Science Chefs: Alan’s Take
11.15.06
When you sit down for dinner at wd~50, you more or less think that you’re prepared for what’s coming. When the first dish is monkfish liver with persimmon and smoked green tea, you realize perhaps you weren’t quite that prepared. The next course is a sunny-side up "egg," made only of coconut milk and carrot juice. And then it hits you, watching orange yolk ooze over the egg white: Hey! This is fun! Since opening in 2003, wd~50 has really blossomed into Manhattan’s outpost for the molecular gastronomy movement, but Wylie Dufresne’s classical background makes the cuisine about much more than the whimsy of the science chef. Sure, the malted chestnut soup is garnished with "salmon threads" and perfect circles of celery root, but it’s also delicious. And I venture to say that there’s no better pork belly in the city than Wylie’s, which should be required eating for anyone at all interested in sous-vide cookery (or pig fat, for that matter). This style of food certainly isn’t for everyday eating, nor is it for the curmudgeonly restaurant-goer. That being said, a restaurant like wd~50 is supremely interesting and should be tried by everyone at least once. If you want to get a slice afterward, that’s up to you.
- Keywords
- chefs,
- molecular gastronomy,
- wylie dufresne,
- restaurants,
- alan sytsma
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