WD-50

50 Clinton St., New York, NY 10002

www.wd-50.com

I have always wondered what this molecular gastronomy business is all about. Maybe my curiosity goes back to my failed days of biology during my first year of uni but until now I had never really been anywhere that was into this vibe. So a my mate over here, Simon, took me to this place down in the Lower East Side called WD-50. NYC took a bit of a cold spin this weekend so it was nice to get there and get seated literally on top of a heater. We managed to snag a table from a cancellation and off we went down a nine course expedition of culinary love. 

The food was pretty damn good and the matching wines were really nice. I wont go into the gory details about every course but here are a couple of examples

Bad Arse Wanna Be Bagel

This one was a cracka. It's looks like a bagel but was actually ice cream. The shreaded crap on the right is smoked salmon and the crumbed stuff is crispy cream cheese. I know, pretty weird but it tasted alright.

Micro Spuds and some Other Crap

This one was a real winner. The tiny spotted things were bits of potato. The big cube was egg with a bit of sashimi on top. The green stuff was charred avocado. Hmmmm next time your cooking would you think of mixing egg, fish and avocado together? Well when you mixed it all together it seemed to work ok. 

To wash it all down there was an accompanying wine list. This was pretty damn good. The standout was actually an Aussie wine. Go you good thing. I'm not normally a huge fan of riesling but this one was pretty damn good. It was a 2008 Betts & Scholl from the Eden Valley.

The only real downer to the place was the price. I wont go into details but am sure I could have fed a small African nation for a week for what I dropped on the meal but I suppose that's the price of molecular gastronomy.

Woohoo Spring is Here

Spring hit NYC this week and what a difference it has made. The temp hit the 20's and there was plenty of sun out. You could really feel the vibe of the city pickup and it was amazing to think that the sidewalks which had snow on them a few weeks ago were now packed with alfresco tables. 

I hit the pavement today to scope out a few different areas of the city in prep for looking for a new pad. Went and had a good look around NoHo, Nolita and SoHo. Found some really good streets and for the first time thought I may have found some areas outside of the East Village that would be cool to live in. 

I then hit the Hudson and walked down that to Battery Park. It was a great walk and I think the weather had encouraged half of the city to come out. It was interesting to see people sunbathing in their togs on the grass next to the river. I ended up getting the Staten Island ferry to get a view of the Statue of Liberty but this was pretty much a waste of time due to the boat being so packed. 

Back on land I then started to head back home via Wall Street and Chinatown. Picked up a Nespresso machine on the way and also walked past a real life crime scene. The footpath was taped off and there were little yellow markers with what looked like blood next to them. Walked through the Lower East Side and want to get back to check it out next weekend. 

I'm loving this random walking round NYC. I did it without a map today. I figured I was on an island so how lost could I really get?

Back to Dover and Four Brothers

This weekend I took train up to Dover Plains to visit Steve and Deb who were my host parents when I did the student exchange in 92. It had been almost 12 years since I had last caught up with them so it was great to get back up there. Dave and his better half, Rachael also came up and we headed to the local culinary masterpiece, Four Brothers Pizza. Four Brothers is an instituition in the area and a place very close to my heart or should that be stomach? It was a common occurance for us to hit the place on a Friday night and grab some pizza and some videos from nearby Video Forum (It's still open). Anyway at the time I hated eating salad but that is when my obsession with Four Brothers salad kicked in. The place is Greek inspired and they made the most awesome Greek salad I have ever had. The salad dressing was amazing. It had been a long time between salads so the one that was put in front of me did not last that long. Dave introduced me to the revolutionary idea of adding the dressing to the pizza. Brilliance. Cannot believe I never thought of that. We managed to devour a large Four Brothers Special and some deep fried feta on the side. Delicious. All in all a great night and it was really good to catch up with the Dover crew.

Toronto

Went up to Toronto for the final leg of my road(air)trip. Got in pretty late on Sunday so did not have much of a chance to get around. Went and checked out this massive shopping centre in the middle of town and scouted out somewhere for dinner. Ended up going to this steak house called Baton Rouge which was pretty good. Got a pretty big project on up there so likely I'll be back in a couple of weeks so hopefully get to see more of it then. The place is only an hour from Niagara Falls. You know what that means parentals........The definate highlight of the trip was the flight home. I came into New York and it was a crystal clear night. The plane cut a full lap around Manhattan and there were some sensational views to be had. The photos did not do it justice but then I realised the lens on my Blackberry was dirty. Next time.

Houston and Philadelphia

Headed down to Houston and Philly as part of the roadshow with work last week. Sadly as it was work relaterd I did not really get much of a chance to look around. Got into Houston on Sunday afternoon and it was quite joyful to escape the cold and snow and be able to walk around in a t-shirt. That was a bit optimistic but it was good to finally get some rays as it had been a week since I had seen the sun. 

 

Downtown Houston was a bit of a ghost town on the weekend. I was quite keen to get down to the NASA space centre but it was over an hour out of town on public transport so will leave that one to do next time. Ended up heading down to the museum district. Checked out the useum of Contemperary Arts and the Museum of Fine Arts. Both were quite impressive and managed to kill a few hours that afternoon.

Saw even less of Philly. I did not get in until 1am Friday night then it was up early and off to work then straight on a train after to get back to NY. Definately two very contrasting cities. I'm going to be heading back to Philly a lot so plenty of time to see it. I did manage to sneak out at lunchtime and get one of the famous cheese steaks. This is basically a bread roll with beef and cheese in it. A real heart stopper. Ahhh I seriously need to join a gym or at this rate I'll be paying excess baggage for my guts when I come back.

 

Another busy week coming up. This afternoon I'm heading to Toronto and back tomorrow night. Tuesday I'm off to Philly again and back to NY on Friday. I'm looking forward to having a full weekend to myself.