"wylie dufresne" news and stories

Perhaps the largest breakthrough in cooking in the last decade, molecular gastronomy -- or "playing with powder," as David Lebovitz puts it -- is an art form that has some diners widening their eyes in wonderment and others shaking their heads in disbelief.

Popularized by Ferran Adria's soon-to-be-shuttered El Bulli in Spain and, later by Wylie Dufresne at New York City's WD-50, the avant-garde cuisine takes the ordinary to extraordinary levels. As Frank Bruni put it in 2005, the "sci-fi cooking" has been known to "toy with unusual textures, play with wildly unlikely flavor combinations and generally venture in directions that might turn out to be silly, but then again might not." Pondered Lebovitz, "Just like Matisse was widely-panned for painting a woman's face with a green stripe down the middle, I think we're going to have to let time tell us if this is just a passing fancy or if it's something that's here to stay."

And though the still-kicking buzz of molecular cooking has died down - quite likely as a result of the prohibitively high cost of restaurants embracing it as their specialty - it may now create another stir, as it is released in a user-friendly form to the general public.

Diners at Le Fooding. Photo: Pabo76/Flickr

What happens when the best French and American chefs of the moment converge on New York City for a weekend of casual culinary madness, all in the name of charity?

It's called Le Fooding D'Amour Paris-New York. The two-day event took place in Long Island City, N.Y. at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and included tasting stations by David Chang (Momofuku), Wylie Dufresne (WD~50), Yves Camdeborde (Le Comptoir du Relais), Sean Rembold (Diner), William LeDeuil (Ze Kitchen Galerie), Christophe Pelé (Bigarrade) and more.

Slashfood attempted to try as many of the dishes on offer as possible, considering the long, snaking lines and lack of lighting at the outdoor venue.

Check out our photos after the jump.

A curious thing happened Tuesday in New York City. A Michelin-starred chef fiddled with a microwave.

It might not be considered so odd as the chef in question was culinary experimenter Wylie Dufresne, who took to the dining room of his restaurant, WD-50, to make an egg dish with a microwave.

"I think microwaves are pretty neat," Dufresne said before his demonstration. The chef uses three standard microwaves in his kitchen and has been testing out this new model for the last three weeks.

"We realized we could poach in the microwave," he said. But it takes time ... 29 minutes to be precise.

Hear how he uses metal in the microwave after the jump.

Well kids, this is it. The last Top Chef until the finals in New Orleans. The show opens with a Quick Fire in which the chef'testants must do something interesting, innovative and delicious with eggs. Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 in New York is the guest judge. He's known for his edgy use of molecular gastronomy and so these can't just be two soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers (check out a teaser for the QF here).

Once they get through the Quick Fire, they must cook for Wylie, along with the famed French chef Jacques Pepin. With just Stephan, Hosea, Leah, Carla and Fabio left, who will be headed to the finals?

Personally, I'm still smarting over the loss of Jamie a little, I would have far preferred seeing her tonight over Leah (for more Top Chef misfires, check out this gallery from Television Without Pity, I thought they were right on). Who do you think will be progressing to the finals?

If ever you wondered how chefs pair wines with their favorite foods, you can stop wondering now. Forbes has put together a list of celebrity chefs and their favorite food and wine pairings with everything from fish tacos with a Viognier to osetra caviar and Champagne. If you don't have the patience to flip through the slideshow, here's the summary:

• Mario Batali - spicy fish tacos with a serrano chili crema with Argentinian Viognier
• Daniel Humm - nutty, cave-aged gruyere cheese with Krug or Dom Perignon Champagne
• Laurent Tourondel - spicy lamb merguez "burger" with rose from Navarra, Spain
• Michael Lomonaco - ancho chili-rubbed prime rib eye with Sonoma Syrah
• Wylie Dufresne - pigeon with smoked cocoa, black truffles and onions, served with a Barolo Chinatto
• Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson - San Daniele prosciuttowith Edi Simcic Tocai
• Anne Gingrass - Bollinger Champagne Brut with osetra caviar
• Tony Esnault - Inniskillin ice wine with a dark chocolate
• Gabriel Kreuther - seared foie gras and litchis with a raspberry-flavored beer
• Will Goldfarb - chocolate parfait with chai, mango ice cream, dairyless coconut ice cream, mini India tuiles and spray-dried coconut with Syrah