Chefs pay tribute to New York chef Wylie Dufresne in surprise dinner
The mystery of log-cradling chefs was solved in New York this week, when a star-studded roster of some of the world’s top avant-garde chefs surprised wd~50 frontman Wylie Dufresne in a food event known as Gelinaz!.
After two weeks of befuddling the online food community with cryptic, 14-second, black and white YouTube videos featuring internationally renowned chefs like Daniel Boulud and Noma’s Rene Redzepi alternately stroking and cradling logs of wood in a “Twin Peaks” reference, the mystery was solved when 28 chefs from around the world descended on Dufresne’s New York restaurant to surprise him with a tribute dinner Tuesday night.
Dufresne is lauded for being a “pioneer of new American cuisine” and is a disciple of molecular gastronomy at his Manhattan restaurant wd~50, where he’s known for producing innovative dishes using cutting-edge culinary techniques.
A food event founded by powerful food journalist Andrea Petrini and chef Fulvio Pierangelini in 2005, the concept of Gelinaz! was originally meant to elevate food into an experimental, multi-disciplinary art form combining food, music, visual and performance art.
But as Time magazine points out, unhappy with the pressure of having to produce a $700-a-head dinner in a performance art type format, the tribe of chefs staged a “minor rebellion” this year and took it upon themselves to break up the format.
The New York edition was recast to be less for the general public and more for the chefs, who were allowed to bring two guests each. The number of corporate sponsors was cut back to avoid being enslaved to their whims and demands: chefs paid for their own plane ticket and bunked together in apartments in Brooklyn.
As with previous dinners, chefs were challenged to re-interpret Dufresne’s signature dishes (this time they were allowed to choose from three dishes instead of just one) on the condition they had to use the same ingredients for dishes like cold fried chicken with buttermilk-ricotta, tabasco and caviar; shrimp noodles, and scrambled egg raviolis with charred avocado and Hamachi.
Watch the video capturing the covert operation and Dufresne’s reaction at http://bit.ly/1enRhlW.
