a sommelier and a few assistants helping out with service as well, explaining some of the wines, dishes, and how to eat them. The wine pairings were perfect throughout.

Some of the highlights of our meal were as follows:

First, we were brought laminated bread with an onion butter as well as a cup of vegetable broth. Honestly, I don’t know how they make such flaky, flavorful bread without real actual cow’s milk butter, but this bread service really stole the show, and started our evening with a little bit of awe – which is always a great way to begin.

Following this was a brightly acidic leek salad along with a collard green dumpling. The flavors of each of these really complimented each other, with the super astringent leeks being offset by the rich flavors of the yummy dumpling.

Next up was the sunflower, which was a very cool presentation of epazote, summer beans, and sunflower petals. This dish was beautiful to look at and really surprising on the palate, and ended up being one of my favorites of the evening.

The next highlight, and one of the “main” courses of the evening, was the smoked hasselback potato with land caviar and chive blossom. What is land caviar? Well, they are actually seeds from a cypress tree! They look just like the real thing, the mouthfeel is just like real caviar, albeit without the salty “pop” that you get when chewing actual fish eggs, and the taste is very mild and not as briny as caviar. I actually really loved it, and this was an absolutely perfect dish. With a dramatic table side presentation, it was easily the best course of the night.

This was a tough act to follow, but the maitake mushroom with seitan and spinach was a spectacular finish to the savory courses. It looked just like a steak, and was just as filling and delicious as one. Indeed, the seitan slices in between the mushroom really gave this dish a more interesting punch than just plain old mushrooms with sauce. While a mushroom course usually will be one of my favorites of the evening, mushrooms simply cannot compete with potatoes in my mind!

The Berry Cheesecake dessert was out of this world, and I was really shocked that it was vegan. How do you make meringue without eggs? Who knows! But it was just as fluffy and crumbly as though it were made of eggs, and the raspberry jam and fresh berries made this an exquisite dessert.

Finally, we received a sesame and chocolate pretzel, served along with a carafe of house-made vermouth, as though we weren’t buzzing enough already after all of the wine pairings!

I thought our experience at Eleven Madison Park was excellent, unique, and definitely memorable. Unlike my vegan friend, though, I am super glad that they have eased some meat and dairy back into their tasting menu, because there were certainly times throughout the meal that I missed it.