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Connections

Making sense of the end of a high-profile vegan dining experiment

Four men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has grey hair, a grey beard and is wearing glasses,  a red t-shirt and tan pants; a man front right has short dark hair and is wearing a grey button-down shirt, jeans and brown shoes; a man back left has short brown hair, a brown beard and is wearing a grey sweater; a man back right has short blonde hair and is wearing glasses, a navy blazer and a light blue button-down shirt.
David Griffin
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Art Rogers, (background) Chris Grocki and Ryan Jennings with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, September 30, 2025
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
WXXI News

"The vegan experiment is over at Eleven Madison Park," says Eater New York. The high-end restaurant became the world's first three-Michelin-star vegan restaurant in 2021.

In two weeks that will change, with meat and fish options returning to the menu. Predictably, meat lovers declared this to be a sign of a backlash to veganism.

Is that over-stating it, or has the vegan movement stalled? Our guests have a range of experience in the industry.

In studio:

  • Chris Grocki, restaurant operations and beverage consultant
  • Ryan Jennings, culinary director of Max Rochester
  • Art Rogers, chef and owner of Lento

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.