WD~50 - Last night in NYC
OK -- This post is broken down into two parts. One, the review, and two, what happened afterwards.
Our final dining experience in New York was at WD~50. This was also our favorite night of eating. I've wanted to try molecular gastronomy for a few years, but we don't have anything like it in Richmond. I've seen Wylie Dufrense, the chef of WD~50, on multiple TV shows (The Next Iron Chef, Top Chef, and a special on Molecular Gastronomy). I am fascinated by the concept, and the actual preparation of the food.
The place is casual, which was nice. Well, the dress was casual. There was an attentive team of service staff, and the Floor Manager flowed around the floor. I cannot remember all the details of how the dishes were constructed, but I will do my best to explain how they were made, along with the disclaimer that I could be totally wrong!
We did the 12 course tasting menu. Before we started I informed our waiter that I was allergic to all shellfish but crab. He informed us that we could do the tasting menu, and they would sub out what they needed to (remember this for later). Our drinks were brought out, along with sesame crackers, described as "flat bread." They were so thin, you could see through them.
Our first dish was a substitution. We got sweetbreads, rhubarb, roobibos, and hazelnut. This was good, and a great way to start off the meal.
The second course was Pizza Pebbles, pepperoni, and shiitake. This was a fascinating dish. Some people love the dish, others hate it. I thought it was great. The pepperoni was an emulsion of pepperoni, the shiitake mushrooms were little flat crisps, and the pebbles were the pizza. The general review is that they taste like Combos.
We both noticed that for something so small, they seem to take a really long time to eat. It feels like it doubles in size as you eat it. The pizza was lyophilized (freeze dried), this might explain the expanding feeling.
Third, we had the Hamachi tartare, sea bean, sake lees tahini, and a grapefruit-shallot Jam. The hamachi was diced and bound together enzymatically. The fish was formed and seared. This added a light touch of smoke. The dish had some Asian pears as a garnish. When you ate the pears with the seabeans, you almost got a shellfish type flavor. This dish was amazing.
Next we had a lighthearted dish - Knot Foie. It was interesting to look at, fun to eat, and fun trying to figure out how they made the knot. This dish consisted of a hydrocolloid of foie gras. A hydrocolloid is a way to create a gel from water and a substance (foie gras). The final product was tied in a knot. The knot was perched on a tiny bed of kim-chee. There were drops of wasabi and fruit compote on the plate. And the entire rope was dotted with little crunchy bits of puffed rice pebbles. This was such a fun dish. I think they form the knot underwater, but I could be way off. we both loved the dish, and jen hated the foie she had a few nights before.
The next dish was Jen's favorite - Eggs Benedict. This was another fun and imaginative dish. This was eggs benedict deconstructed. The egg yolk was slow poached in a tube mold. It was semi translucent, tasted like egg yolks, but had a pasty texture. By itself, it was not the best feeling food. The Canadian bacon was cut razor thin and fried. But the highlight of the dish was the hollandaise sauce. I think they made the emulsion, froze it, then cut out cubes, rolled the cubes in English muffin, and then flash fried the cubes. The inside of our cubes were near room temperature. When you bite down into the cubes, the sauce flows out. When you mixed these with the egg, the texture improved 100%. The goal was to get all three pieces in your mouth at the same time.
The next course was a crab tail ? yep, you heard me. It was crab prepared to look and feel like a lobster tail. It was accompanied by a soybean blanket (noodle) and cinnamon dashi (broth).
Next was my least favorite dish. Chicken Liver Spaetzle, pine needle, radish, and cacao nib. The taste of the dish was very good, the texture of the spaetzle left me uncomfortable. The chicken livers were pureed and extruded like normal spaetzle, then pan seared to add some color, cacao nibs were stuck to the side of the bowl in the pine needle paste (I think). Radishes were sliced thinly and topped the bowl. The texture of the chicken liver was too much for me, I kept chewing and chewing. This is the only thing I didn't finish.
Next up was the Lamb belly, black chicpea, and cherried cucumber. This dish was good. When I explained it to my mom she gave me an 'eww gross' look - lamb belly? Pork belly, lamb belly. it all tastes like bacon. Well, this tasted like bacon, although a little different. It was more complex then bacon, almost earthy. The cucumbers looked like ginger. We were starting to get full at this point, so we were lucky that the desserts started to come out.
The first dessert was a wintergreen parfait with walnuts, avocado, and chartruse. The parfait had the strong flavor of gum, but it was soft and creamy. The Avocado was piped out into little dots, and the chartruse was a gell. The walnuts were crushed and candied. This was a good palate cleanser, especially coming after the lamb bacon.
Toasted coconut cake, carob, smoked cashews, and a brown butter sorbet was the next dessert. The cake looked like a large rectangular toasted marshmallow, but it was a toasty warm coconut cake. The ice cream was really good, and you got a very interesting flavor when you mixed the smoked nuts with the sweet butter. There were a few dollops of coconut foam on the plate, along with (I think) a hydrocolloid of coconut juice, they looked, and felt, like diced egg whites.
Next, Soft white chocolate, potato, malt, and white beer ice cream. The malt vinegar caramel was brushed on the plate, a hydrocolloid of white chocolate was squiggled across the plate, the ice cream sat in a bed of crunchy potato chip crumbs (I think), small potato chips were placed in the white chocolate, there were drops of wheat beer gel, and a little pile of malt powder. This dessert was interesting. I liked it, Jen didn't.
After this we were happily full. When the waiter brought us our check, he was accompanied by a pair of treats. One was a chicory ice cream-coffee, and the other was a chocolate pouch. The chocolate purse was fun. It was like a fruit roll up, only razor thin. It looked like leather, inside was a mixture of something like a light chocolate mousse and corn flakes (possibly crushed waffle cones?).
Overall, we had a blast. This was the best dinner we had in New York and a definite stop the next time we are in New York. I had an interesting seating position. I could see most of the dining room, and I could see in the kitchen. I could overhear what some of the other diners were saying, and watch as unsuspecting guests were startled by what they were given. There was this guy with his mother. I think she was shocked by everything they put in front of her. She'd poke the cubes of hollandaise, take tiny bites of the food to see if she was going to like it. It was a fun experience. I could see Chef Wylie and the chefs poke their heads out of the kitchen and scan the tables, taking a mental inventory of what was going on.
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I've heard so much of WD-50 especially after a Harold Mcgee class in NY, last year. Looks like you had a blast!