Eleven Madison Park’s Closing Rager Was One Hell of a Party

When the “World’s Best” restaurant closes, apparently the only way to do it right is with a massive blowout — which was exactly the scene late Sunday night at Eleven Madison Park, which has officially closed for a gut renovation. Owners Daniel Humm and Will Guidara made sure to mark the occasion with what can only be described as a rager.

Highlights included none other than Questlove playing DJ for the evening, Humm spraying the packed, rowdy crowd with champagne, an entire pig for the eating in the kitchen — which was open to all guests — and graffiti on the walls.

Here now, a rundown of the three-Michelin-starred debauchery:

Questlove had the crowd feeling good, mixing current hits with throwback favorites like “...Baby One More Time”:

A delighted roar filled the room when Humm, the man of the hour, got up and sprayed champagne over the crowd:

Some staff must have drawn the short straw having to actually serve people food and drink which included a full roast pig, truffled chicken burgers, chicken fingers, biscuits, and more:

Many staff members wore a badge-of-honor “1” shirt, signifying that they worked at the restaurant when it earned number one status on the World’s 50 Best list earlier this year:

Graffiti covered the walls, painted by Guidara and others, since it’s all coming down anyway:

Just as a reminder, this is what the place and staff looked like just one day earlier:

Now that the crew literally shut it down, they’re all up and moving — staffers are all being put up by the restaurant — to East Hampton to open EMP Summer House (341 Pantigo Road), an Amex-sponsored pop-up with indoor and outdoor seating, a seafood-centric menu, and under a big tent out back, lobster rolls, burgers, salads, and grilled fish. There will also be large-format meals like a lobster boil, plus games like cornhole on the beach.

When the original reopens later this year, it will be with the goal to make the space more lively and accommodating of regulars. The physical bar itself will be smaller, making room for more lounge tables. “It’s hard to be a regular when you’re serving a three and half hour meal,” Guidara says. “The bar is a good way [to visit more]. We’re here a lot. It’s fun for us to have regulars. We want to double down that.”

• Eleven Madison Park Closes for the Summer on Sunday [ENY]
• What You Need to Know About Eleven Madison Park’s Revamp [ENY]
• Eleven Madison Park Will Open a Hamptons Pop-Up During Manhattan Renovations [ENY]