{"id":279,"date":"2009-08-15T10:48:38","date_gmt":"2009-08-15T15:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dougandruth.com\/blog\/?p=279"},"modified":"2010-01-01T17:18:11","modified_gmt":"2010-01-01T22:18:11","slug":"wd-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/blog\/wd-50\/","title":{"rendered":"WD-50"},"content":{"rendered":"
We have eaten at enough restaurants to be able to say that it is not important that the chef be in the kitchen every night. The best restaurants have the best training and the best staff overall. To a point, it’s almost expected that if a chef is busy being featured on TV, they won’t have time to be in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
We were thrilled just to see Chef Dufresne on the Saturday night we dined at WD-50<\/a>. It wasn’t so much that he<\/em> was there, but what his presence represented. WD-50 is still small. It’s the chef’s only restaurant. Tucked away on a quiet street in SoHo, WD-50 still has the feel of a neighborhood eatery. Maybe it will stay that way, or more to the point, will remain the only one. It’s nice to have eaten there before it gets franchised.<\/p>\n Wylie, as it turns out, is a really nice guy. Or at least he knows how to make his customers happy. After consuming the tasting menu with wine pairing (meaning, after drinking a lot of wine), we worked up the courage to ask for a picture. Really, we wanted only to take his picture. It seemed fitting since we had just photographed our whole meal.<\/p>\n While trying to sound respectful and not too touristy, as if there was any hope of that, we asked a waiter if pictures we allowed. We were immediately ushered into the kitchen. After a short time, Wylie looked up from his work, shook our hands and posed with us. It was obvious that he had done this a million times before.<\/p>\n So it was a nice end to the evening, but how was the food? For the most part, excellent. But we have pretty high standards.<\/p>\n There should have been a picture here, but we ate it before attempting to use Ruth’s iPhone to take pictures.<\/p>\n The octopus was very good. A nice combination of unusual flavors and a not-too-chewy texture. The sparkling wine selection complemented the starter well.<\/p>\n Incidentally, we did not take pictures when we ate at the French Laundry<\/a>. We went in thinking that photography would be an unwanted distraction from our meal. It was the right decision.<\/p>\n WD-50, however,\u00a0 is not the French Laundry. WD-50 is notably short on space. While the service was attentive and exacting, the tables are right on top of one another. The waitstaff at times has to climb over you to clear each course. After eleven courses, we became very aware<\/em> of the servers. If a comparison must be made, we will say that the staff at the French Laundry was so smooth there were times we failed to notice that the silverware had been changed.<\/p>\n This course was cool – literally. The “bagel” was formed of ice cream. It was served on a bed of freeze dried salmon. Odd to be sure, but tasty. Clearly the most unique presentation of the evening – somewhat iconic in what we expected in terms of molecular gastronomy.<\/p>\n A favorite of the night, this unassuming disk of pat\u00e9, when cut open, reviled a sweet passionfruit center. The wine was very light and well matched. Perfect for a hot summer night.<\/p>\n This dish was simple to the point of being confusing.\u00a0 A log of scrambled egg in the shape of a stick of butter, tuna and avocado. Kind of like decomposed sushi. Eat it separate? Mix it together? We weren’t sure. It was what it was.<\/p>\n This looked<\/em> really good. Sous-vide chicken, pressed into a little block, then batter dipped and deep fried. Sadly, it was served cold which caused the chicken to lose it’s flavor up against the caviar and the wine. The caviar and wine were paired well and should have been served as a separate dish.<\/p>\n Puffy crab with puffy marshmallow-like blobs. Not very tasty and the texture was unfortunate. Unique, but not in a good way.<\/p>\n The duck, sliced paper thin, was delicious. The kalamansi and lovage provided excellent flavor contrasts without overpowering the duck.<\/p>\n This was another good one. Perfectly cooked with a good amount of fat on it, the lamb was complimented with dried soybeans that had a nice crunch to them. Nicely\u00a0 paired with a full bodied wine.<\/p>\n As with the foie gras, an unassuming disk of ice cream with a liquid center. Cute.<\/p>\n It should be pointed out that WD-50 offers the dessert portion of the tasting menu as its own mini tasting. We thought this was a great idea. If we return, we would get one entree and the dessert tasting. It would be great to see this in other restaurants. The implication being we would rather have three little sweet treats than, say, death by chocholate.<\/p>\n A nice combination of flavors and a really exceptional wine, similar to port, but more figgie.<\/p>\n Another nice combination of flavors without being too sweet.<\/p>\n An interesting experiment. Chewy exterior with a crunch interior. Unnecessary.<\/p>\n \n\t\t
Octopus, lily bulb, pickled mulberry, and tahini with Hubert Clavelin Cremant du Jura ‘Brut-Comte’ NV (Jura, France)<\/h3>\n
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