Meat Glue Mania | Lecture 10 (2010)- Wylie Dufresne- Science and Cooking

Wylie Dufresne (wd~50) 

This public lecture series discusses concepts from the physical sciences that underpin both everyday cooking and haute cuisine. Each lecture features a world-class chef who visited and presented their remarkable culinary designs: Ferran Adria presented spherification; Jose Andres discussed both the basic components of food and gelation; Joan Roca demonstrated sous vide; Enric Rovira showed his chocolate delicacies; Wylie Dufresne presented inventions with transglutaminase. The lectures then use these culinary creations as inspiration to delve into understanding how and why cooking techniques and recipes work, focusing on the physical transformations of foods and material properties.

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Who is Wylie Dufresne?

Wylie Dufresne is the chef and owner of wd~50 restaurant in Manhattan. Dufresne is a leading American proponent of molecular gastronomy, the movement to incorporate science and new techniques in the preparation and presentation of food. 

Early life 

Born in 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island, U.S., Dufresne is a graduate of The French Culinary Institute (now known as The International Culinary Center) in New York. In 1992, Wylie completed a B.A. in philosophy at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. 

Career 

From 1994 through 1999, he worked for Jean-Georges Vongerichten, where he was eventually named sous chef at Vongerichten's eponymous Jean Georges. In 1998 he was chef de cuisine at Vongerichten's Prime in The Bellagio, Las Vegas. In 1999, he left to become the first chef at 71 Clinton Fresh Food. In April 2003, he opened his 70-seat restaurant, wd~50 (named for the chef's initials and the street address, as well as a pun on WD-40) on Clinton Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In March, 2013, he opened a second restaurant "Alder" in the East Village. 

Dufresne was a James Beard Foundation nominee for Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2000 and chosen the same year by New York Magazine for their New York Awards. Food & Wine magazine named him one of 2001 America's Ten Best Chefs award and, in 2006, New York Magazine's Adam Platt placed wd-50 fourth in his list of New York's 101 best restaurants. He was awarded a star in Michelin's New York City Guide, 2006, 2007, 2008, the first Red Guide for North America, and was nominated for Best Chef New York by the James Beard Foundation. WD-50 has also been recognized as one of the Top 10 Molecular Gastronomy Restaurants in the U.S. by GAYOT.com. 

Among his signature preparations are Pickled Beef Tongue with Fried Mayonnaise and Carrot-Coconut Sunnyside-Up. 

In 2006, Dufresne lost to Mario Batali on Iron Chef America. In 2007, he appeared as a judge in the final episode of Bravo's Top Chef, season 2, in 2008 as a judge in Top Chef, season 4, in 2009 as a judge in Top Chef, season 5, and in 2010 as a judge in Top Chef, season 7. He was invited to participate in Top Chef Masters in 2009 where he placed third out of four in the preliminary rounds. Dufresne also appeared in the final of the United Kingdom version of Masterchef, teaching the eventual winner. 

He appeared as himself in the 5th Episode of HBO's Treme alongside Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert and David Chang. In 2013, Dufresne won the James Beard Foundation's Best NYC Chef. This was his 10th nomination and first win.