wd-50 2004 - 2007

[tan319]

Docsconz.

Loved the report and photos as always!

Man, the kitchen seems huge.

Glad these guys seem to be on their game all of the time.

First place I go when I get back there next time.

[docsconz]

It is agood sized kitchen that is well organized in its layout and workspaces. It is actually bigger than I expected it to be, but my expectations were based on remembering 71 Clinton.

[victornet]

I'm a big fan of Wylie and the restaurant. A couple of meals there in the last 6 months have been more consistent and delicious than meals when the restaurant was new. While some dishes do sceam out Wylie's determination to break out of all molds ( the square frozen egg yolk is one of these tasty, but trying hard to surprise) it really does not get in the way of pure flavor. I had the pork belly my first time there, and felt it would be much better as a small plate than as one's main course (so rich, and not a dish that evolves with each taste). This issue has not often come up since. Most recently I had a spectacular chicken entree, and I cannot think of another restaurant of this caliber at which I would order "the chicken".

I've also taken 3 cooking classes with Wylie at De Gustibus, and he is an amazingly sharing teacher. From his hint to microplane frozen snickers bars over ice cream, to his praise of Alkimia in Barcelona, he's a great source of inspiration and for me he's one of the true lights of food in NYC.

[dr_memory]

Hm, I really should have typed up notes after my meals at WD-50... but lameness rules all, and the above commentators have said much the same thing about the food that I would, so I'll restrain myself to making two practical suggestions for people considering dining there:

1. Despite being nine courses, I would agree that the tasting menu is a little underfilling. If there are only one or two diners, it might be worth getting anyway (with the understanding that you're getting an overview with an eye toward further study later, not a grand meal in itself), but if you're in a group of four or more, I'd strongly recommend getting N+2 appetizers, N+1 entrees and N desserts, and then passing around: you'll be much more satisfied at the end of the night and won't have paid substantially more.

2. If you do get the tasting menu, non-regular drinkers should probably pass on the paired wine tastings, lovely though they are. The staff pours generously, and at a glass (or more) per course, you may have a great deal more difficulty standing up and walking out than you would expect.

[pedro]

Well, this is what Rafael García Santos, the Spanish critic whose main and almost exclusive focus is avant-garde contemporary cuisine, has to say about WD-50:

Lo Mejor de la Gastronomía on WD - 50

I visited WD-50 a year ago. Wylie, his father Dewey told me, was attending to Madrid Fusión, the annual gastronomy summit. In fact, Wylie was dining at La Broche the same night I visited WD-50. In a way, the food I had at WD-50 probably was the most interesting of the trip. Sure, the worse dishes of the trip were some from the tasting menu of WD-50, but so were the best. And the latter were worth the visit.

[Suzi Edwards]

. . .  Interesting about his recognizing you...I'd heard rumors that he little to no experience with the internet. . . . .

←

I met him over two years ago in passing at the Union Square Greenmarket. He was talking to Mike Anthony and Mike and Dan Barber had just done an eGullet Q&A. The subject came up and he said he didn't use or have a computer. I realize that was a long time ago now, but at the time it didn't seem as if it was possible to pursue the subject.

←

Maybe you tipped him in the right direction given he now posts on here!

[docsconz]

I can't believe that it was already one week ago, but my wife and I had a great dinner at WD-50. While it was Wylie's crew who did all the preparation, the dishes they served were those of three Michelin one-star chefs from Navarra Spain. This was part of a special promotion. The chefs were Javier Diaz of Alhambra, Enrique Martinez of Maher and Alex Mujica of Basa Kabi.

The evening got off on the right foot when my wife and I managed to make it to the restaurant in record time from upstate N.Y. Not only did we actually get there in time for the reservation, we actually found a parking spot directly across the street from the restaurant. I knew it was going to be a great night

The dinner consisted of an eight course tasting menu paired with wines from the region. The wines were donated by the producers. This made the overall dinner price an incredible bargain at $95/head.

The first course

Squash soup with portobello mushroom, black truffle and white grapes was deep, earthy and soulful. The grapes provided layers of sweetness within the velvety blanket of the soup. The wine pairing, the only non-Navarra wine, was a delightful cava, Avinyo Brut NV from Penedes. The wine was crisp, clean and nice.

Next up was

Yukon Gold potato with egg yolk and chorizo. This was simply delicious. The dish had a real comfort food feel to it, the way bacon, eggs and homefries for breakfast does, only with deeper and more profound flavors. The wine was an oakless chardonnay, "La Rellanada" from Castillo de Monjardin, Bodegas 2003. This was minerally and crisp. It made a beautiful match for the dish. I believe the winemaker and/or owner were dining at the restaurant that night as well.

My wife's favorite dish, the salt cod with piquillo peppers, asparagus, carrots and pumpkin seeds ,

followed . The cod was silky, delicious and harmonious with its many vegetal accompaniments. The wine, a tempranillo from Ochoa Bodegas y Vinedos Crianza 2001 was New World style dominated by oak.

My favorite dish was next.

This was Roncal cheese and parmesan infusion with tomato marmelade, green apple, hazelnuts and almonds. The wine was a nice garnacha from Biurko Gorri Bodegas, Crianza 2001. This was an absolutely fascinating dish. It looked like ice cream, but wasn't cold. It was very creamy, however. The crunch of the nuts, the tartness of the apple and the sweetness of the marmelade contrasted beautifully with the soft, salty cheese. This dish apparently is a takeoff of a traditional cheese soup made with Roncal cheese. Outstanding!

Striped bass with white bean puree, crispy leeks, olive crumbs and yucca crisp

followed. The bean puree served to unite the entire dish. The wine was the only one from a producer that I had previously heard of. It was a merlot "Vega Sindoa" from Nekeas, Tinto 2002. It was quite nice with a predominance of licorice on the palate.

The final savory course was simply prepared but very effective.

It was squab with a berry compte and yogurt. The wine once again suffered IMO from too much oak, however. It was Crianza 2000 merlot, cab, tempranillo blend from Palacio de Otazu.

The desserts were prepare by Alex Mujica. The first one was a thick citrus "soup" with cream cheese and walnut streusel.

It had good balance and mouthfeel.

The final dessert was reminiscent of one I had this past autumn at Arzak. It was a pear "volcano" with almond-rice milk and crispy chocolate rice.

The bubbling cauldron was fun, but even more importantly, the dish was indeed delicious. Cacao Krispies never tasted so good! The dessert wine was a 2002 moscatel from Senorio de Sarria. The sweetness was well balanced by its acidity.

The dinner was tremendous fun. Wylie, Dewey and their staff were tremendous. The service we had was perfect American service. Our waitress was friendly, informative and very much on top of things. As if the dinner wasn't enough we each received a "doggie" bag on the way out. One bag had a bottle of wine from Navarra and the other had a jar of cooked swiss chard from Navarra. Each bag also came with a booklet illustrating Navarran food products. The icing on the cake came, however, when we found a parking spot on the right side of the street by the apartment where we were staying. The night certainly was charmed.

[Phatlouie07]

i just checked the wd-50 site, are they running the nine course menu for $95 for the entire winter season??

[fauxtarga]

My goodness, I had no idea the tasting menu included wine. I was on the fence and didn't go because I had just been not too long before - but that really makes it a no-brainer. And that meal looked like it was a lot of fun.

[docsconz]

i just checked the wd-50 site, are they running the nine course menu for $95 for the entire winter season??

←

That was a special promotional dinner sponsored by the Spanish region of Navarra. The only thing that it had to do with WD-50 was that it took place there and was cooked primarily by the WD-50 kitchen.

[docsconz]

My goodness, I had no idea the tasting menu included wine. I was on the fence and didn't go because I had just been not too long before - but that really makes it a no-brainer. And that meal looked like it was a lot of fun.

←

It was a great meal and a lot of fun. I wasn't really sure the wine was included until I got there. The overall event could have been promoted better than it was. Nevertheless, the restaurant was pretty busy. I hope they make this an annual event.

[melofunk]

I wanted to share my recent experience at wd-50 because I truly thought the meal was phenomenal. A very good friend of mine came to visit this weekend and Saturday evening we dined at wd-50.

We started with sake aperitifs and the black sesame wafer crackers that other posters have previously described. (When one is hungry these wafers quickly become addictive, especially the ones with slightly thick edges).

I really enjoy unusual ice cream flavors and wd-50 has a slew of them – saffron, browned butter and one that is part of an appetizer - edamame ice cream paired with venison tartare and crunchy pear. Our waiter was very kind when I asked if I could try the ice cream by itself, and he brought it out with our first course. And, it was very yummy to say the least. It was served on top of fresh edamame and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. And what I really enjoyed was that the salt balanced the sweetness of the ice cream and accentuated the edamame flavor.

For our appetizers, my friend had the scallops with beet yogurt, morcilla flakes and parsley juice and I had the octopus, celery pesto, pineapple and tasty-crunchy bits (I think they were almonds). The octopus by itself was quite tasty, as was the pesto, pineapple and tasty-crunchy bits. But what was outstanding was taking a small piece of everything on your fork and popping it into your mouth all at once. This created an amazing flavor and texture combination, and this is what I truly loved about our entire meal. My friend’s scallop dish was equally delicious.

After our appetizers, a beautiful dish of rouget, mango and goat’s cheese mousse (or a mousse-like substance), spicy micro greens and cracked pepper was brought out. This dish was thoughtfully composed and just all-around delicious. The fish was very flavorful, and the flavor and texture combination of all the components together was sublime.

For the main course, my friend had the monkfish with pear consommé and oyster mushroom, which our waiter described as delicate, and that it was. I had the chicken, confited carrot, egg yolk and mole paper. The chicken was very nicely seasoned and extremely moist. The mole paper was spicy. And the combination of all the components together was wonderful. This was my favorite dish of the evening. I had wanted to ask our waiter how the chicken was prepared, but it was a busy night, and so unfortunately I wasn’t able to.

After our main course, we were served a grapefruit sorbet with grapefruit foam and what I believe were crunchy pieces of graham cracker. It was very refreshing, as grapefruit normally is. What I loved about this dish was that it wasn’t just a grapefruit sorbet, but rather it was like grapefruit in the form of sorbet. And what I mean by this is that it wasn’t any more sweet than the taste of fresh grapefruit. And so when you ate it, you didn’t say, “oh, this sorbet tastes like grapefruit.” You said, “Oh, this is grapefruit. And it reminds me of perfectly ripe grapefruit that you slice open and eat fresh. And it is actually this wonderful sorbet”.

For dessert, my friend had the milk chocolate hazelnut parfait with orange reduction. I believe this is new on the menu, and quite popular. We took a scan of the dining room over the course of the evening and many people chose this dessert. The dessert reminded me slightly of a kitkat, both in shape and in texture. And it was quite good. I had the olive clafoutis with tangerine sorbet and cherry walnut emulsion. I thought the olives worked well with the clafoutis base and the tangerine was a nice complement. This is a strong dessert, which I enjoyed. I’ve also tried some of the other desserts on the menu. And I would say that my favorite is the celery root cake with coconut sorbet and peanut foam. (I believe a similar cake on the current menu is the parsnip cake).

After dessert, a bowl of saffron flavored cotton candy was brought to our table. This was fun and yummy. I love saffron and if this were available to me everyday, I could easily become an addict.

Lastly, with our check came chocolate covered almonds with cumin and ginger, and they were a nice end to a most wonderful meal.

What I loved about our meal and what makes me want to dine at wd-50 again is not only how creative the flavor and texture combinations are, but also how really, really good the food tastes.

[estufarian]

Just a quick addition as I don't have time to describe the entire meal, but last saturday at wd-50 was as good as it gets. Wylie seems to have finally got the message that foie gras and anchovy doesn't work, and his current tasting menu is sensational.

We asked for (and received) mostly different tasting menus (only the slow poached egg was duplicated) and there wasn't a loser among them (although obviously some better than others).

The current foie gras dish (example) is served with a grapefruit basil crumble - tiny toasted brioche crumbs with dehydrated grapefruit slivers and the foie gras, when cut open, exudes a nori caramel centre - both sweet and salty. There is also a sprinkling of sea salt.

Stunning combination of textures and tastes.

And that was only one of over 20 dishes we received in total (and included the corned duck; and the venison tartare dishes mentioned by melofunk - loved that Edamame ice cream).

[chefseanbrock]

the most fun I've ever had at a restaurant.................

dewey is a perfect host for wylie's food, I honestly can say that if I lived in New York I would eat there at least once a week..........wylie and his staff are doing things that most american chefs won't even hear about for at least two years, these guys are the shit.....Extremely nice staff, the servers knew everything about the food, we had a total of over 25 or 26 course and there wasn't one bad course......if any one is interested I will post every course with descriptions......

let's just say I ate at one of those really fancy, expensive restaurants on sunday night and had a much better time at wd50 and it was a fraction of the cost.....

if you haven't been to wd50, you suck

sean

[docsconz]

the most fun I've ever had at a restaurant.................

if any one is interested I will post every course with descriptions......

sean

←

Do tell.

[melofunk]

Another very nice meal at wd-50 on Monday evening. The servers and hostess were extremeley affable. Of note was the braised shortrib, flatiron steak, kimchee spaetzle and papaya ravioli. The shortrib was braised in anchor steam, and our server explained that the flatiron was prepared with the transglutaminase, rolled and cut into tournedos (nice marbleing effect). Again the flavors and ingredient combination was really wonderful. There was just the right amount of papaya to brighten the dish. Other interesting/yummy things were a Spanish grenache which the server recommended pairing with the shrimp noodles, and the pinenut ice cream (yes, I admit it. I'm addicted to ice cream.)....The ice cream was paired with pineapple braised with pine and pineapple cake.

[iheartoffal]

I'm going there tomorrow night. Can't wait. As much as I wanted to go for the tasting menu, my friends are ordering a la carte, so I have to go with the flow. Oh well, I'm sure it will still be an adventure.

[vivin]

iheartoffal,

FYI - If you ask nicely, they WILL let you order a la carte off the tasting menu. We did just that on Sat night. The food was superb (just as I remember from my last two visits). Me and my friend ended up sharing 4 apps and 3 main courses :)

[chefseanbrock]

you will be blown away......................................................

[fauxtarga]

Any pictures of the tournedos of the steak? I'm guessing that this is done with the ajinomoto product discussed elsewhere here.

[melofunk]

There is a photo of the steak on wd's website....

[docsconz]

Here is the link. It looks good.

[Andy Lynes]

I had my first taster of WD50 yesterday in the form of an intensely savoury and delicious slow cooked egg, parmesan broth and tomato powder while waiting to interview pastry chef Sam Mason. Wylie told me that having someone sat in his restaurant and not eating made him nervous. My thanks to Sam for being late! I'm returning this evening for the full experience and will report back.

[iheartoffal]

Just ate there last night. Just absolutely incredibly enjoyable on every imaginable level. I simply can't imagine it getting any better. I'll try to elaborate more on my experience this weekend sometime.

Three words:

Toast oil rocks!

[docsconz]

Wylie is cooking like Aaron Heilman threw for the Mets tonight - Lights out! The restaurant got some knocks in the press out of the box. I was surprised but was unable to get there at that time. I have been a few times since and the kitchen is rocking!