wd-50*

New York City, NY

Feeling a little disappointed by the lunch at Le Bernardin, we tried to curb our enthusiasm at wd-50. Wiley Dufresne is also a celebrity chef, pushing the envelope with his modern gastronomy approach to food.  We've experienced the idea at Jose Andres’ Bazaar in LA and were less than pleased with the outcome. However, Chu-Toro really wanted to check wd-50 out and we luckily stumbled across an 8 PM Friday night reservation and didn’t want to miss our chance. We arrived a little early and were seated immediately in a corner table facing the kitchen. This allowed us to watch chef Dufresne and his staff from afar throughout the night, a pretty cool experience. 

Hitachino Nest XT

We came in knowing we were going to do the tasting menu, but opted against a wine pairing. Instead I ordered a Hitachino Nest XT, a version I had never had before that is matured in sake casks. I actually really enjoyed it, better than any other Hitachino I’ve had before. Chu-Toro went with a cocktail called pH, consisting of vodka, raspberry, lychee, and rose - a fruity, enjoyable cocktail that could really get you messed up since it tastes like a juice blend instead of a cocktail. We were also given sesame flat bread which was super addicting and ended up finishing by the end of the night.

Our amuse was kampachi, fennel, walnut and horseradish. There was a tart, vinegary component that I didn’t particularity care for, but it was a solid, simply executed start.

kampachi, fennel, walnut and horseradish

The first course was an everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, and crispy cream cheese. When presented, all you could say was wow, I've never seen anything like it. 

everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese

While trying to put each component together, cutting the bagel, placing the lox and onion on, Chu-Toro could not stop giggling on how cute the presentation was. And it was just that, a really adorable, unique plate that made you smile when you looked at it. Oh, by the way, it tasted good too. Not as good as a fresh, hearty bagel with lox and cream cheese you get in the morning on your way to the train, but it encompassed all the right flavors and was a creative dish. Little did I know, chef Dufresne was just getting started.

Foie Gras, passionfruit, Chinese celery

The next course was a foie gras terrine, seemingly quite large and classically prepared. I knew Chu-Toro was going to struggle through this course since she always ends up giving me her foie halfway through, simply because its too heavy and rich for her.

Filled with Passionfruit

However, this one came with a twist, filled with passion fruit. Well, to say it worked would be an understatement, because this dish killed. It was unbelievable. The tartness of the passion fruit mellowed out the richness of the foie and before I finished mine, Chu-Toro had already cleaned her plate. It was melt in your mouth delicious, and that’s exactly how we ate it, letting it melt in our mouths. This was one of our favorite bites of the evening.

Eggs benedict

Next up was the egg course. I had requested that my egg course be substituted with the famed eggs benedict. Kindly, they accommodated the request and still gave Chu-Toro the poached egg on the tasting menu so we could try both. Let me start off with the eggs benedict. Similarly to the bagel and lox, it just made you smile. The hollandaise was deep fried in little cubes with egg yolks standing on their own like gelatin and a thin bacon crisp on top. I was even more impressed with the creativity behind this one.  The presentation was phenomenal and to top it off, it was really good.

Poached egg in the shell, pumpernickel, caesar dressing, lily bulb 

Of course, the eggs benedict presentation was topped by Chu-Toro’s poached egg that was presented with a cracked edible eggshell, which was completely original and creative. I can’t stress enough the detail that has gone into the presentation of each dish. Although the poached egg flavor was a bit of a letdown, and does not match superior California eggs (like at Boulette larder) I will definitely remember the excitement of first seeing the beautiful dish. Simply a fun and playful approach on food that we've never experienced before.

King oyster ‘udon,’ sweetbreads, banana-molassas, pickled ginger 

We started moving to a more classical presentation with the next dish, fried sweetbread with noodles. Or so I thought - the noodles were king oyster 'udon,' but they're noodles? I don’t know, the string of mushroom somehow managed to keep its chewy texture, but felt like eating noodles, it was really weird and cool. The sweetbreads were well cooked, crispy on the outside but not overcooked on the inside, preserving the flavor. Too many restaurants overcook the offal, making it essentially tasty batter. All in all, another great dish.

Scallops, bone marrow, parsnip, black sesame

Scallops cut in quarters, parsnip, black sesame covered in shaved bone marrow was up next. I liked it but it wasn't an impressive dish. I thought the shaved bone marrow would add a cool flavor profile, but couldn't really taste it. To be fair, the scallops were juicy and well cooked and parsnip added a contrasting texture, but overall just an okay course.

Beef and bearnaise

This was a very odd beef and bearnaise dish. There was no actual beef meat in the dish, just the beef broth and the bearnaise dumplings themselves were too salty. No my favorite course. I liked the creativity, but this one just missed the flavor combination.

Squab breast, cheese pumpkin corn bread, pickled cranberries

Squab breast with mustard greens and cheese pumpkin corn bread was our final savory course. I remember that Chu-Toro kept saying, mmm…..this tastes like Thanksgiving. To be fair, the squab was well cooked and it seemed to me this was the chef’s attempt to let the flavor of the fowl to shine by keeping all the natural gamey flavor of the squab inside by just barely cooking it. It was really different than any squab I had, I’m just not sure if I really liked it, but Chu-Toro really did. And despite us both being really full, we were able to polish off the dish. The cheese pumpkin corn bread also had a jelly filling which was awesome.

Buttermilk ice cream, kumquat, orange blossom, cumin

The first dessert was a buttermilk ice cream with kumquat, cumin and orange blossom. Honestly, I don't remember much about this dessert other than I liked the kumquat.

Grapefruit curd, campari, hibiscus, sorrel

This dish featured a sorrel ice cream which had a crisp, light, minty flavor. It was a great pallet cleanser and the grapefruit curd was only mildly tart, and also refreshing.

Soft chocolate, beets, long pepper, ricotta ice cream

Chu-Toro liked the beet and soft chocolate combination, but I didn't care for the beets. The chocolate however was rich, sweet and delectable, a perfect pot de creme.

Cocoa packets. Rice krispy treats

Frozen rice crispy treats were just that, literally icy rice krispies. The chocolate leather packets were completely out of left field, filled with crispy chocolate bits, so weird. 

Near the conclusion of our meal, our waiter told us that chef Dufresne was leaving for the evening, so we felt bad that we kept him. In fact, I think we were the last people to see him. And as a chef, you could just as easily cut out, but he waited for us to finish our meal and when we got into the kitchen, he was a very, very nice guy. He was really appreciative that we came to dine there, and we chatted a little bit about some of the creative dishes that we really enjoyed. We didn’t want to keep him long and he didn’t rush us out, posing for a picture and signing our menus. His generosity and sincerity made us walk out with a smile.  All in all, from a presentation standpoint, undoubtedly the most creative meal we’ve ever had in our lives and lots of fun. From a flavor perspective, there were highs and lows like any tasting menu, but just like how bad service can bring your perspective of a meal down, great presentation and vibe of the restaurant can bring it up. So all in all, if you’re a foodie, I definitely recommend checking out what chef Dufresne has to offer, fun creativity centered around American cuisine.

Rating 8.5/10

March 4, 2011