Tell me about why you made that decision creatively and, and what constraints it created.

Yeah, I mean, I've been at Eleven Madison Park for 20 plus years and it's been a dream journey.

You know, I never imagined that I could be this successful, reach that many people.

we have achieved more than anything I've ever dreamed of.

And this goes really, you know, thinking of awards.

I was a professional cyclist before I started cooking.

So when I started cooking, I made cooking my new sport.

Rethink Food and how Eleven Madison Park became a kitchen for people.

But, um, were you surprised at some of the backlash, some of the, you know, some of the backlash from people who were genuinely angry at you and at this decision?

Well, in the early days, the experience inside the wall of the restaurant didn't match, sort of, the incoming criticism, and I think that, to us, was confusing.

And also, we felt so empowered and satisfied by the experience and by the learning that we just, uh, continued.

And then- ... slowly, things started to turn around.

I remember sort of early on, a cattle rancher from Texas, and, uh, he sent me this long letter.

And the letter was sort of like, he decided for his 40th birthday to have dinner at Eleven Madison Park, a fully plant-based restaurant, as a cattle rancher, and he said his wife was confused about that decision.

Um, but then he said as the meal goes on and he's eating all different types of asparagus, the morels, and the spring onions, and...

Yeah.