in the NYTimes ( today , being 29 Sept 2021 )
there is a review of 11MP. Pete Wells
( possibly of the Per Se review , times past )
no doubt behind a paywall its an entire page ++ long
good reading : for review purposes :
"" The man with the hammer treats everything as a nail, the saying goes. Something like that seems to be afflicting Eleven Madison Park in its new vegan incarnation ""
"' Almost none of the main ingredients taste quite like themselves""
""" Some are so obviously standing in for meat or fish that you almost feel sorry for them ""
"" In tonight’s performance, the role of the duck will be played by a beet, doing things no root vegetable should be asked to do ""
"" They used to do a similar beet act at Agern, a New Nordic restaurant in Grand Central Terminal, roasting it inside a crust of salt and vegetable ash. That beet tasted like a beet, but more so. The one at Eleven Madison Park tastes like Lemon Pledge and smells like a burning joint. ''
you get the idea
P.S.: he did like a few items :
"" here is a plant-based version of the restaurant’s wonderful bread, like a savory croissant rolled into a crisp golden swirl. Originally kneaded with cow butter, the laminated dough has been rejiggered with butter made from sunflower seeds, and it’s an unqualified success. So is the nonbutter that arrives with the bread, molded into the shape of a sunflower, bright yellow with a dark eye of tangy fermented sunflower seeds in the center. ""
one last note , the last paragraph:
"" Eleven Madison Park still buys meat, though. Until the year ends, the menu offered to customers who book a private dining room includes an optional beef dish, roasted tenderloin with fermented peppers and black lime. It’s some kind of metaphor for Manhattan, where there’s always a higher level of luxury, a secret room where the rich eat roasted tenderloin while everybody else gets an eggplant canoe.""
