wd-50 2004 - 2007

[jwjon1]

I've edited my post above to include thoughts on my dinner. Sorry for the delay, and the thesis.

[Ling]

^No problem...thanks for the comments!

[docsconz]

It has been a little over a year since I had last been to WD-50. A few things had clearly changed, the most significant of which is the departure of Sam Mason and the arrival of Alex Stupak. Wd-50 had been my favorite restaurant in NYC for a number of reasons. Would it still be?

Due to a visit to NYC of one of my closest HS buddies and his wife, it was a good time to revisit this restaurant.

We arrived Friday evening just before our reservation time of 9PM after having driven three+ hours through wind and rain and a day of work. We were seated at a nice table overlooking the kitchen. The menu had a number of items on it that were new to me, while the tasting menu was a mixture of new and standards. The restaurant was new to my friends, but not to my wife and I. Though we have had and enjoyed the standards, this evening I wanted to try new stuff to see if Wylie and Co. were still as creative as they had previously been. The kitchen was kind enough to indulge us in a tasting menu of items new to us.

Bacon, eggs, toast

Malted chestnut soup, salmon threads, celery root

Foie gras in the round

Crab "roll", black bean, mint, pickled ginger

Pinenut cassoulet, rabbit sausage, smoked octopus

Langoustine, popcorn, hibiscus, endive

Kampachi, cranberry, kolrabi, nori crisp

Squab breast, beets, wood sorrel, coconut pebbles

Yuzu curd, spruce yogurt, pistachio

"Creamsicle", rooibos, squash, orange blossom

Chocolate cream, umeboshi, beet

I don't really know why I even had a doubt as to how this meal would be or whether WD-50 would still be my favorite restaurant in New York. If upon Sam mason's departure he would have been replaced by someone unknown to me, maybe. However, he was replaced by one of the very few people who could possibly have stepped in to his shoes at WD-50 - Alex Stupak. I was familiar with Alex from his work at Alinea. Not only was the transition from savory to dessert seamless at Alinea while Alex was there, it was also here at WD-50. The desserts were simply brilliant, with pure flavors, wonderful, unintuitive combinations, great technique and a simple (appearing) artistry on the plate. Alex's desserts are all that and if it weren't for Wylie's wonderful antecedent courses, worth a visit for them alone. But please, if you have any interest in creative cooking and wonderful, novel flavors, don't pass on Wylie's courses. I really don't understand some of the criticism that WD-50 has received here on eGullet. The flavors are excellent as are the textures. The plates are well-balanced on both regards. Perhaps the newness of the combinations and flavors are sufficient to challenge more conservative tasate buds, though I would not expect that some of the critics are all that conservative ordinarily.

There waasn't a dish that I didn't find compelling. My two favorites from the savories were the crab roll - I loved the pickled ginger, and the langoustine - the popcorn was subtle, but added an extra dimension to the dish. The kampachi was new to the menu that very day and is a winner. The foie gras in the round and pinenut "cassoulet" both featured creative techniques along with delicious results. One of my friends found the chestnut soup to be his favorite dish. Wylie has always done squab superbly (I first had the delectable bird at 71 Clinton Fresh Food during Wylie's tenure) and this was no exception. The beets added both color and depth of flavor.

One noticeable change from when I was last there was the absence of a sous-vide circulator in the kitchen. Wylie had been using it routinely with seafood, but felt that he would not be allowed to cook the fish at the low temperatures that he liked with the technique. As a result, he has gone without the technique. He cooked the kampachi at 128 degrees F in a vapor oven. The skin was extra crisp as they kept the scales on for that purpose. The result really was superb.

The desserts again were dynamite with perfect balance of sweet, salt and acid. The yuzu curd didn't just hit the spot, it slammed it. The rooibos foam provided flavor that was familiar but not too much so - I loved it. The chocolate cream was certainly delicious, but it also happened to be one of the most strikingly beautiful desserts I think I have ever seen. My photo does not do it justice.

To be honest, I was tired when we arrived for our 9PM reservation. I was also a little bit apprehensive. I woke up quickly as my taste buds were brought to life and we and our friends proceeded to have a lovely evening. Though this is very early in the year, it is going to take a lot of really incredible dining to dislodge this meal from my top ten list for 2007. It would have made 2006 easily.

[jwjon1]

Great photos, Doc! I couldn't agree more with your commentary, and it doesn't surprise me one bit that the kitchen was receptive to your tasting menu requests. One more reason why I also cannot empathize with any less than positive critiques on this board.

Once additional criticism I didn't include in my post above, but one which got under my skin during dinner was the poor choice of stemware used at WD-50. For such a detail oriented establishment, I found the rocket launcher (re., swirling is NOT recommended ) stem choices abysmal. Granted, I didn't pull $$ bottles out of the cellar as some restaurants require in order to break out decent stems and instead went with the pairing menu... but how hard is it to stock up on glasses more amenable to drinking and enjoying wine, rather than encourage the customer to curse the gods for serving tasty juice in less-than-optimal conditions? Kinda defeats the pairing purpose when you get excited about the food but not the wine. Anyway, just so as not to toss criticism out without offering a solution: while I'm not in the glass business, Schott Zwiesel makes some versatile Tritan stems that are both restaurant (economical, multiple shapes/designs, and super hard TiO2 glass=dishwasher safe) and wine snob friendly.

[chefAZ]

Great report as always Doc! You gotta hand it to wylie, he is one bad dude.

I was looking at that foie gras and was wondering what texture did it have? And that amuse looks outta control! was it an encapulation?

Clearly the pastry dept will not suffer the departure of Mason....Alex was the best, if not the only choice i could have seen for wd50.....great stuff

[BryanZ]

Those look like wonderful, beautiful, delicious plates.

[Simon_S]

Nice one doc. I was starting to wonder about including WD50 on my upcoming itinerary given some of the negative comments. No such worries now...

Si

[Sea Urchin Ragout]

The dishes look outlandish and stunning!

Is the moustachioed Ozzie sommelier still there? Great character to have around the dining room!!

[docsconz]

Great photos, Doc!  I couldn't agree more with your commentary, and it doesn't surprise me one bit that the kitchen was receptive to your tasting menu requests.  One more reason why I also cannot empathize with any less than positive critiques on this board.

Once additional criticism I didn't include in my post above, but one which got under my skin during dinner was the poor choice of stemware used at WD-50.  For such a detail oriented establishment, I found the rocket launcher (re., swirling is NOT recommended  ) stem choices abysmal.  Granted, I didn't pull $$ bottles out of the cellar as some restaurants require in order to break out decent stems and instead went with the pairing menu... but how hard is it to stock up on glasses more amenable to drinking and enjoying wine, rather than encourage the customer to curse the gods for serving tasty juice in less-than-optimal conditions?  Kinda defeats the pairing purpose when you get excited about the food but not the wine.  Anyway, just so as not to toss criticism out without offering a solution: while I'm not in the glass business, Schott Zwiesel makes some versatile Tritan stems that are both restaurant (economical, multiple shapes/designs, and super hard TiO2 glass=dishwasher safe) and wine snob friendly.

←

I had no trouble swirling in the glass I had. I don't recall that being an issue in the past. FWIW, we did not have the pairings. Instead we had an albariño and a white rioja. They were ok with most of the dishes, though the rioja clashed with one of the seafood dishes. We were done with wine by the squab and did not feel like ordering another bottle by that point.

[docsconz]

Great report as always Doc! You gotta hand it to wylie, he is one bad dude.

I was looking at that foie gras and was wondering what texture did it have? And that amuse looks outta control! was it an encapulation?

Clearly the pastry dept will not suffer the departure of Mason....Alex was the best, if not the only choice i could have seen for wd50.....great stuff

←

The foie gras reminded me of Israeli cous-cous only a little softer. It also reminded me texturally of Wylie's shrimp "cous-cous". The conception of the dish was marvelous.

The Bacon, egg, toast was not an encapsulation in the Adria sense. Texturally it was like a tater tot, though softer in the middle like a croquette.

[docsconz]

Nice one doc. I was starting to wonder about including WD50 on my upcoming itinerary given some of the negative comments. No such worries now...

Si

←

Si, given your culinary interests, I think you must experience Wylie's and Alex's cooking for yourself. I will be very interested in your response.

[Simon_S]

Si, given your culinary interests, I think you must experience Wylie's and Alex's cooking for yourself. I will be very interested in your response.

←

Thanks doc. Don't worry, it was only a temporary wobble! WD-50 is still high on my list.

Roll on April...

Si

[docsconz]

The dishes look outlandish and stunning!

Is the moustachioed Ozzie sommelier still there? Great character to have around the dining room!!

←

I'm not sure who you are referring to. Some of the waitstaff were familiar. Those who waited on us were not. Nevertheless, our waiter was no newbie. He was very well-informed about the food and cooking. We had excellent service. One person who wasn't there that I missed was Wylie's father, Dewey. I don't believe that his absence that night was indicative of any larger absence on his part.

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback on the photos. My seat was relatively well-lit making the photos much easier to work with. The biggest problem with low light situations is avoiding blur.

[jwjon1]

One person who wasn't there that I missed was Wylie's father, Dewey. I don't believe that his absence that night was indicative of any larger absence on his part.

←

Dewey was there in full force during my recent visit, and was quite the amiable character. He seemed to be having just as much fun as Wylie, which was a nice sight to see!

Edited January 9, 2007 by jwjon1 (log)

[Lenski]

I decided to revisit Wd-50 after seeing Doc's pif of the "Yuzu curd, spruce yogurt, pistachio" dessert. Thus, last week, in Siberia-like weather I went to the LES and a great meal was had by all.

We all did the tasting menu and it was great. THe only dish that I have not seen in any of the pics/reports above was the first dish of the night "olive oil noodles/spaghetti" very, very good. I am totally addicted to the Beef tongue and fried mayo.

And the dessert that prompted the visit was delicious.

Great service and great ambiance. And the price is a steal!!!!

l

[dagordon]

Had the tasting menu at WD-50 last night. Before describing the food, I just want to note something that got the meal off on a slightly bad footing...

We had a 10:30 reservation. I called for a reservation last Wed I think and that's all they had. Fine, 10:30 isn't really that bad. (I should also say that I specifically asked, when making the reservation for that time, whether it would be too late to do a tasting menu -- the last thing that I want to do is make the kitchen work later than they might want to. But I was told that it would be absolutely no problem.)

So, we're not used to eating this late, and it turns out that we didn't plan our eating yesterday during the day as well as we should have; we thought that a late lunch would tide us over for dinner, but I suppose we ate too much, or ate too late. Whatever.

So we arrived at WD-50 not, well, as hungry as we would have wanted. And we really wanted to do the tasting menu. But there was absolutely no way my girlfriend and I each could have done the tasting menu.

So my girlfriend had the idea of splitting a tasting menu, and we asked the waiter whether we could do this. The water was extremely nice and checked with the kitchen, but the kitchen REFUSED.

Now, we did NOT want anyone to alter the plating of any dish. That is, we didn't want anyone to split what would normally be on one plate onto two. One cannot expect a restaurant to do this. We just wanted them to put down a plate on the table in between us, from which we would share the food.

It's not, of course, unusual for a restaurant to require a minimum number of people to get a tasting menu. Fine. But this is what pisses me off: WD-50 does not require a minimum # of people to do a tasting menu. You can order the tasting menu for yourself at the bar.

That is, we were not asking the kitchen to do anything different from what they regularly do. From the perspective of the kitchen, what we were asking would have been exactly the same as if there were one person at the bar getting a tasting menu.

So this is what we ended up doing -- we moved from our table to the bar, where I ordered the tasting menu + wine pairing, and my girlfriend sat next to me, sharing the food with me.

Why it was necessary to do this I do not understand. It was just plain silly. Particularly for a restaurant like WD-50, which seems (or at least would like to seem) not to take itself too seriously; they clearly want people to have fun eating there. Why it isn't possible for two people to order one tasting menu at a table, when it's possible for one person to order a tasting menu at the bar (and, presumably, at a table by himself or herself) is beyond me.

Anyway, the food.

The first four dishes were exceedingly disappointing. As in just not particularly pleasurable to eat, we thought. These were:

1. Mackerel, celery noodles, coffee-hazelnut marshmallow

2. Carrot-coconut "sunny-side up"

3. Foie gras in the round

4. Sweetbreads, cabbage-kaffir, water chestnuts

With several of these dishes there were elements that, we thought, overpowered the rest of the dish. The marshmallow in the first dish (particularly b/c the mackerel was virtually tasteless), the chocolate spheres in the foie dish, and the cabbage-kaffir with the sweetbreads.

With the foie, my girlfriend discovered that if you took a spoonful of the dish and let the foie sort of melt on the tongue, you could keep the chocolate for the end, so that it wouldn't overwhelm the other flavors. But why there was chocolate there in the first place I just didn't understand.

With the foie dish and the sunny-side up, I really could not appreciate what the dish was trying to do. The egg was of course fun to behold and to play with, but I'd have a hard time believing that someone could really crave that dish. For one thing, I couldn't quite place the flavor of the yolk. It was carrot-like, but not carrot exactly. And I really don't know why one would encapsulate foie into little pellets. I mean, it's one thing if it somehow served to concentrate the flavor, or do something otherwise interesting to it, but it didn't seem to. In fact, the foie flavor was pretty subtle.

I have to say we were really disappointed after the first 4 dishes (although I was thankful that we had only purchased one tasting menu!); it was like our very worst suspicions about this style of food were confirmed. It really did seem to be pure theater, without any particular focus on taste.

The next dish was a turning point.

5. Beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses. OK, this was quite good.

Then

6. Miso soup, sesame "noodles". OK, the noodles were fun, I suppose. The soup itself, though, could have come from one of those powdered ramen packages. Quite salty, lacking any depth. This was not an impressive soup. But fairly inoffensive.

7. Langoustine, popcorn, hibiscus, endive

8. Squab breat, beets, wood sorrel, coconut pebbles

9. Yuzu curd, spruce yogurt, pistachio

10. Cofee cake, ricotta, maraschino, chicory ice cream

11. Soft chocolate, avocado, licorice, lime

These dishes were simply phenomenal. The langoustines were cooked sous-vide, terrific texture. The coconut pebbles were serving a genuinely enhancing role with the squab. The desserts were outstanding.

The final dessert

12. Cocoa shortbread, menthol cream.

was unremarkable; the menthol cream was actually a bit too subtle for our tastes.

So, I'm quite glad we went. I think we would consider doing the tasting menu again at some point in the future. This is a testament to how good the last several dishes were, b/c as I've said, we were most disappointed with the first several.

Edited January 28, 2007 by dagordon (log)

[kathryn]

Dropped in on WD-50 this past Sunday at around 9pm to taste some desserts. We asked to sample some desserts at the bar, since we were walk-ins, but they asked if preferred a table, which was fine.

I hadn't been back for about 12 months and they have spruced up the place in the intervening time -- it felt much more warm and welcoming than my previous visit. The dining room was nearly full when we arrived although the crowd soon thinned out as others finished up their meals.

It was my first time tasting what Stupak is capable of, having never been to Alinea, and I was excited having read the reviews on eGullet.

We ordered five desserts between the two of us.

Yogurt parfait, pine, apple, pineapple (get it?) -- Absolutely delicious. The flavor of apples permeated the dish, and it tasted very fresh and clean. The pine accent was neither overpowering or odd, and worked very well with the parfait and apple ice cream. I also really enjoyed the playfulness and texture of strips of "apple leather" strewn about the plate. Refreshing and tasteful; it really woke up my tastebuds.

Creamsicle, rooibos, squash, orange blossom -- Probably my favorite of the five. The combination of flavors was fantastic and I was delighted by the "creamsicle." Particularly when the vanilla ice cream center spurted out of the tube when I took a corner off with my fork. This was perfect: whimsical, delicious, nostalgic, artfully presented, and highly addictive; again, I felt like my eyes were wide open, enjoying the flavors. We were fighting over the scraps by the end.

White chocolate cream, black sesame, argan oil, carrot -- Although carrot is listed last in the ingredients list, I found that it really dominated the dessert with carrot ice cream and thin "chips" of carrot flavor decorating half spheres of white chocolate cream. I found the carrot accents to be unobjectionable when combined with white chocolate, but the carrot ice cream was not a winner in my book. The white chocolate was beautiful and tasty, though. I found this dish to be very interesting but the meh-ness of the carrot ice cream was a misstep.

Coffee cake, ricotta, maraschino, chicory ice cream -- I really loved the chicory ice cream, which was on a bed of soil (chocolate perhaps), and dried cherries. The cherries were a little hard to eat, especially because I wanted a little bit of cherry with every bit of ice cream and soil. I do love that soil, though. The coffee cake portion of the dish was three cubes of soft, fluffy cake, coated in what I believe is some sort of chicory sauce concoction. I found that the sauce overpowered the delicate flavor of the cake, and found it to be a bit bitter for my palette. The "ricotta" was dollops of white sauce, and I didn't find it really added anything to the taste. It was just...there. The ice cream/soil/cherries combination was the winner here and I could take or leave the cake cubes.

Soft chocolate, avocado, licorice, lime -- How do you improve upon chocolate? I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask here, but for me, this dish was asking how to really bring out the flavors and richness of chocolate, without covering up it's, um, chocolate-y-ness. The soft chocolate was just that -- a gorgeous twisted ribbon of soft chocolate. It looked solid, like some sort of chocolate I-beam, that had been carefully twirled between two fingers, but was the perfect texture and softness when it met my fork. The wonderful high quality chocolate, balanced by the smallest bit of avocado or lime sauce was melt-in-your-mouth heaven.

Petit fours were juniper and lime marshmallows. They were small, circular, and fragrant. I loved the sugary texture on the outside and the flavor; my boyfriend was not as impressed but he doesn't love marshmallows like I love them.

My only regret is not having room for a 6th dessert (would have gone for the yuzu).

Photos forthcoming.

Edited April 3, 2007 by kathryn (log)

[tupac17616]

It looked solid, like some sort of chocolate I-beam, that had been carefully twirled between two fingers, but was the perfect texture and softness when it met my fork.

Your description has made the engineer in me smile

[ulterior epicure]

It looked solid, like some sort of chocolate I-beam, that had been carefully twirled between two fingers, but was the perfect texture and softness when it met my fork.

Your description has made the engineer in me smile

←

Did it look like a vertical version of this?

[kathryn]

It looked solid, like some sort of chocolate I-beam, that had been carefully twirled between two fingers, but was the perfect texture and softness when it met my fork.

Your description has made the engineer in me smile

←

Did it look like a vertical version of this?

←

Yes! Perfect.

Is it still plagiarism if you plagiarize yourself?!

[ulterior epicure]

LOL, kathryn, I think Stupak is permitted in this case. Otherwise, Laiskonis might have to take his "Egg" back to Tribute...

[BryanZ]

I was under the impression the chocolate dish was still horizontal. Vertical? Very cool.

[kathryn]

I was under the impression the chocolate dish was still horizontal.  Vertical?  Very cool.

←

Whoops, I read too quickly. It is indeed horizontal. Apologies if I gave the wrong impression!

Photos on Flickr:

http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/sets/7215...46452811/detail

Edited April 4, 2007 by kathryn (log)

[alex stupak]

I was under the impression the chocolate dish was still horizontal.  Vertical?  Very cool.

←

Whoops, I read too quickly. It is indeed horizontal. Apologies if I gave the wrong impression!

Photos on Flickr:

http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/sets/7215...46452811/detail

←

the photo from flickr was a the second version we decided to present the pliable ganache in.....the first was a simple spiral.....we decided to turn the presentation nintey degrees so the guest could really take note that such a soft texture was actually arcing off the plate....it was a succesful technique that i invented at alinea and brought with me to wd-50.....i have come up with a modified version of preparing the base appareil that i hope to seve within the next two weeks.....that will be the final rendition and the whole concept will be retired for something a bit more fresh....creativity is difficult and it becomes more difficult as you press forward if you take the definition of the word seriously....im glad some people enjoy somethings some of the time.....its hard (impossible) for everyone to enjoy everything lest you always produce vanilla ice cream......

Edited April 12, 2007 by alex stupak (log)

[Simon_S]

it was a succesful technique that i invented at alinea and brought with me to wd-50.....i have come up with a modified version of preparing the base appareil that i hope to seve within the next two weeks

←

Great, it should be perfected just in time for my visit!

I had an earlier incarnation at Alinea, and funnily enough it is one course that sticks in my mind. While the warm glow of that meal still remains, some of the other specifics have been dulled by time...

I can't wait for my trip to WD-50. I just hope I'm not too jet-lagged to do it justice.

Si