Pharrell Williams stood in the kitchen of Eleven Madison Park, the acclaimed Manhattan restaurant with three Michelin stars, and admired the setup as chefs in clean gray aprons and white chef coats silently prepared dinner.
“I’ve been to a few kitchens before, and I think this is different,” said Mr. Williams, the singer-songwriter and men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton. “You could eat off the floor here, not that you would, but you could.”
The kitchen is roughly 2,250 square feet, has five food stations and accommodates about 30 chefs working simultaneously.
It was Wednesday evening, and Mr. Williams was roaming around the restaurant for an 80-person dinner party hosted by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency that works on worldwide projects in education, science and culture.
The dinner was held during the United Nations General Assembly, when heads of state convene in New York for days of speeches, forums, meetings, events and parties.
Throughout the week, actors, musicians and dignitaries lent their influence to various causes. Matt Damon and Prince Harry spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative at the Hilton Midtown; Jon Batiste played for a packed house at an event at Jazz at Lincoln Center thrown by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Meryl Streep spoke about Afghan women’s rights at the United Nations.
It was the second meeting since the United States rejoined UNESCO after a five-year hiatus. (While UNESCO is part of the United Nations, countries must opt into membership. The Trump administration withdrew U.S. membership in 2017, citing concerns of an anti-Israel bias.)
“We needed the United States back at the table because, of course — it has a huge political impact, a huge financial impact,” said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s director general. “This is the occasion to celebrate this and also bring in potential new partners.”
In the coming weeks, Mr. Williams will be named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador, a role in which he will help the agency spread the word about its work and recruit worldwide partners. (Louis Vuitton, where he has worked since 2023, held a fashion show over the summer at the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.)
He was also there to support Daniel Humm, the Swiss chef who owns Eleven Madison Park and one of the agency’s newest ambassadors. (Previous UNESCO advisers have included Nelson Mandela and the members of the K-pop group Seventeen.)
“I’m happy for him,” said Mr. Williams, who was watching as plates of mushroom purée with black truffles were carried into the party. “I haven’t tasted anything yet, but the presentation is immaculate.”
Mr. Humm, whose new role was recognized in a ceremony the night before, was selected because of his environmental work, particularly his move three years ago to make his restaurant fully plant-based.
“A chef made a radical choice, and the choice that was made resonates very much with our mission of UNESCO to protect diversity, to protect natural heritage,” Ms. Azoulay said.
Mr. Humm has said the decision was met with skepticism. But the recent recognition, he said, made the move worth it.
“It shows that people are paying attention,” he said, before joking, “I’m going to hang the UNESCO flag in my bedroom.”
Mr. Humm also wanted to celebrate with a multicourse dinner at the restaurant. “I want people to let loose,” he said.
Guests arrived around 7 p.m. and were greeted with Champagne and vegan snacks including tempura fried garleeks, a mixture of garlic and leeks, and carrot tartare with horseradish. Cocktails, made with ingredients like cherry blossom, pickled onion, lemon verbena, green apple and yuzu, were served at the bar.
The room was filled with leaders in culture, education and science including the actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, the actor and director Forest Whitaker and Mr. Williams. Mr. Humm’s friends were also there. Among them were Maggie Baird, the mother of the American singer Billie Eilish, and Annabelle Dexter-Jones, the actress.
Other guests included Max Hollein, the chief executive of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Maya Lin, the architect; and Amanda Nguyen, the civil rights activist.
Mr. Whitaker, who is a vegetarian, also toured the kitchen. “I’m really excited to see what Chef can do with plants,” he said.
After several speeches and a performance from the violinist Charles Yang and the pianist Peter Dugan, attendees sat down for dinner.
The offerings included tomatoes prepared with lemon verbena, Calabrian chili and Thai basil; laminated bread with sunflower butter; tonburi; agedashi tofu; and grilled squash. (After dinner, chocolate sesame pretzels were served alongside raspberry and sweet pepper Popsicles.)
Mr. Hollein, who came from a different U.N. party at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was thrilled he made it in time for dinner.
“Obviously it’s difficult to get around this week,” he said, laughing. “I took the subway.”
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