When I read that wd-50 was closing, I knew I had to try it before it shuttered its doors. When it first opened in 2003, wd-50 was avant-garde in its exploration of molecular gastronomy; in fact, the restaurant played a major role in popularizing molecular gastronomy among New York foodies. In June of this year, however, Wylie Dufresne announced that wd-50 would be closing on November 30 due to impending construction. In other words, the building that wd-50 currently occupies will be torn down to make room for a new development. While building issues are ostensibly the reason for the shutdown, I have also read articles that indicated that slowing business was probably a contributor as well. After my meal at wd-50, I can see why business hasn’t exactly been booming as of late…

Overall judgment: 2 of 5 stars

The excellent wine pairing, combined with a couple of solid dishes, lifted wd-50 to a two-star rating, but I came away from the meal feeling incredibly disappointed as a whole. My boyfriend and I ordered the tasting menu ($155 per person), along with the wine pairing ($95 per person). While the selections for the wine pairing were strong and interesting  (who knew that Croatia produced excellent refosco wines?), the food was rather pedestrian and lacked imagination. The presentation of our courses was consistently attractive, but the food itself was mundane, especially for a molecular gastronomy restaurant. Throughout the meal, I repeatedly thought, “Where is the innovation? Where is the creativity behind these courses?”

The quality of the food wasn’t the only cause for complaint. The service was also unrefined, as our servers struggled to answer basic questions we had about our courses. To sum it all up, I’m glad that I finally tried wd-50, but I won’t miss it when it’s gone. Below is the progression of our meal:

Oyster in its “shell”, preserved lemon, snow pea, hazelnut. It didn’t start off well. We asked what kind of oyster we were being served, and that was apparently too much to ask, because we received a couple of different answers. Our server eventually had to consult with the chefs in the kitchen before he triumphantly told us that this was a kumamoto oyster. Okay, I was surprised. “It doesn’t taste like a kumamoto oyster,” I commented. It was hard for me to tell what type of oyster it was without the shell, but it didn’t have the sweet taste and smooth texture of kumamoto oysters I had had in the past. Our server was indignant, though, and offered to have the chef come over to the table and verify that the oyster was a kumamoto oyster in a patronizing tone. “No thanks”, I said. I’ll just assume that the oyster wasn’t fresh.

Egg yolk-mashed potato ravioli, caviar, cucumber. This bite of ravioli was unmemorable, and the caviar didn’t pair well with the rest of the dish.

Avocado-pea soup, smoked crab, pistachio. This was my favorite course of the meal. The smoked crab was tender, and the delicious avocado-pea soup was accented with hints of spice. Unfortunately, even though this course was well-executed, I still had to dock points for originality as I had had similar pea-style soups at other restaurants.

Charred chicken liver, szechuan, injera, melon. I am always excited whenever chicken liver is on the menu. wd-50’s take on chicken liver was unexpected and original, but I would have preferred a more substantial serving. The melon did not make sense to me.

Shrimp grits, pickled jalapeno. These shrimp grits were unappealing, and after a quick taste, I opted to conserve room for other courses.

Bloodless sausage, smoked marcona, lily bulb, mushroom. I found this to be the most interesting course of the meal by far. The “bloodless” sausage was actually vegetarian and made of beets. You probably wouldn’t have known that it wasn’t sausage until you bit into it. The consistency was softer than expected, and the chunks of beet separated easily. This course was a delightful surprise in the middle of our meal.

Black bass, parsnip, pickled ginger, nori mustard. I wasn’t wowed by the black bass. I would have a preferred lighter treatment of the fish, such as searing.

Milk braised pork collar, sunchoke, black sesame, kaffir. The pork collar was tender, juicy, and delicious. I avoided the black sesame almost entirely.

Cured duck breast, curds-n-whey, sweet potato, rice noodles. I was excited by the rice noodles at first, but they were so crispy and hard that they barely had any flavor. The duck was uninspired and relatively bland.

Verbena mousse, rhubarb, buckwheat, camelina oil. At first glance, I thought that this was the first of our dessert courses. I was sad to learn that this was our palate cleanser and anything but sweet. The taste was rather synthetic, as the rhubarb was ice cold.

Apple tart, pomegranate, sorrel, pistachio. The apple tart was just the right mix of sweet and sour, and the pomegranate served as an excellent backdrop for the dish.

Ovaltine cake, marcona almond, caramom, sheep’s milk. The ovaltine cake was too rich for me, and this dessert as a whole was nauseatingly sweet.

Cookie dough ice cream. The cookie dough was fine…there’s not much that can go wrong with cookie dough.

Overall, wd-50 was a disappointing meal experience for me. It was a meal that I had anticipated for a long time, so I had high expectations going in. Unfortunately, the restaurant was unable to deliver on the type of memorable molecular gastronomy experience that I had been hoping for. The lack of originality, paired with the high price tag, would make me loath to return to wd-50 in the future. The only reason that I gave it 2 stars is because of the strong and generous wine pairing. If Wylie Dufresne retires wd-50 and comes out with another molecular gastronomy-type concept in the future, I would be willing to give it a chance. I won’t, however, shed a tear over wd-50’s imminent shutdown.

wd-50, 50 Clinton St., New York, NY 10002