Big City, Little Kitchen

This post was guest written by Sal Cangeloso.

What does renowned chef and molecular gastronomist Wylie Dufresne, proprietor of New York restaurant wd-50, serve at a private event? I discovered the answer when I attended a party for Sony’s new notebook computers at HighBar rooftop last week. Chef Dufresne was invited because of parallels Sony wanted to draw between his innovative food and their new products. He spent the evening talking to guests and offering explanations of his hors d’oeuvres, none of which are on the menu at his restaurant.

Here are the four dishes the chef presented that evening…

From top right:

• Corn balls served with lime mayonnaise. The balls were soft and looked like Play-Doh, but tasted quite good, similar to grilled corn from a place like La Esquina. Much of the flavor came from being cooked in smoked oil. They were made with real corn, not masa.
• Seared scallops with purple cabbage foam. The vibrant purple surprised many guests, as did the lightly cooked scallops hidden beneath, but this was a superb appetizer.
• Yuzu chips. These were light and tasty, almost like a play on Pirate’s Booty. My favorites; a small bowl of these could revolutionize snack food for me.
• Yuzu soup. It was a light, slightly sweet soup, and while it was interesting it seemed to be the least popular of the dishes.

Wylie was standing by without much to do, so I was lucky enough to talk to him for a bit. He ended up being quite nice and interested in what people thought of the dishes. The crowd was not all foodies (in fact, there were very few) but he listened intently and explained the dished to anyone who asked. He was kind enough to outline the process of the corn dish for me, although it was clearly beyond my technical abilities. This was an exciting opportunity to get a preview of the cooking style at wd-50, a restaurant that has piqued my interest for some time.