Sunday, April 22, 2007
Dinner at WD-50, New York, NY
We missed our flight back to SF and so after checking into a crappy (yet expensive) airport hotel, we came back to the city to eat at WD-50, a place that has also been on our short list for a while. The chef is Wylie Dufresne and the style is molecular gastronomy in a casual environment. The color palette of the restaurant was interesting and warm, yet, fun and young. The food was gimicky at worst and astoundingly innovative at best. The tasting menu was $115 per person, which was a bit pricy for the number of dishes and the amount of food. Also, the savory to sweet ratio of dishes was off. I only need one dessert, not 3. Also, we felt that the dishes were a bit hard to eat because there were so many components displayed artfully on the plate.
Raw Escolar, White Asparagus, Chocolate Mint and Dehydrated Rhubarb
Really, really delicious. These disparate ingredients came together flawlessly.
Sesame Crisps
This was the bread served at the table. It was so satisfying and unbeleivably thin and crunchy.
Shrimp and Tarragon Macarooms
This was probably our least favorite dish. It was basically shrimp crackers with tarragon paste in between.
Foie Gras in the Round
This was a very interesting, very weird dish. It wasn't particularly evocative of foie gras, but it was tasty. It was composed of balls of foie gras, bitter watercress balls, balsamic vinager balls, cocoa nibs and rice crispies.
Chamomile Crusted Sweetbreads with Cabbage and Kaffir Lime Puree and Water Chestnuts
This was unexpectedly delicious. The puree and the water chestnuts were sort of beside the point because the chamomile sweetbreads were the true star.
Beef Tongue, Fried Mayo and Tomato Molasses
This was the chef's play on a ham sandwich. It was an interesting idea, but it didn't really meld. The tongue was a bit dry. The molasses was too sweet for us. But...the fried mayo was just about as good as it sounds.
Miso Soup with Sesame Noodles (before)
The "noodles" arrived as a paste in the squeeze-tube.
Miso Soup with Sesame Noodles (after)
After squeezing the tube into the steaming broth, perfectly slurpable noodles were created on contact. Amazing. Gimicky, in a good way. The broth wasn't all that interesting, but the noodles were so cool.
Langoustine with Popcorn Emulsion and Crispy Hibiscus
This was truly transcendant. The langoustine was as tender as can be, and seemed barely cooked, almost sashimi like. The popcorn emulsion truly tasted of popcorn, and the hibicus tasted quite a bit like a fruit roll-up. All together, this dish was something we could eat day in and day out.
Squab Breast Coated in Beet Chips with Onion Chips, Coconut Pebbles, Beets and Sorrel
The squab was so tender and the coconut balls were very odd, but dissolved on the tongue creating a nice complement to the sweet beets. The onion chips were good enough to eat out of a bag as a snack all on their own. Our only complaint is that there were not enough of them.
Black Current Parfait with Matcha Green Tea Powder, Elderflower and Lychee
This not-too-sweet dessert was very good. The black current ice cream had a tangy, yorgurty flavor and the green tea added a nice bitterness to the dish.
Soft Chocolate with Avocado Puree, Mint Puree, Licorice and Lime Sorbet
There were too many flavors going on here. It would have been perfect with just the chocolate, sorbet and avocado puree. Beautifully plated.
Coffee Cake with Chicory Ice Cream, Marachino Gelee and Ricotta
This was by far our least favorite dessert. The coffee cake was basically white cake encased in a coffee flavored gelatin. It was foul. The other components were ok, but this just didn't work well for our palettes.
Juniper Marshmellows with Lime Sugar
These were a perfect end to the meal. They were intensely flavored with juniper, if a bit sweet. But what can you expect? It's a marshmellow.
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Health Code Violations
Raw Escolar, White Asparagus, Chocolate Mint and Dehydrated Rhubarb
Really, really delicious. These disparate ingredients came together flawlessly.
Sesame Crisps
This was the bread served at the table. It was so satisfying and unbeleivably thin and crunchy.
Shrimp and Tarragon Macarooms
This was probably our least favorite dish. It was basically shrimp crackers with tarragon paste in between.
Foie Gras in the Round
This was a very interesting, very weird dish. It wasn't particularly evocative of foie gras, but it was tasty. It was composed of balls of foie gras, bitter watercress balls, balsamic vinager balls, cocoa nibs and rice crispies.
Chamomile Crusted Sweetbreads with Cabbage and Kaffir Lime Puree and Water Chestnuts
This was unexpectedly delicious. The puree and the water chestnuts were sort of beside the point because the chamomile sweetbreads were the true star.
Beef Tongue, Fried Mayo and Tomato Molasses
This was the chef's play on a ham sandwich. It was an interesting idea, but it didn't really meld. The tongue was a bit dry. The molasses was too sweet for us. But...the fried mayo was just about as good as it sounds.
Miso Soup with Sesame Noodles (before)
The "noodles" arrived as a paste in the squeeze-tube.
Miso Soup with Sesame Noodles (after)
After squeezing the tube into the steaming broth, perfectly slurpable noodles were created on contact. Amazing. Gimicky, in a good way. The broth wasn't all that interesting, but the noodles were so cool.
Langoustine with Popcorn Emulsion and Crispy Hibiscus
This was truly transcendant. The langoustine was as tender as can be, and seemed barely cooked, almost sashimi like. The popcorn emulsion truly tasted of popcorn, and the hibicus tasted quite a bit like a fruit roll-up. All together, this dish was something we could eat day in and day out.
Squab Breast Coated in Beet Chips with Onion Chips, Coconut Pebbles, Beets and Sorrel
The squab was so tender and the coconut balls were very odd, but dissolved on the tongue creating a nice complement to the sweet beets. The onion chips were good enough to eat out of a bag as a snack all on their own. Our only complaint is that there were not enough of them.
Black Current Parfait with Matcha Green Tea Powder, Elderflower and Lychee
This not-too-sweet dessert was very good. The black current ice cream had a tangy, yorgurty flavor and the green tea added a nice bitterness to the dish.
Soft Chocolate with Avocado Puree, Mint Puree, Licorice and Lime Sorbet
There were too many flavors going on here. It would have been perfect with just the chocolate, sorbet and avocado puree. Beautifully plated.
Coffee Cake with Chicory Ice Cream, Marachino Gelee and Ricotta
This was by far our least favorite dessert. The coffee cake was basically white cake encased in a coffee flavored gelatin. It was foul. The other components were ok, but this just didn't work well for our palettes.
Juniper Marshmellows with Lime Sugar
These were a perfect end to the meal. They were intensely flavored with juniper, if a bit sweet. But what can you expect? It's a marshmellow.
Ratings:
Food: 2
Decor: 2
Service: 2
Food: 2
Decor: 2
Service: 2
Health Code Violations
Labels: Decor: 2, Food: 2, molecular gastronomy, nouveau American, restaurant, review, Service: 2
# posted by Giao and Alexis @ 10:00 PM 
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