wd-50

Has the sight of all those Christmas trees made you hungry? If so, you might want to head over to wd-50, where the current menu features sly hints of the season. This weekend, there were pine needle beans, spruce yogurt and a pine nut casserole. My companion and I celebrated Christmas Eve doing what we love most: dining out. Many others had the same idea, as wd-50 was packed even though chef Wylie Dufresne had the night off.

We almost ordered the 9-course tasting, but instead decided only to go the tasting route for dessert, ordering a la carte for dinner. But the couple next to us ordered the 9-course tasting, and we were quite envious watching all the exciting concoctions they were served! One of their courses was a miso soup served with a little squeeze bottle of... noodles! When they squirted the liquid contents of the squeeze bottle into their bowls, convincingly thick udon-like noodles were formed. The server told us that the broth had to be sufficiently hot for the reaction to take place.

Our amuse-bouche was a little pressed coin of smoked eel, served with tiny white "pine needle beans" and a swirl of tangy cranberry puree. I was going to order the rabbit sausage pine nut cassoulet but instead went for the lighter malted chestnut soup. This bowl of slightly foamy, earthy brown broth was a tableau for an ikebana-like garnish. Tufts of dried, shredded bright-orange salmon were scattered across the soup like blossoms, with green celery root and chestnut chips for leaves. It was almost too pretty to eat! My companion's choice was the cold, refreshing squid noodles with julienned zucchini, tart dehydrated grapefruit sections and sansho sour cream. The squid had the texture of spaghetti.

For entrees, I ended up preferring my companion's succulent pink ocean trout, served with a spray of Middle Eastern spices, cucumber strips which looked raw and green but which were somehow tender, and panelle. My hearty portion of cacao-nib-sprinkled, crispy-skinned bass was somewhat overpowered (to my taste) by its bed of heavy peanut-sauced quinoa. But the cacao nibs provided a delicious kind of deconstructed mole.

The dessert tasting, which ended up including an extra "pre-dessert" course, was shockingly imaginative (and wonderful!). Our waiter said that he could score us the yuzu custard from the 10-course menu, but that everything else would be a surprise.

I love savory elements in desserts, and the dessert tasting was right up my alley. The pre-dessert was a little fantasy of pineapple puree, dried apple strips and apple sorbet. Next was yuzu custard with sour herbal spruce yogurt, Sicilian pistachios and shortbread crumbles, then a plate of black currant pound cake and sorbet with a soft little meringue, a black sesame sprinkle and a swirl of black sesame gelee, and finally the chocolate/avocado dessert: a long strip of soft chocolate cream dotted with light and dark green pools of avocado and lime puree. The dessert was a meal in itself!

wd-50: 50 Clinton St., (212) 477-2900.