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Hand-Changing: Eleven Madison Park Maybe Got Sold; Mia Dona Hits the Market

Eleven Madison Park's palatial dining room might be changing hands.
Eleven Madison Park’s palatial dining room might be changing hands. Photo: Courtesy Eleven Madison Park.

Earlier today, the gumshoes over at Eater put together an interesting restaurant rumor/hypothesis that goes something like this: Hot on the heels of accolades and plaudits galore — including James Beard awards and a four-star review from the New York TimesEleven Madison Park’s executive chef Daniel Humm and manager Will Guidara are assuming ownership of the restaurant from operator Danny Meyer and the Union Square Hospitality Group. Well, not them, exactly: Word is, the folks behind the upcoming NoMad Hotel are rumored to have partnered with Humm and Guidara on the sale, said to have taken place a few months ago. (Guidara told Grub Street over e-mail that he has “no comment at this time” — make of that what you will.)

The rumor would seem to make sense. After all, Humm and Guidara are busy putting together a new restaurant (as well as overseeing the entire food service operation) at the forthcoming NoMad hotel at 1770 Broadway, set to open in February. As of now, neither Guidara nor Union Square Hospitality Group will confirm or deny, but the comments section of the Eater post is so replete with all sorts of “well, duh,” and “of course this is happening” industry-sounding sentiment that it makes us wonder why our older sister who lives with a bunch of chickens in Eastern Long Island didn’t call and tell us first.

Meanwhile, more uptown, when we last checked in on the status of Donatella Arpaia’s three-and-a-half-year-old Puglian restaurant Mia Dona, a rep confirmed it would close over the weekend, a claim restaurant staff wasn’t quite willing to confirm last week. We figured we’d follow up today, and a phone call to the restaurant led only to a chilly “voice mail full” recording. Hope surfaced, however, in the unlikely form of Open Table, which indicates reservations are available for … next week.

But a quick Internet search led to the discovery of this real estate listing, and a follow-up phone call to the restaurant: “We’re closed for good,” said an employee who answered the phone. “We’re here emptying out the restaurant.”

More details on both situations as they come along.

Is Danny Meyer Selling Eleven Madison Park? [Eater NY]
Earlier: Daniel Humm, Will Guidara of EMP to Head Up NoMad Hotel Restaurants

Restaurant for Sale
[LoopNet]
Earlier: Mia Dona Is Maybe, Definitely, 100 Percent Closing — But When and Why?

Hand-Changing: Eleven Madison Park Maybe Got Sold; Mia Dona Hits the Market