Good Old Days At Eleven Madison Park

Found this old email. This was during the recession when they were just trying to stay afloat. Probably went to about 10 of these dinners. Different theme for each dinner. All in around $100 and no corkage!

Dear Friend and Collector,

We invite you to pull a few gems from the cellar and join with friends for the second installation of the Collectors Dinner Series.

Please join us on Wednesday, March 25th, in our private dining room for a convivial and casual evening at Eleven Madison Park. This will be a chance to gather with fellow wine lovers and experience Chef Daniel Humm’s approach to rustic, family style cuisine. Chef will be cooking with the wines of Piedmont in mind, so bring your favorite bottles of Barolo and Barbaresco, and a big appetite.


Collectors Dinner Series Rules:

1- Bring as many bottles as you like.
2- Wines should honor the featured region.
3- Caring is sharing. Be prepared to share your wines with the others at your table.
4- Exceptional Company deserves Exceptional Wine.
5- No business should be conducted. These are social events only.
6- We will provide one red and white glass per person. Please do not bring your own glassware.

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
The Private Dining Room at Eleven Madison Park

$75 plus tax and gratuity, no corkage fee.

We had some great affordable lunches and dinners there both planned as above and just my wine groups’ own themes.

A blast from the past!

Attended 3 or 4 of those dinners.

More enjoyable in those days!

It was.
Except when an unnamed someone, took my empty bottle of '69 Red Burg and refilled it half way, with who knows what, and “generously” gave it to the table I was sitting at.

wtf, really?

Absolutely true. At the time I didn’t, but now I think it’s pretty funny that he unknowingly brought the bottle back to my table.

at least it was empty when it was taken. must have been pretty buzzed to bring it back to the same table he lifted it from!

Empties from all the tables were put on an unused table, so his odds were probably 7-1.

I was spending some time off and on in NYC for work in 2009-2010, and had a few very nice dinners sitting at the bar. Could order off an a la carte menu then. Even with a couple BTG wines (I still remember drinking 2001 and 2002 Trimbach Frederic Emile BTG), I was able to keep dinner under the limit for my expense account. Wouldn’t be possible today.

When I worked upstairs, it was a decent hang-out, especially to escape nearby bond bro’s.
George Hejna and I enjoyed watching me drink old Bordeaux and Howell Mountain reds there. [snort.gif]

I loved EMP before the first remodel and the one word menu. Since then, not as much.

I have never been to EMP. Ask Wilfred van Gorp.

George

That explains why I did not offer to you and Anne any of our 1994 La Jota or 1990 Cos. I feel better now.

Hi Steve
That was an amazing bottle of 1996 Winston Churchill you poured at the EMP Collectors dinner - so perfect with the duck fat fries. And the SQN at Cheryl’s Off to London farewell dinner.
Cheers!

that is pretty funny, was the wine any good?

The one word grid menu was my last visit there as the meal was mediocre and overpriced. Good egg cream though, on a par with my favorite at Kinchley’s tavern in Ramsey.

No clue - didn’t taste it. When I confronted him at the dinner he insisted that he brought the bottle of '69 CdlR. I didn’t want to make too big of a scene so I just called him a liar and went back to my table. He emailed me the next day and admitted what he did, but without an apology.

That’s pretty messed up. Somebody has issues…

Great story though.

Used to love 11 Mad. It was welcoming, the food was good, and like all Danny Meyer restaurants, it was always about the customer. Later after the takeover by Humm, it was all about the chef, and the meal became performance art. The hullabaloo over the chicken reduced us to hysterics; and the eventual bird did not do justice to the script.

Then came the ingredient menu, and we left never to return. They did fine without us, but they made a mockery of Danny Meyer’s mantra of hospitality.

BTW, we loved Tabla next door.