Claridge’s parts ways with head chef after rejecting his vegan menu

Daniel Humm will leave luxury hotel at end of December

Daniel Humm attends ‘Power of Love gala’ in Las Vegas, 2019 (Getty Images for Keep Memory Ali)

The Claridge’s hotel has parted ways with the head chef of its Davies and Brook restaurant after rejecting his call for a fully plant-based menu.

Chef Daniel Humm will leave the business at the end of December 2021, with the hotel deciding that a vegan menu “is not the path” it wishes to follow “at the moment”.

In a statement shared to its Twitter account, the five-star Mayfair establishment said it “completely respects and understands” Humm’s culinary direction and that the decision for him to leave had been mutual.

“We completely respect and understand the culinary direction of a fully plant-based menu that Daniel has decided to embrace and champion and now wants to introduce in London,” the announcement said.

“However, this is not the path we wish to follow here at Claridge’s at the moment, and therefore, regretfully, we have mutually agreed to go our separate ways.

“Daniel has been a long-standing friend of the hotel for many years and we wish him nothing but continued success as he spearheads this bold new vision.”

Claridge’s said updates to the future of the restaurant will be announced in due course.

Aside from his role at Davies and Brook, Humm is also the owner of Eleven Madison Park, a Michelin star restaurant in New York City.

Earlier this year, he announced that the eatery would no longer serve meat and had adopted an all-vegan menu.

Humm said the restaurant had always aimed to “operate with sensitivity” to its impact on the environment, but that “the current food system is simply not sustainable”.

Reaffirming this view in a post to his Instagram on Saturday, 13 November, Humm said he believes the future is plant-based.

“It has never been more clear that the world is changing, and we have to change with it,” he said, adding that the decision to leave Claridge’s was made “with sadness”.

“The future for me is plant-based. This is our mission and what we stand by as a company, and at this time this is not the direction that Claridge’s feels is right for them.

“Standing behind this mission, and what we believe in, is most important and is unfortunately not something we can compromise on.”