Wylie Dufresne Opening Alder In Manhattan's East Village

While other chefs — many of whom took their inspiration from his work — opened multiple restaurants around him, culinary mad scientist Wylie Dufresne chugged away at wd-50, his eponymous gastronomic think tank in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Like the neighborhood in which it resides, Dufresne and his team have constantly evolved (in a much better way than the neighborhood), most recently by revamping their entire menu structure this past spring.

Now, Grub Street brings word that Dufresne and his team are opening a 50-seat pub at 157 Second Ave. called Alder, after Dufresne's second daughter Ellery (whose name is a modern analog for the restaurant's title). The space, formerly Plum Pizzeria, will open to coincide with wd-50's 10-year anniversary, and diners can expect "modern casual food and well-crafted cocktails."

A new Wylie Dufresne restaurant is like a new Roman Polanski film — rare as steak tartare and you just know things are going to get weird.