WD 50 (Aug 2012)

This is a bit of retro-post. From one of early travel trips for great food. Ripped from our old food blog.

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.