http://www.wd-50.com/info.html
I’m so excited.
What would you order? The tasting menu looks very good to me.
Wow. He must love you a lot. Either that or he broke something. 
I like looking at the websites of foofy restaurants like this just for the entertainment value. I mean I wouldn’t mind eating at a place like this just for the experience, but in my case at least it really would be a case of “pearls before swine.” I looked at the menu and the pictures and in many cases I’m not sure what I’m looking at (Aerated foie? Arctic char? Wagyu flap steak? Lemongrass mousse? I have lemongrass soap. Smoked salmon threads?).
For starters I’d try the corned duck on rye crisp with purple mustard and horseradish cream. Not big on horseradish but I’ll give it a go.
The parsnip tart sounds nice. Otherwise the duck breast or the venison chop (never had duck or venison). And hazelnut tart for dessert.
It looks like they serve tiny portions.
Cold fried chicken, Tabasco and caviar? Now they’re just being silly. Scrambled egg ravioli? Come on! You guys just made that up!
But of course, have whatever you like and enjoy your birthday. And then tell us everything!
Damn, I’m impressed.
Go with the tasting menu!
Lucky you! I’m jealous! WD~50 just made the World’s 50 best restaurant list for the first time, at #45, #7 in the US.
Here’s a thread on WD-50. The more recent reviews seem to favor the tasting menu.
Let us know how it is!
When in doubt I go for the tasting or pre fixe menu, especially if I am unlikely to return any time soon. I personally would also pop for the wine pairing but I can completely understand forgoing it.
Mmm, someday I will save up for a dinner at Alinea. As for WD-50, looks like I’d be stuck with the parsnip for an entree, being a vegetarian. I agree with the calls for the tasting menu.
It’s ten better than WD-40!
He’s just a nice guy.
Thank for you that link. I’m definitely thinking the tasting menu. This should be very cool. I’ll have to bring my digital camera and share some pics afterwards.
I treated myself to Alinea for my 40th birthday. It was everything I hoped it would be, and more.
I don’t know about WD-50, but I know that most higher end restaurants are more than happy to make whatever kinds of menus you want. When I made the reservations for Alinea, for example, they asked if we were vegetarian or had any other food restrictions, and told me that they’d work around anything they needed to. So you may have more options than you think.
hmmm -
Aerated Foie, pickled beet, mashed plum, brioche
Duck breast, apple, cheddar, sub the bamboo rice for the nasty kimchee couscous
soft chocolate, peppermint ice cream black cardamom, toffee
or if the table was up for it, the tasting menu with the caveat that the chef would omit any and all mushrooms/coconut/tropical oils for my portions. An ambulance ride for dessert would be a downer.
Grats on a nice husband =)
I read a book a while ago by a server in a high end restaurant. One thing I took from it was that whenever there is one I would always choose the tasting menu.
Sadly, the Nautilus Diner doesn’t have a tasting menu.
In any event, I love reading happy threads. Enjoy your birthday dinner. Can’t wait to read all about it.
mmmmm beef and bearnaise.
Wow the "Carmelized brioche, apricot, buttercream, lemon thyme
Orange Muscat ‘Essensia’ Quady 2007 (Madera, CA) " sounds really good. I’d get the tasting menu or the duck. I love duck.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. 
The tasting menu sounds good.
I’m assuming Alinea would. I know that Charlie Trotter’s has a Vegetable Menu as a standard offering, for instance. (Not through experience - yet.)
Devil’s Grandmother - that’s a lovely dessert wine, and I can imagine how wonderfully the described dessert would pair with it.
While I’m not generally shocked by high-end restaurant prices, these do seem pretty damn steep! 20 bucks for a glass of Vin de Pays wine? Holy shit!
16 bucks for a bowl of gazpacho? Yeep!
It does look very good. This is the kind of food I love, but man those New York prices on appetizers and wines by the glass (strangely, the entree prices aren’t all that expensive) are faint-worthy.
Have fun! And I third the notion to get a tasting menu. Let the chef cook for you, be adventurous…after all, hubby’s paying for it!
And take those pictures!
I actually didn’t think those prices seemed bad at all. That Vin de Pays you mention sells for ~$35/bottle retail, from what I can tell. $76/bottle in a restaurant, especially in NYC, is actually kind of a deal, and $20/glass is pretty reasonable.
Heck, I see worse markups all the time at places in my tiny far-away town. There’s one place in town that’s selling glasses for $16.50 for a bottle I can buy at the local grocery store for $22.
“Hoooo-WHEE! You wouldn’t want to pee for a MONTH, would you?”
(Thanks to the late Molly Ivins for that joke.) 
Well, I tend to disagree, except knowing how the fine-dining industry works in general, I suppose I shouldn’t act surprised to see those prices in New York city.
Vin De Pays wine has only recently come into vogue. It literally means “country wine”, which implies inferior wine. I know for a fact that Vin De Pays wine has made leaps in quality within the last 15 years or so, but that’s still a premium price to pay for a less-regulated and inconsistent region. I don’t think there’s any way a NYC restaurant that has any volume at all is buying that wine for anywhere near the $35/bottle price. They are just marking it up that much.
And what about $17 for an appetizer-sized bowl of gazpacho? Insanity. And again, as I said, the entrees seem weirdly in line with pricing I’ve seen in a lot of other places.
Anyway, it still looks like a gorgeous place with stellar food. I hope the OP enjoys it and takes copious food-porn photos!
I mean, check this menu out. I helped open this place in 1999. Since the economic downturn, the chef has really scaled down the menu and engaged in more simplicity.
This place is in Mount Adams, Cincinnati.
I guess I’m more railing against the cost of the appetizers than anything. They just seem so awfully expensive.
The prices aren’t out of line for a top restaurant around these parts. On the other hand, we are usually surprised at how low prices are in restaurants when we go visiting.