Restaurant Recaps: wd~50

Since my blog has lacked in the content department recently I thought it'd be good to start a new series where I can talk about one of my many passions, food.

I'll start the recap's with one of the more hot-to-trot restaurants in NYC, in fact even the world. wd~50 was ranked 45th in the world.

As mentioned a couple of month's ago I took Lindsay here for her birthday, as it was kind of a treat for me as well.

Wylie Dufrense's restaurant takes everything you've ever known about food and turned it completely upside down. He has been a leader in the molecular gastronemy movement and has been garnered a lot of praise amongst his peers and reviewers alike.

The Prix Fixe menu is certainly pricey and me being the poor SOB that I am, I chose not to partake in the tasting menu. $140 for the nine course tasting menu, and another $75 for the wine pairing....Hmmm no thanks.

So to my memory these are the menu items that we had.

Appetizers:
Corned duck, rye crisp, purple mustard, horseradish cream
(An interesting dish, while it didn't thrill me, the tastes were right up my alley. I don't know if I'd spend that much on an appetizer usually but for this one time tasting it was worth it.)






Aerated foie, pickled beet, mashad plum, brioche
(My first time having foie. Without knowing anything about the taste of Foie Gras, I thought it was very rich and delicious. The aeration of the Foie Gras allowed the flavor to explode in your mouth which was a great experience.)





Entrees:
Lindsay: Arctic char, snow pea, fried yucca, cherry-black bean
 (I tasted Lindsay's dish and all of the flavors came together quite nicely. The tartness of the sauce along with the added texture of the Yucca was a nice compliment.)





Myself: Iberico pork neck, endive, buckwheat, clove 

 (My First time eating Pork Neck and probably the last. While I love all things pork, this cut was just very tough and tasted similar to a country ham. The texture of the buckwheat and clove was interesting but the taste of the clove was too strong for my liking. 

It's unfortunate this meal left a bad taste in my mouth. My intial choice was sold out for the night, (Venison chop w/ freeze dried polenta, fennel, asian pear) so I was left with an interesting choice.  

Overall:
It was an interesting meal and I enjoyed the way the flavors were presented in an unorthadox fashion. I don't think I'd go back though. There are plenty of other restaurants in this city that'd I'd like to try, than spend this kind of money for a meal I wasn't in love with. 

If I were to go one more time and have an unlimited budget I'd probably go with the tasting menu paired with the wines for a cool $215. 

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