No.45 – WD~50

Since Wylie Dufresne opened up WD-50 on New York’s Lower East Side in 2003 it has become one of the most talked about of the city’s restaurants and, after a four-year absence from this list, it’s nice to welcome its return. What made WD-50 an instant hit was Dufresne’s ‘topsy-turvy’, experimental cooking, which pairs unlikely ingredients and challenges long-held food conceptions, and there is still plenty of evidence of this today in dishes such as Wagyu Skirt Steak, Long Bean, Tamarind and Peanut Butter ‘Pasta’.

New for this year is an aerated foie gras terrine that resembles a natural sponge and which is made by ealing the foie in a container with a one way valve when still liquid and then exposing it to a partial vacuum before
allowing it to set and Scallops, Pine Needle Udon, Grapefruit Dashi and Chinese Broccoli, where the scallops are unusually cooked sous-vide before browned off in a pan.