Alder Your Perception

After running his Lower East Side atelier on Clinton Street for ten years, Wylie Dufresne took his talents west to Second Avenue, where he opened Alder at the end of March. You might say the restaurant is to WD-50 what The Nomad is to Eleven Madison Park, or Parm is to Torrisi. In each instance, exceptional tasting menus brought notoriety to the chef's names. Riding the success of these early prix-fixe efforts is what afforded them the opportunity to expand. Alder was a long time in the making, but Dufresne's learned, whimsical approach to cooking is no less avant garde or extraordinary in the East Village. In today's Times review, Pete Wells awards the restaurant a gracious two stars.

The critic writes, "He [Wylie Dufresne] and his colleagues at Alder (Jon Bignelli is the executive chef, leading an intensely collaborative kitchen with heavy input from Mr. Dufresne) get into your brain and rewire its pathways until you find yourself looking at one thing and tasting something else." "At Alder," Wells continues, "You will probably not mistake your spouse for a hat, but you may mistake your rye pasta for a sandwich. This is a nice, normal plate of fettuccine, except that it tastes exactly like a Katz’s pastrami on rye with mustard."

The pasta dish exemplifies what Dufresne does best – take something ordinary and serve it in an extraordinary way. At WD-50, Dufresne's eggs benedict, with suveed egg yolks and deep fried hollandaise, became an emblem of the chef's progressive cooking.

Dufresne's cooking may come off as complex, and in many ways is, but the chef has an uncanny ability to incorporate simple, everyday ingredients into his cooking. That deep fried hollandaise was coated in Thomas' English Muffin crumbs before its trip to the frier. At Alder, foie gras and watermelon are served on a Ritz cracker. "Did that bite of foie gras terrine, topped with a shiso leaf and a semicircle of yuzu-infused watermelon, really sit on a Ritz?" Wells asks. "Yes. Yes it did, and it was delightful beyond all reason."

Wells refers to the menu print as "pill bottle tiny," but advises you to "Buy reading glasses if you need to, because Alder, even with a few misfires, is an exciting restaurant." [NYTimes]

Uno Estrella para Manzanilla

[sasha maslov for the nytimes] garciaDani Garcia earned his first Michelin star in 2000 while cooking at Tragabuches in Ronda, Spain. In 2005, he opened Calima in his native city of Marbella and won Best Chef of the Year in Spain that year. Two months ago, two years shy of his 40th birthday, Garcia introduced New Yorkers to his modern Spanish fare at Manzanilla (also a variety of sherry) on East 26th Street.

Wylie Dufresne, New York's godfather of modern cuisine, was sitting at Manzanilla's bar on a night Pete Wells visited. "Apart from some terrific, how-did-he-do-it desserts," Wells writes in his review of the restaurant today, "[Manzanilla] does not show off the kinds of techniques that might intrigue Mr. Dufresne," who has dazzled New York for ten years with WD-50, and now does so at his newly opened Second Avenue atelier Alder.

"At its best, which is about half the time, Manzanilla offers some very welcome takes on Spanish tradition," writes Wells. The critic cites six reasons for "taking a seat at the bar, or a table." They are: tortillita gaditana, cuttlefish croquettes, tomato tartare, black rice and wild mushroom and vegetable rice (both bomba rice-based entrees), and the Iberico pork, which Wells explains is "given a Japanese marinade of sake, mirin and miso."

"All of these are exceptional additions to the growing catalog of great Spanish tastes in New York," the critic says. "But Manzanilla had nearly as many dishes that were not in the same league." Wells gives the newcomer one star. [NYTimes]

Show Me a Sign: Alder

Signage is up at Alder, Wylie Dufresne's second restaurant, and it's set to open this Thursday, March 28th. WD-50, Dufresne's Lower East Side atelier, will turn ten on April 9th. Though unlike that restaurant, which serves two dining options (both prix-fixes), Alder will offer an a la carte menu with items like pub cheese, clam chowder, pigs in a blanket, calamari, and ox tail stew. Nothing on it will exceed $25.

John Bignelli will be the executive chef and Kevin Denton is heading up the cocktail program. Both Bignelli and Denton are WD-50 alum. Geoffrey Fischer is in charge of the wine list, and a rep informed us "the goal of the wine program is to be ever changing, and supportive of the menu. The by-the-glass selection will showcase wines either usually offered by the bottle or from less traditional regions."

Alder will be open Wednesday to Sunday from 6:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Seating is on a walk-in basis only; no reservations at Mr. Dufresne's 56-seat East Village eatery.

Alder | 157 Second Avenue | 212-539-1900 | www | map

Update on Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 11:41AM by Craig Cavallo

Menus are up online!

Wylie Dufresne to Open Alder in the Spring

Wylie Dufresne has been serving the world from his culinary cubicle on the Lower East Side for nearly 10 years. As wd-50 approaches its ten year anniversary, Dufresne readies to open his second restaurant.  Alder wil open next spring in the former Plum Pizzeria space at 157 Second Avenue. GrubStreet revealed yesterday that the "50-seat pub" is going to serve "modern casual food and well-crafted cocktails."  Alex Stupak, the former pastry chef at Dufresne's LES atelier, and whose Empellon Cocina has been packed since it opened on First Avenue back in February, predicted Dufresne domination yesterday via Twitter: "Alder! Wylie is going to dominate the East Village!" [GrubStreet]