Once Upon A Napkin: WD-50

A Birthday Excursion

WD~50

August 11, 2012

Manhattan Lower East Side

-Nick's Take-

For Stephan's birthday this was part I of our secret food surprise. WD-50 is not on the outside what we expected from the world's best chefs, and potentially the most advanced Molecular Gastronomist in the country. We took an exciting cab ride to the Lower East Side, tucked away from any major industry or commercial areas. A quaint red and blue neon sign is all that made its location known on such an unimpressive locale.

While we dropped the ball taking photos, mostly because it was so nice that doing so seemed highly inappropriate, the presentations were some of the best we've ever seen. The above is from Google :p

The first couple dishes were very seafood heavy. I was a much bigger fan of the Nigiri, as a whole the dish had a much greater range of taste. The Nigiri used the rooty vegetable Salsify as a rice substitute and that was pretty cool. Even though the "Roe" sounded like something I would like, overall I don't remember liking it that much, but then again, anything with pickled onion is going to be hard for me - FYI the "Roe" is the noodle.

The Pho Gras was one of my favorite dishes of the evening. A clever play on Foie Gras, there were a good piece of Foie Gras with some noodles and a very tasty Pho broth full of flavor. I found out afterwards, the crunchy bit on the side is beef that has been cooked, dried, and then fried - it was like a pork rind I think.

The Amaro Yolk dish had some of the trippiest flavors. In particular - the peas are actually condensed carrots then rolled in dehydrated peas. The pasta looking part is actually ribbons of carrot, and the confit chicken was epic.

Veal being one of my favorite meats, this dish was great, but surprisingly not one of the best ones. I think some of the zing was in the mustard crackers which I avoided extensively.

The crab toast was my least favorite - i liked the bottom part which was pretty much just saffron flavored cake. But overall too much crab flavor.

I actually really liked the Sole, but was iffy about the tomato and avoided the black sauce (licorice).

Sweat breads have become something I really like. This was no exception. They can sometimes be salty, and the creme on the bottom and pistachio help cut that and add flavor. This is possibly my second favorite dish until we get to dessert.

Prior to coming I had big hopes for the root beer ribs dish. While the dish delivered with high marks and had an amazing flavor - it was just savory and not breath taking.

Of anything we ate - this honeydew jasmine cucumber pallet cleanser was epic. I think I have a hidden torrent love for clean and crisp and subtle dishes. I love honey dew, and this was just all around great. I wouldn't ever try cucumber icecream on its own.

I don't remember much at all about yuzu ice milk. Someone else can hopefully say more.

Last but not least - The Smore. This is hands down the most spectacle worthy dish of the night. The smear around the dish is charred meringue that gives a true caramelized marshmallow flavor. The actual marshmallow is ice cream, also meringue that allowed it to be charred as well.

The entire experience was amazing. Each dish hinted the mastery of Molecular Gastronomy but had amazing flavor portfolios and more classic aspects. All 12 courses took several hours to work through and we enjoyed a handful of great cocktails which I can't even begin to remember anymore. I would do it again in a heart beat.

-Tara's Take-

I'll be the first to admit that, nerves already frazzled from the crazy cab ride over to this dark road, I was a whole lot more than less impressed with the outside and definitely stood there for a long moment wondering if we were POSSIBLY in the correct place. But there it was in the window, the little blue and red WD-50 advertising just the place I had made reservations... Well, we went in!

Once we entered, I felt like I had been literally transported somewhere else. While not endlessly large, the restaurant had a brilliant depth and while not overly spacious was the perfect setting for the food experience that we were going to have. Once seated the beverages started to roll and they were all brilliantly tasty and interestingly made and named. We certainly did our share of having Stephan try a lot of different ones ;)

The food itself was the flavor adventure that we could have hoped for. Having had a few experiences with molecular gastronomy in other restaurants we were definitely excited about an entire MEAL of this type of masterpiece. From the start with the nigiri and the lobster roe dishes I found myself in awe at how the flavors came together while sometimes not even looking a damned thing like what they were actually made of. Everything was beautifully plated and if you didn't get what you expected in flavor, you weren't hurting for having had a pleasant viewing experience.

I have to agree with Nick on at least PART of the Pho Gras review. While I'm not a fan of foie gras itself I did enjoy this play on it and was fascinated with the presentation.

I can tell you that this night I was probably FAR more entertained by the presentation and mastery that went into crafting our plates than I was with the contents itself but experiencing the visual excitement often makes me forget that I don't always like all the components. I ate through my meal fairly well (it's always nice when something like this is a "several hour" event because then I can experience more without making myself ill) but the crowning experience for ME of the entire night was definitely in the desserts.

There wasn't a single thing about dessert that I didn't really care for. I thought they were all wonderfully prepared. The flavors in the jasmine, honeydew, cucumber, chartreuse were simply OFF THE CHARTS in addition to being one of the most BOLDLY colored of our courses. I'm forever a sucker for most anything with rhubarb in it (as long as you don't go ruining it with onions like they do in chutney sometimes!) and I think Nick adequately explained the S'mores dessert without my needing to really add just how amazing that was!

The capper to the evening was getting to take a small tour of the kitchen at the end of the night. Though WD himself was not there that night and none of the kitchen staff really interacted it was fascinating to stand in a kitchen that was part normal kitchen, part science lab. So many white bottles and containers and droppers and different kinds of tools you wouldn't normally see in a standard kitchen and some really intense looks while people plated the dishes "just right".

For future notice for those of you looking for a "really cool date" for your foodie other half... you should know there's a two-top available IN THE KITCHEN if you care to watch the hub-bub while you eat!

Sketchy location or not... I'd totally risk my life in another "exciting" cab ride to go again.