"Hi, I'm Wylie"
Not “Hi, I’m Chef Wylie” or “Hi I’m Chef Dufresne”. Just “Hi, I’m Wylie”. This is how one of the best chefs in the country greets visitors to his kitchen. When you have as much talent as he does you don’t need to try to impress anyone with pretension or honorifics.
I’m not often star-struck, but I must admit I babbled a bit. The wine surely helped with the babble. I tried to be as respectful as I could but it was one of those “you’ve got two minutes to ask this guy anything” brain freezes. I told him he’s the only guy in the world who will make eggs that I’ll actually eat, and then I asked him questions about technique and ingredient sourcing. He was gracious and answered all of my questions save one. I’ll get to that when I go through the menu. The service was amazingly gracious and friendly, as was pastry chef Alex Stupak who, despite being in the weeds took a few minutes to meet us as well. When we were talking to Alex Wylie yelled over “you guys hang around in here much longer I’m putting you to work.” I told him “Give me 8 years, chef, ‘cause them I’m quitting the rat race and I’ll come down and do a stage.” Got a chuckle out of him on that one.
Enough with the idol worship how was dinner? Welll…
Poached oyster, bulghur, sweet potato, cinnamon dashi
'Selim' Spumante Brut De Conciliis (Campania, Italy)
I could’ve just smelled this all night. The oyster was perfectly cooked (lost in all the mol-gas smoke and mirrors is the fact that the wd-50 kitchen flawlessly executes the fundamentals) but the dashi was the star of this dish, clean and crisp with an incredible cinnamon aroma, the real cinnamon, not that crap they put in Dentyne. Didn’t notice the sweet potato much. The Spumante was nicely balanced and a good, silent companion to the first two courses.
Everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese
'Selim' Spumante Brut De Conciliis (Campania, Italy)
One of the great things about wd-50 is Wylie lets you know you’re not at a conventional restaurant pretty early in the meal. This course perfectly captured the flavors of one of my favorite breakfasts while making each element a completely different texture. The “bagel” was actually everything bagel ice cream (yes, it tasted like an everything bagel and yes, it had the texture of ice cream), the salmon threads were sort of like jerky and there was a red onion confit along with the crispy cream cheese. This is the kind of thing that separates the Wylie-lovers from the Wylie-haters. There’s not a middle ground once you eat this, though I would say it’s not as polarizing a dish as the pizza pebbles.
(Picture from wd-50 website)
Foie gras, passionfruit, Chinese celery
Chardonnay 'Etima Harlafti' Domaine Harlaftis 2007
This course made me laugh. The foie flavor was there but the passionfruit inside the foie cut through the unctuous coating foie usually leaves in your mouth which made the Chardonnay a perfect pairing as it too was light and citrusy. The celery added a nice crunch as a counterpoint to the foie. I didn’t get to ask what the thought process was here, was it “Hey, how can we get away with pairing a foie course with a Chardonnay?” or was it “How can we have someone experience only the flavor of foie and not the heaviness?”
Scrambled egg ravioli, charred avocado, mackerel
County Line Rose 2008 (Anderson Valley, California)
The ravioli shell and stuffing were both made out of scrambled egg. “How did you get the two different egg textures?” I asked Wylie.
“I can’t tell you.”
“I’m not some food blogger that’s going to blurt this all over the Internet.”
“Nope”
I saw one of the other cooks laughing and realize my balls were being busted. It was an honor.
Cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, Tabasco, caviar
Bourgogne Rouge Meo-Camuzet Frere et Soeurs 2006 (Burgundy, France)
Comfort food. Not a lot of gimmickry here, just perfectly cooked and then chilled fried chicken like you’d get out the fridge at 2 in the morning. How it was fried and chilled and still juicy is a mystery. The Tabasco was suspended in honey which made for a wonderful spicy-sweet sauce. The caviar was almost an afterthought for me; I was mesmerized by the chicken.
Snails, red lentils, juniper, orange
Bourgogne Rouge Meo-Camuzet Frere et Soeurs 2006 (Burgundy, France)
I’ve never eaten a snail I didn’t like. These were no exception. This dish was also another great example of lightening something heavy by using acid as the orange lifted this dish to a new level. I thought the dish could have used a bit more seasoning but the doctor says I need to cut down on salt anyway. The burgundy was excellent.
Duck leg, popcorn pudding, kalamansi, lovage
Syrah Arcadian 2005 (Santa Ynez Valley, California)
Clever clever. The duck leg was actually cured and dried. Duck leg ham, in other words. If he didn’t tell me it was duck I would think it was a regular smoked ham. The popcorn pudding was another fine “right flavor but “wrong” texture” mash-up. I didn’t write anything down about the wine so it was probably fine but unremarkable.
Lamb loin, black garlic romesco, pickled ramps, dried soybean
Syrah Arcadian 2005 (Santa Ynez Valley, California)
What a beautiful piece of lamb! I asked Wylie where he got his lamb and he told me D’Artagnan. I asked if it was just for the trade or if it was available to the consumers and he smiled and shrugged and I said “right, you don’t shop, I forgot.” Well folks, it is
I also now must get my hands on black garlic. I read about it a few weeks back but this was my first taste and it was beautiful. Must buy some. Now.
Oh yeah, and the pickled ramps were delicious too. One thing about wd-50 that might be construed as a problem but isn’t really worth complaining about is that there are so many amazing individual elements to each dish that you forget to think about or look for each one.
Vanilla ice cream, balsamic, raspberry
The vanilla ice cream was clean and fresh with a core of balsamic and a lovely, tart raspberry powder/streusel dusting. A fine palate cleanser and simple enough to give one’s mind and senses a break before moving fully into Alex Stupak’s world.
Hazelnut tart, coconut, chocolate, chicory
Banyuls Domaine La Tour Vieille 2006 (Banyuls, France)
A beautiful looking plate, No tricks, no big surprises, just a wonderfully executed tart. Look at it. Hungry yet?
(Picture from wd-50 website)
Carmelized brioche, apricot, buttercream, lemon thyme
30 Year Pedro Ximenez 'Venerable' Pedro Domecq (Jerez, Spain)
For me, the runaway hit of dessert was the lemon thyme ice cream component of this dish. It was another thing I babbled at Wylie about: “Where do you get your thyme? We grown thyme every year and it doesn’t taste like this!”
“It’s regular old thyme. It’s nothing special. Buy lemon thyme” he advised me.
Your temperature and texture sense tell you that you have ice cream in your mouth and your taste buds tell you you’re chewing on a handful of lemon thyme leaves. I asked Alex Stupak how he created this and he said “Just steep the thyme in hot water like you would tea and then make ice cream with the liquid”. Oh, it’s THAT simple. Of course.
The wine here was a nice port with dried apricot notes. I actually wrote that down. Jeez, I’m getting pretentious.
Cocoa packets. Chocolate shortbread, milk ice cream
Alex sends you on your way with a smile. I love the packets, it’s like putting a fruit roll-up in your mouth made out of chocolate which dissolves to release what tastes like Cocoa Krispies. The milk ice cream is the milk for your cereal. What’s that canard about “eating breakfast all day is comfort food” again?
You know, You can talk about execution and ingredients and service and décor and whatever the hell else you want to factor into a review. My measure of a restaurant is how happy it makes me. Right now, there isn’t a restaurant in this city that makes me happier than wd-50. I hope it’s still there in 8 years, and I hope I have the time and financial resources to get Wylie to hire me to work for free. It’s the least I could do for all the joy I’ve experienced there and hope to continue to experience on a regular basis.
I’m not often star-struck, but I must admit I babbled a bit. The wine surely helped with the babble. I tried to be as respectful as I could but it was one of those “you’ve got two minutes to ask this guy anything” brain freezes. I told him he’s the only guy in the world who will make eggs that I’ll actually eat, and then I asked him questions about technique and ingredient sourcing. He was gracious and answered all of my questions save one. I’ll get to that when I go through the menu. The service was amazingly gracious and friendly, as was pastry chef Alex Stupak who, despite being in the weeds took a few minutes to meet us as well. When we were talking to Alex Wylie yelled over “you guys hang around in here much longer I’m putting you to work.” I told him “Give me 8 years, chef, ‘cause them I’m quitting the rat race and I’ll come down and do a stage.” Got a chuckle out of him on that one.
Enough with the idol worship how was dinner? Welll…
Poached oyster, bulghur, sweet potato, cinnamon dashi
'Selim' Spumante Brut De Conciliis (Campania, Italy)
I could’ve just smelled this all night. The oyster was perfectly cooked (lost in all the mol-gas smoke and mirrors is the fact that the wd-50 kitchen flawlessly executes the fundamentals) but the dashi was the star of this dish, clean and crisp with an incredible cinnamon aroma, the real cinnamon, not that crap they put in Dentyne. Didn’t notice the sweet potato much. The Spumante was nicely balanced and a good, silent companion to the first two courses.
Everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese
'Selim' Spumante Brut De Conciliis (Campania, Italy)
One of the great things about wd-50 is Wylie lets you know you’re not at a conventional restaurant pretty early in the meal. This course perfectly captured the flavors of one of my favorite breakfasts while making each element a completely different texture. The “bagel” was actually everything bagel ice cream (yes, it tasted like an everything bagel and yes, it had the texture of ice cream), the salmon threads were sort of like jerky and there was a red onion confit along with the crispy cream cheese. This is the kind of thing that separates the Wylie-lovers from the Wylie-haters. There’s not a middle ground once you eat this, though I would say it’s not as polarizing a dish as the pizza pebbles.
(Picture from wd-50 website)Foie gras, passionfruit, Chinese celery
Chardonnay 'Etima Harlafti' Domaine Harlaftis 2007
This course made me laugh. The foie flavor was there but the passionfruit inside the foie cut through the unctuous coating foie usually leaves in your mouth which made the Chardonnay a perfect pairing as it too was light and citrusy. The celery added a nice crunch as a counterpoint to the foie. I didn’t get to ask what the thought process was here, was it “Hey, how can we get away with pairing a foie course with a Chardonnay?” or was it “How can we have someone experience only the flavor of foie and not the heaviness?”
Scrambled egg ravioli, charred avocado, mackerel
County Line Rose 2008 (Anderson Valley, California)
The ravioli shell and stuffing were both made out of scrambled egg. “How did you get the two different egg textures?” I asked Wylie.
“I can’t tell you.”
“I’m not some food blogger that’s going to blurt this all over the Internet.”
“Nope”
I saw one of the other cooks laughing and realize my balls were being busted. It was an honor.
Cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, Tabasco, caviar
Bourgogne Rouge Meo-Camuzet Frere et Soeurs 2006 (Burgundy, France)
Comfort food. Not a lot of gimmickry here, just perfectly cooked and then chilled fried chicken like you’d get out the fridge at 2 in the morning. How it was fried and chilled and still juicy is a mystery. The Tabasco was suspended in honey which made for a wonderful spicy-sweet sauce. The caviar was almost an afterthought for me; I was mesmerized by the chicken.
Snails, red lentils, juniper, orange
Bourgogne Rouge Meo-Camuzet Frere et Soeurs 2006 (Burgundy, France)
I’ve never eaten a snail I didn’t like. These were no exception. This dish was also another great example of lightening something heavy by using acid as the orange lifted this dish to a new level. I thought the dish could have used a bit more seasoning but the doctor says I need to cut down on salt anyway. The burgundy was excellent.
Duck leg, popcorn pudding, kalamansi, lovage
Syrah Arcadian 2005 (Santa Ynez Valley, California)
Clever clever. The duck leg was actually cured and dried. Duck leg ham, in other words. If he didn’t tell me it was duck I would think it was a regular smoked ham. The popcorn pudding was another fine “right flavor but “wrong” texture” mash-up. I didn’t write anything down about the wine so it was probably fine but unremarkable.
Lamb loin, black garlic romesco, pickled ramps, dried soybean
Syrah Arcadian 2005 (Santa Ynez Valley, California)
What a beautiful piece of lamb! I asked Wylie where he got his lamb and he told me D’Artagnan. I asked if it was just for the trade or if it was available to the consumers and he smiled and shrugged and I said “right, you don’t shop, I forgot.” Well folks, it is
I also now must get my hands on black garlic. I read about it a few weeks back but this was my first taste and it was beautiful. Must buy some. Now.
Oh yeah, and the pickled ramps were delicious too. One thing about wd-50 that might be construed as a problem but isn’t really worth complaining about is that there are so many amazing individual elements to each dish that you forget to think about or look for each one.
Vanilla ice cream, balsamic, raspberry
The vanilla ice cream was clean and fresh with a core of balsamic and a lovely, tart raspberry powder/streusel dusting. A fine palate cleanser and simple enough to give one’s mind and senses a break before moving fully into Alex Stupak’s world.
Hazelnut tart, coconut, chocolate, chicory
Banyuls Domaine La Tour Vieille 2006 (Banyuls, France)
A beautiful looking plate, No tricks, no big surprises, just a wonderfully executed tart. Look at it. Hungry yet?
(Picture from wd-50 website)Carmelized brioche, apricot, buttercream, lemon thyme
30 Year Pedro Ximenez 'Venerable' Pedro Domecq (Jerez, Spain)
For me, the runaway hit of dessert was the lemon thyme ice cream component of this dish. It was another thing I babbled at Wylie about: “Where do you get your thyme? We grown thyme every year and it doesn’t taste like this!”
“It’s regular old thyme. It’s nothing special. Buy lemon thyme” he advised me.
Your temperature and texture sense tell you that you have ice cream in your mouth and your taste buds tell you you’re chewing on a handful of lemon thyme leaves. I asked Alex Stupak how he created this and he said “Just steep the thyme in hot water like you would tea and then make ice cream with the liquid”. Oh, it’s THAT simple. Of course.
The wine here was a nice port with dried apricot notes. I actually wrote that down. Jeez, I’m getting pretentious.
Cocoa packets. Chocolate shortbread, milk ice cream
Alex sends you on your way with a smile. I love the packets, it’s like putting a fruit roll-up in your mouth made out of chocolate which dissolves to release what tastes like Cocoa Krispies. The milk ice cream is the milk for your cereal. What’s that canard about “eating breakfast all day is comfort food” again?
You know, You can talk about execution and ingredients and service and décor and whatever the hell else you want to factor into a review. My measure of a restaurant is how happy it makes me. Right now, there isn’t a restaurant in this city that makes me happier than wd-50. I hope it’s still there in 8 years, and I hope I have the time and financial resources to get Wylie to hire me to work for free. It’s the least I could do for all the joy I’ve experienced there and hope to continue to experience on a regular basis.
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