Tag Archives: Wylie Dufrense

WD-50: Wylie Dufresnse’s Artistic Culinary Point of View

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We arrive at WD-50, a lower east side culinary hot spot of famous chef and owner, Wylie Dufresne, and get seated and greeted immediately. I am so excited for the meal I am about to have and I can’t believe that I am actually in Wylie Dufresne’s restaurant! I am with my parents and my little sister. I tried to give them an understanding of what kind of culinary experience we were about to have, but they just didn’t quite understand. However, I will say that they were game to try whatever creations made it to our table. As we are instructed on how to read the menu, some sesame bread is placed on the table. The funny thing was, it was more like a sesame wafer then bread, but it was delicious! This was just the beginning.

So, as we are a sharing family, we all decided to order something different and then share (of course!). So, for the appetizers, we decide to try the following:

1. Everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese
2. Octopus, pistachio, saffron, pickled ginger
3. Sunflower-miso soup, brook trout, melon, shitake, malt
4. Corned duck, rye crisp, purple mustard, horseradish cream

So, the appetizers all arrive at the table and they all look beautiful! The presentation is stellar. The interesting thing that my dad pointed out was that, yes, the menu tells you what you are getting, but not how you are getting it. So the menu is also sort of a guessing game.

We tried the appetizers and they are ok. They look prettier than they taste, but it is important to factor in the whole “Molecular Gastronamy” experience. So, the most interesting appetizer was the everything bagel which turned out to be ice cream. Can you believe that? And the cheese was a thin sheet of paper.

The appetizer that we liked the most was the duck. It was a take on corned beef and rye, but it was duck. See the picture. This has just the right amount of horseradish and spice to compliment the corned duck.

For the main course, we tried the following:

1. Duck breast, worcestershire spaetzle, parsley root, mustard greens

2. Lamb shoulder, pine nut “baked beans

3. Wagyu skirt steak, long bean, tamarind, peanut butter ‘pasta’

4. Cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, tabasco, caviar
Now, the main courses were delicious! They were a much better representation of Wylie Dufresne’s culinary point of view. Each of the different dishes represented new techniques and flavor combinations that really went well together. My personal favorite was the duck. This was the best tasting duck I have ever had. It was tender and juicy with perfectly flavorful crunchy skin to compliment it. It was served with the most tasty worcestershire spaetzle that had fig mixed through out. Check out the picture! I would say the second table favorite was the Wagyu skirt steak, long bean, tamarind, peanut butter ‘pasta.’ The meat was cooked to perfection and accompanied by all the right sides to round out the dish. Here is a photo.

The best part of the meal was when we finished. I asked if I could meet the chef, and so I did! Our waiter took me into the kitchen (which was one of the coolest and cleanest kitchens I have even seen) and introduced me to Wylie himself. What a cool guy. Totally down to earth and definitely in it for the food. What an experience. You should go on down and try this incredible and enlightening culinary experience.

50 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
Phone: 212.477.2900