Gastronimcally outrageous dinner at Wylie Dufresne’s wd~50

The day has arrived. After years of admiring Chef Wylie Dufresne and his molecular gastronomy, A-Tooch made it to foodie paradise, wd~50. Boyfriend made the reservations three weeks in advance and we STILL could only get slotted in for 10:30 p.m. No matter though, I saved my appetite all day and the place was still completely full when we finished our dinner!

Totally unsuspecting in its Lower East Side location, the restaurant was everything a Michelin one-star restaurant should be — plus completely unpretentious and innovative to the extreme.

The menu seems simple, but don’t be fooled. Plates are crafted in a unique way to fool the eye and the taste buds. Food so funky that the images are posted on the wd~50 website itself (all photos below courtesy the wd~50 site, because I can not do these perfect dishes justice with a camera).

The servers wear jeans (love it!) and are are eager to offer food/wine suggestions or, in some cases, to explain what the crazy concoction on your plate is.

We started with one of the signature dishes, “eggs benedict” (I put this in quotes because you won’t recognize this dish as your typical brunch lovers food):

The most delicious feature by far (and I’m not even usually an eggs benny fan) was the fried english muffin balls, filled with hollandaise sauce.

Our other appetizer was an equally delicious veal brisket, served with fried ricotta, honey dew and black olive slices and a tart green apple sauce. A combination you’d never expect that surprisingly tickles the tastebuds

For entrees, Mike got the arctic char with snow peas and yucca. I didn’t try it — Mike said it was tasty — I’ll take your word for it, Mike. But I think MY entree had to be better by far:

Perfectly cooked duck breast — and not just a couple skimpy pieces either. It was served in a tremendous bowl with a mild cheddar broth, soaking kimchee-cous cous with sliced of green apple, cheddar and crisp kimchee on top. AWESOME.

We were pretty much stuffed after dinner but what’s a meal with out le gran finale? Dessert was tricky because, in this Wonderland where nothing is what it seems, we had no clue what to expect. Seriously. The table next to us ordered coffee ice cream (basic, you’d think) and a giant pillowy blob of dessert liquids came out. Haha – Surprise!

Mike got the lemongrass mousse with whole wheat sorbet and a lemon ice sliver on top. Check out this crazy playground of food:

I, of course, opted for the much more decadent hazelnut tart filled with rich chocolate and topped with coconut and chicory.

In my humble little foodie opinion, this place epitomizes everything I love in a great restaurant – unique creations, casual atmosphere  and a staff that truly care about your experience there. Kudos to Wylie + team! I can’t say I’ll be coming back anytime soon or I’d go broke, but I will make sure someone else knows to take me