We catch up with Wylie Dufresne – famed contemporist, kitchen alchemist and Chef / Restaurateur of WD-50, New York at the WD ~ Bentley showcase dinner. Wylie and Leigh talk knives, molecular cooking and team culture at the WD-50 kitchen.
LEIGH HUDSON: Wylie Dufresne is so hot right now on the international culinary scene. You originally studied philosophy but did you always imagine you’d be a great chef?
WYLIE DUFRESNE: Yeah I studied philosophy… But I just wanted to find something I loved doing… Food is something I loved doing and I guess I just wanted to see how far I could go with it.
HUDSON: The dishes on the menu look pretty wow. Where does each dish start? Is it “Let’s do something with duck”, or “Do you think we can cook a duck with an argon laser”?
WYLIE DUFRESNE: Well I don’t have a laser … We kinda work together as a team… see who’s got some good ideas…I mean there’s no guarantee that it will make it to the menu but it’s pretty much a team effort.
Wylie Dufresne shows Leigh his knives
HUDSON: Apart from groovy facial hair, what are the minimum requirements to work in the WD-50 kitchen?
WYLIE DUFRESNE: Well groovy facial hair will pretty much guarantee you a job ….
HUDSON: In Europe people will work months for free. Aren’t you looking for like minded people, people with passion, people with talent?
WYLIE DUFRESNE: Well I don’t want “yes” men… I want people with talent but I guess it’s just best to bring them in and see what they’ve got.
HUDSON: You were trained in classical cuisine. What clicked and led you down the modernist MG path?
WYLIE DUFRESNE: I wanted to see know happens to food when I cook it, what happens to a chicken breast when it’s roasted… fish when it’s steamed, asparagus when it’s grilled… there’s a lot of misinformation out there…
HUDSON : Do you gain inspiration from ethnic cuisines?
WYLIE DUFRESNE: Yeah ethnic cuisines … I suppose Japanese food but the problem with Japanese food is they don’t really share their secrets … you ask about a technique or an ingredient and they refer to it as some magic … it’s up to you to work it out.
HUDSON: All chefs love knives in a totally non freaky kind of way. Tell us about some of your knives?
WYLIE DUFRESNE: Well I have 5 yanagi, a few deba … a custom usuba and a Wusthof that I have sharpened so it behaves like a deba. I’ve got some carbon steel ones and some stainless ones…The carbon steel ones need extra work to look after but I realise that even the stainless ones need work to keep in top condition. I’m left handed so it kinda makes it hard and expensive to get left handed yanagi.
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Yes it is hard to get left handed yanagi and deba. Less than 1% of Japanese blades are left handed and most are made to order.
Would you like to make your own sashimi?
