a michelle in new york city.: coney island...is the world + wd~50

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

coney island...is the world + wd~50

Yesterday was a pretty major day: yesterday Joe got on a plane and said goodbye after his last NY visit ever. That's not to say we won't be back together many (many) times in the years to come, but this past weekend was his last visit while I am living here. It was the last time we'd share the bed in my Alphabet City apartment, and while there is something really wonderful about not having to do this hello-goodbye dance, there is also something a bit sad. Each visit has been an adventure, for him and for me. This last one was no exception.

In addition to being his last visit, Joe and I were also celebrating our 2 year anniversary which had happened at the end of May. Some people like flowers, extravagant gifts, jewelry, but for Joe and I, no gift could compare to the experience of a truly extraordinary meal. And boy, did we have one. A month in advance, Joe and I decided to make a reservation at Wylie Dufresne's incomparable wd~50, a restaurant known for its incredibly innovative approach to cuisine. Once we were having the wd~50 experience, we decided to go all out, and have the 12-course tasting menu. The best way to describe the dishes we ate was that they all were made up of familiar and beloved flavors and dishes (Vietnamese Pho soup, S'mores etc.) but done in a way that was unexpected, playful, and at times a total mind f***k. We're talking about peas that are actually carrots done up to look like peas, and a marshmallow that is actually meringue ice cream that has been toasted to retain the flavor of the toasted marshmallow. We ate veal brisket served with mustard that had been made into a hardened cracker. I'm pretty sure that it was, if not the best, the most interesting meal I will ever have

What a meal.

The rest of the weekend we spent at Brooklyn Flea, rewatching Moonrise Kingdom, and eating $1 Malpeque oysters at this great neighborhood restaurant. One of the real highlights, though, was our trip to Coney Island. I'd been meaning to check out the archaic amusement park since I moved here, and thought that Joe's last visit would be the perfect time to ride the Q train back in time. Coney Island is somewhere between amazing, and incredibly creepy. Despite all the people there, Coney Island still has the feeling of being a bit of a ghost town. Perhaps it is all the worn down testaments to its past, but it feels like a huge part of the amusement park has aged itself into the ground, while refusing to go away. We spent most of our time just wandering, but of course had time to eat a Nathan's hot dog, some cotton candy and ride the historic Cyclone roller coaster. The experience was one I won't soon forget, especially not with the throbbing next pain I'm still experiencing after that coaster.