WD-50 (August 17, 2014)
November 8, 2014 § Leave a comment
A summer visit to one of my favorite restaurants in New York City, WD-50, which is sadly closing November 30. Love that the atmosphere and service is always friendly and super casual (if you drunkenly ask for a kitchen tour at the end of the meal, they’re usually nice and polite enough to say yes) and the food manages to be sophisticated and comfortingly familiar at the same time.
Highlights of this particular meal were the first two dishes – an oyster in its “shell” and a super rich, flavorful potato ravioli paired with caviar, both paired with a lovely champagne, an updated version of shrimp and grits, which is one of my favorite Southern dishes to begin with, the pork collar course and the verbena mousse with buckwheat (which oddly reminded me of Carvel ice cream cake and seemed to amuse the waiter when I told him so).
This was also the first time I decided to opt for the wine pairing…and thanks to that and the additional bottle of sake we ordered towards the end of the meal (because the oat meringue dessert didn’t come with a pairing and someone at our table apparently would not let that stand), yours truly had a massive hangover the next morning. Worth it though…
Oyster in its “shell,” preserved lemon, snow pea, hazelnut with Pinot Meunier Champagne “Brut Blanc de Meunier” Millesime 2007 Jean Michel from Champagne, France
Egg yolk-mashed potato ravioli, caviar, cucumber with Pinot Meunier Champagne
Avocado-pea soup, smoked crab, pistachio with Riesling “Vandenberg” Tatomer 2010 from Santa Barbara County, California, USA
Cuttlefish, carrot, chamomile, schmaltz with Sauvignon Blanc Bluxome Street Winery 2012 from Russian River Valle, California, USA
Charred chicken liver, szechuan, injera, melon with Viognier “Antoine Creek” Grammery Cellars 2013 from Walla Walla, WA, USA
Shrimp grits, pickled jalapeno with Grenache, Zinfindel, Mourvedre Rose “Old Hill Ranch” Bucklin 2013 from Sonoma Valley, CA, USA
Hamachi, turnip, shiso, blood sausage with Hoyo Sawayaka Junmai Uchigasaki Brewery from Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Pork collar, poppy seed, red bell pepper, tamarind with Bourgogne Rouge Camille Giroud 2011 from Burgundy, France
Cured duck breast, curds-n-whey, sweet potato, rice noodles with Malvasia Nera “Medos” Castello Monaci 2011 from Salento, Italy
Oat meringue, banana, strawberry, yeast
Verbena mousse, rhubarb, buckwheat, camelina oil with Sparkling Apple Cider ‘La Transparente” Cidrerie du Vulcain from Fribourg, Switzerland
Ovaltine cake, marcona almond, cardamom, sheep’s milk with Tawny Porto Quinta do Infantado “10 years old” from Douro, Portugal
Cookie dough ice cream with sarsaparilla jelly
The pass at the end of service
Notes on Food 
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