wd-50 2004 - 2007

[dRock]

Im sorry guys but It was my 2nd time @ WD tonight and I really dont get why this place gets all the hype that it does. Besides the desserts, the flavor of the dishes just dont move me. I give the place an A for creativity but flavor wise It isnt on the same level with other top restaurants in the city. Maybe they should change the name from WD-50 to WD-40 since that is what most of the dishes on the menu taste like. WAY OVER RATED. If you want to try real progressive american cuisine, go to alinea in chicago. Ive been there and they are in completely different leagues. Also the place was dead.

[greensNbeans]

Im sorry guys but It was my 2nd time @ WD tonight and I really dont get why this place gets all the hype that it does.  Besides the desserts, the flavor of the dishes just dont move me.  I give the place an A for creativity but flavor wise It isnt on the same level with other top restaurants in the city.  Maybe they should change the name from WD-50 to WD-40 since that is what most of the dishes on the menu taste like.  WAY OVER RATED.  If you want to try real progressive american cuisine,  go to alinea in chicago.  Ive been there and they are in completely different leagues.  Also the place was dead.

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Wow, thats a very bold opinion and everybody is entitlled to their own opinion. WD-50 and Alinea shouldn't be compared because they both approach food in extremely different ways. When I hear the word "progressive" I just think of it as a new way of approaching cuisine. Each chef must find there own style and run with it. You must beleive in what you are doing, and that is why Grant and Wylie are on top of the game!

[Bux]

. . .  the flavor of the dishes just dont move me.  . . . .

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Interesting comment. Although I've only been there about three times, it's been the flavor of the dishes that's been he convincing note for me. There's no accounting for taste and some people don't like liver, others don't like caviar or olives, but people who like those foods, like them for their flavor. I often wonder if those are acquired tastes, or if they're natural tastes that leave us simply because few parents serve those things to their kids. These past few days I've watched my two year old grandson eat truffles and chittlins (in the form of French andouille--not to be confused with Cajun sausage). He's pretty good with a fork and spoon, but when salad was served, he grabbed fistfuls of mache covered in vinaigrette and stuffed his face as if he was a kid in a candy shop. Excuse the digression on taste. I agree with greenbeans. We're all entitled to our opinions. For each of us, our own opinion is the most valid opinion. Nevertheless, Wylie's food is very much about the way it tastes. I've never eaten WD-40, but I've smelled it on numerous occasions. I'm surprised to hear anyone make such a connection to the food at WD-50, but I would compliment you on giving it a second chance and urge anyone with an open mind about what dinner should be like, to try WD-50 and pay attention to the flavor.

[tan319]

I found an interesting website tonite .

. tastingmenu.com

This will take you to the Wylie/Sam/wd50 pages of tm.com

Nice stuff.

You can also find some discussion & links for Sams own site and some pics of the desserts that have been mentioned often here over in the P&B forum

Enjoy it!

P&B discussion on website

[tammylc]

So last Friday night, I found myself sitting at a table at WD-50 with my travelling companion, each of us thinking it was the other's idea that we should eat dinner there. We knew we had two dinners in NYC, and I was sure he'd suggested WD-50 as one of them. He, on the other hand, thought it was totally my idea. Given the mixed quality of reviews of WD-50, I think we were both worried about who should take the blame. Turns out we were actually fighting over the credit.

We're no strangers to molecular gastronomy, avant garde cuisine, whatever you choose to call it. I was a Trio twice while Grant Achatz was there and have also been to Jose's Minibar in DC. He's been to Trio, Alinea, Jose's Minibar, Fat Duck, WD-50 once before, and has an El Bulli reservation lined up for next season. So it made sense that we would go to WD-50. And we weren't disappointed. My friend found the menu to be much more even than on his previous trip. While not every dish sent us to heights of culinary ecstasy, neither were there any real clunkers.

On to the menu descriptions... But first I should note that I just love the way WD presents food - sharp lines, lots of white space on the plate, almost a kind of Frank Lloyd Wright vibe from time to time. They were the kind of plates that make me wish I took pictures of my food in restaurants.

Salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onion

Warm cream cheese was topped with powdered salmon, and garnished with crispy caper, pickled red onion, cumin microgreens and a little pumpernickel chip. A classic combination of flavors, just with a twist, and utterly delectable.

Foie gras, candied olives, green peas, beet juice

Other people have written about this one. A disc of foie gras is presented on top of a mound of pea soil (note to self: soil is the new foam). You're instructed to cut the disc in half in one stroke, causing the beet juice within to gush - looking like nothing so much as blood - onto your plate. Visceral, certainly. Dramatic, undoubtedly. But I didn't find that the flavors really hung together, making this was one of my least favorite dishes of the meal. I usually love foie gras, but I prefer warm preparations - this was just too cold for my liking.

Carrot-coconut "sunny-side up"

A coconut white with a carrot yolk, this dish was more about texture for me than flavor. The flavors were there, but extremely subtle - the sprinkle of pepper on top was the boldest thing on the plate. But the egg mimicry, both in appearance and texture, made this a fun course.

Shrimp cannelloni, chorizo, thai basil

Wylie's famous shrimp noodles, filled with more shrimp, garnished with a chorizo emulsion and preserved basil. Excellent combination of flavors. The interesting thing is that if someone had given me this as an app some place else, it wouldn't have noticed there was anything odd about it. Does that make shrimp noodles a success or a failure?

Pickled beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses

With a pile of perfectly brunoised romaine lettuce rib, and onion soil too. Loved the fried mayo, and the whole thing just came together so nicely.

Cocoa-dashi, lemon yogurt noodles

Someone earlier in the thread described the broth as tasting like fishy coffee, and that's about right. We found it almost unbearably strong and peculiar on its own, but after squirting the little bottle of lemon yogurt in (which immediately turns to noodles) we found the combination to be surprisingly palatable.

Langoustine, celery root, banana mustard

The langoustine was perched on top of a pile of mustard greens and cooked celery. A line of grainy banana mustard stretched over to a finger-thickness stick of celery root that had been poached in rice milk and then caramelized. A surprisingly pleasant combination of flavors. Banana and mustard - who knew?

Venison loin, pickled cherry puree, brussel sprouts, oatmeal panna cotta

If it wasn't for the oatmeal panna cotta and it's accompanying oatmeal and black pepper crumble, I would have wondered if I was still in the right restaurant. This dish seemed so "ordinary." Sadly, I didn't like the oatmeal panna cotta at all, although the rest was certainly tasty.

Cider sorbet, pine needle gelee

I was looking forward to this one from the moment I first read it on the menu. Cider sorbet and cider foam, a scattering of cinnamon infused cryo-vaced apple brunoise, and just the right amount of pine needle gelee. I thought it was great. My friend thought it tasted too much like Christmas.

Lemon curd, basil meringue, huckleberry puree

This was apparently an eggless lemon curd, which probably means it pushed the limits of molecular gastronomy, but I just thought it was tasty. An interesting and intriguing combination of flavors, my favorite bit was the dehydrated lemon slice that garnished it. My notes say "Woo-hoo! Intense!"

Butternut squash sorbet, pumpkin seed cake, chocolate soil, mole

This was a great not-too-sweet dessert. The mole was in the form of a surprisingly spicy toffee crisp. There was a subtle, vegetable sweetness from the butternut squash sorbet, some rich nuttiness from the cake soaked in pumpkin oil, and a dark and maybe just a touch salty chocolate soil. Excellent.

Cocoa cotton balls

Look like truffles, but put one in your mouth and bite into it, and it crumbles away into sweet dark nothingness. An perfect closing bite.

My friend and I split a wine pairing. These kinds of meals are notoriously difficult to pair with wine, and this was no exception. Nothing stands out in my mind as an exemplary match, but they were all nicely drinkable wines. The wine served with the Eggless Lemon Curd was perhaps the most interesting, being a wine from the Cognac region in France, which is aged in old Cognac barrels (Pineau des Charentes, Ferrand NV).

Tables at WD-50 are very close together, which meant we got to know some of our neighbors over the course of the meal, which is always fun. We got to applaud the engagement of our neighbors two tables down (earlier in the meal, these same neighbors had even shared a taste of the short ribs we were coveting).

A reporter from New York magazine was taking bright flash pictures in the restaurant until Wylie came out and gave him a stiff talking to. Things looked tense for a while, but they worked out their differences in the end and the photographer was still there when we left.

I could peek from my table into the wide kitchen doorway and watch the chefs work, and at the end of our meal our waiter took us back to the kitchen so we could watch the action and give Wylie our compliments personally. That was really fun.

Good food and a fun meal. After reading some of the reviews here, I was prepared to be disappointed, so I was pleasantly surprised instead. Food to me is all about fun, so I'm always thrilled to find chefs who can translate a sense of whimsy to their food. I'm sure that's why I'm drawn to avant garde chefs like Achatz, Andres, Wylie, et al.

[docsconz]

I had dinner last night there with my wife and two eldest sons to celebrate our eldest's 16th birthday. We had the tasting menu with essentially the same items with the exception of one dessert. We all thought it was fantastic, although I could see some of the dishes not being to everyone's palate such as the dashi-chocolate-yoghurt dish. It had a bitter undertone that might be off-putting to some. I found the bitterness to be in the right proportion. I will follow with photos (no, I was not the New York reporter) when I get a chance. By the way, I had been waiting a loooong time to get a chance to try the shrimp pasta. I absolutely loved it. One of my sons had the shrimp cous cous. That was great as well.

Wylie, Sam, Dewey and the rest of the crew were incredibly gracious in letting us in the kitchen and showing the boys how they do certain things. Our waiter, Tona was outstanding again. We had the pleasure of having his service previously as well.

This remains my overall favorite restaurant in NYC as it combines great, creative food that is different than anywhere else, delicious and a fun atmosphere.

[BryanZ]

I love Tona. I'm glad he's still there. He was a great server.

[docsconz]

I love Tona.  I'm glad he's still there.  He was a great server.

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Still is

[docsconz]

Photos from WD-50 last Weekend. We were there to celebrate my son’s 16th birthday.

I did not get a good photo of Salmon, cream cheese, capers, red onion. This dish did inspire our breakfast the following morning.

Foie gras, candied olives, green peas, beet juice. I loved everything about this dish.

Carrot-coconut “sunny side up” brought verisimilitude to anew level. Great flavors in this amazing “imposter”

Shrimp cannelloni, chorizo, thai basil. As I said upthread, this was worth my long wait to try. I loved this dish.

Shrimp cous-cous. My younger son tried a few things away from the tasting menu. This was one of them. A great dish and interesting contrast to the cannelloni.

Beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses – a Dufresne classic.

Cocao-dashi, lemon yogurt noodles. This dish combined delicious, unique, new flavors with a fun presentation. The balance when the noodles were added was superb.

Langoustine, celery root, banana mustard. Another unique flavor combination, this was one of the few dishes that I found the presentation to be uninspired. I guess dishes that taste this great don’t have to have such an inspired presentation though. This was incredible.

My son had the lamb chops cooked sous vide. Once again excellent.

Venison loin, pickled cherries, brussel sprouts, oatmeal panna cotta. The sum was greater than the individual parts, although those were fine too.

Pork belly with swiss cheese soup – awesome.

Cider sorbet, pine needle gelee. The pine needles were the essence of the north. Great dessert.

Manchego cheese cake with pineapple foam and quince. Delicious.

Crème brulee with liquid tangerine underneath. I like to consider this “Tangerine Dream.”

Butternut sorbet, pumpkin seed cake, chocolate soil, mole. Chocolate mousse cake as birthday cake.

Some shots from around and in the kitchen:

Wylie and Sam at the pass.

The kitchen of Wylie, Sam and company does some wonderful things with food. They excel at creating novel flavors and textures in a unique style using great craft and cutting edge technique. In addition, they excel at uncovering flavor essences under new textural facades. All of this is done in a supremely relaxed environment. I love the fact that WD-50, El Bulli, Arzak, Alinea, Citronelle and Moto from my experience are working to achieve similar ends, but each in its own inimitable way. I look forward to trying restaurants such as Minibar, the brand-new Gilt and Manresa amongst others.

[molto e]

Doc,

I have been looking forward to seeing your photos and I was not disappointed. I liked how focused your sons were in the photo of them making the noodles-future eGulleteers. That may have been the best shot of the tongue and fried mayo that I have seen.

Thanks,

Molto E

[rich]

Doc, great photos and report.

I was deciding where to take my wife for our upcoming anniversary (2/17) and the choices narrowed to WD-50 or Cafe Gray. You (and the report and photos) convinced me to choose WD-50.

I'll post a report. Is WD-50 a two-month place? If so, I've got to call tomorrow.

[Sneakeater]

Maybe I'm just exceptionally lucky, but I've never had a problem getting a reservation there even a few days in advance.

[BryanZ]

You don't have to call 2 months in advance.

[scottie]

Docsconz, thank you for the wonderful pictures!

Your boys are so lucky to have their culinary horizons expanded early on.

Wylie and Sam look so happy. They truly look like people who love what they do, and would probably do it even if they had day jobs and no venue. I expect that spirit comes through in the food.

This is the one restaurant I have to try before leaving NYC next month.

[docsconz]

I don't know any details at this time, but look for some upcoming special dinners with Spanish colleagues in the new year. If this past year's Navarra dinner was any indication, they should be awesome. I will make sure they get on the eG Calendar if and when I get info on them.

Thanks for the comments on the photos.

[Bux]

Wonderful photos. I hope they convey as much to those who haven't tasted Wylie's food as they do to those who love it already. Many of his flavor combinations are without precedent in the food most of us have eaten and few of those descriptions can sound as delicious as they've proven to be for us. It's nice to see good photos of the dishes I already know and have enjoyed, but the newer dishes remind me that I have to be more of a regular there. As much as Wylie's managed to establish WD-50 classics already, it's interesting to see how devoted he is to creating new dishes.

A question about the shrimp couscous--is it akin to the shrimp noodles and cannelloni or just couscous cooked in a shrimp broth?

[docsconz]

Thanks, Bux. My understanding is that it is made of shrimp like the canneloni and noodles.

[Dryden]

FYI- Minibar in DC is now doing feta water noodles a la WD-50. They're deeply impressive.

[docsconz]

FYI- Minibar in DC is now doing feta water noodles a la WD-50.  They're deeply impressive.

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Knowing Jose Andres, I would bet they are.

[M.X.Hassett]

Thanks, Bux. My understanding is that it is made of shrimp like the canneloni and noodles.

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Yes, this is how it was explained to me from what I recall I'll dig out some of my menus and see if I noted it down to confirm (sorry I am a little rushed packing now)

Edit: Yes confirmed as a similar prep as the canneloni and the noodles. Great prep. of shrimp

Edit2: link to the dessert's I wrote up on the Dessert Tasting Menu thread

Edited December 20, 2005 by M.X.Hassett (log)

[dRock]

Does Sam Mason also contribute to the cuisine or is he just involved in the pastry aspect?

[Sethro]

Good question. I'd imagine there's alot of brainstorming and recipe sharing abound in general.

For all interested parties, ICA Batali vs Dufresne airs January 8th.

[Andy Lynes]

Does Sam Mason also contribute to the cuisine or is he just involved in the pastry aspect?

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When I interviewed Sam Mason earlier this year he told me that are desserts that Wylie can't wait to be taken off the menu so he can use an element or two in his dishes, but I'd have to dig out the tape to get you specific examples.

[tan319]

yesssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good question. I'd imagine there's alot of brainstorming and recipe sharing abound in general.

For all interested parties, ICA Batali vs Dufresne airs January 8th.

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[646522]

There coming.......................

Admin note: Merged 646522's thread on pics from wd-50's kitchen into the main wd-50 discussion thread. --Soba

Edited January 9, 2006 by SobaAddict70 (log)