Dining Brief: WD-50

I recently had the pleasure of experiencing a meal at WD-50. I use the word experience because at Wylie Dufresne’s Lower East Side restaurant, ‘experiencing’ your food is just as much a part of the dining experience as eating it.

Carrot coconut 'sunny side up.' I believe this dish epitomizes the experience at WD-50. It looks like a beautiful fried egg and even feels and acts like a fried egg yet it tastes like something completely different. Lots of fun.

This was my second visit to Wd-50 but my first time ordering A La Carte. The first visit was about a year ago when my friend Josh and I splurged and each ordered a tasting menu with wine pairings. We enjoyed the meal so much we even ordered extra desserts. Although not every dish on the tasting menu was a complete hit, I think we both agreed that the dining experience was one of the most interesting and fun that we’ve ever had.

On this recent visit we ordered A La Carte and bought five appetizers for the four of us. Since we all shared to an extent, I was able to sample almost as many dishes as the tasting menu, but I came away from the experience a little disappointed. It wasn’t that the food was bad, I really enjoyed most of the things I ate, it’s just that unlike the tasting menu, there was nothing that really made me say “wow.” The a la carte choices didn’t dip as low as some of the things that we had on the tasting menu, but they didn’t fly as high either.

I was trying to figure out why this might be and I decided that restaurant economics dictate that a regular menu be much safer. If someone like me goes into a restaurant like WD-50 and orders a tasting menu, it’s ok if three of the very innovative dishes aren’t that good. I’ll still eave happy if the other seven blow me away. However, if someone is only having an appetizer and an entrée and one fails, there is a good chance that diner isn’t coming back. The regular menu has to have safer choices to cater to a les adventurous, possibly skeptical crowd.

I still think WD-50 is an incredible restaurant and one that I would highly recommend to anyone that loves to eat but also likes to be challenged and think about their food. However, I think the true genius behind WD-50 really only comes out when Chef

Dufresne gets to play around as he often does on the tasting menu. It serves as a platform for him to offer you some of his most fun dishes and new creations. They might not all be great but when I taste a dish that hits, it brings an involuntary smile to my face, something that doesn’t happen often at restaurants.

In conclusion, if you go to WD-50 looking to really think about your food and to eat something delicious, you need to go all the way. If you dip your foot in the pond and try the regular menu you’ll probably be disappointed. Jump in for the full experience however, and you will leave happy.