Seven Deadly Sins
Time Out New York
Gluttony
Definition: Consuming more than is needed; the opposite of restraint
“Eating and drinking to excess isn’t exactly novel behavior for chefs,” says Wylie Dufresne, owner of the Lower East Side temple of gastronomy wd-50. “You don’t get thin from working in a kitchen.” Nor do you get thin hanging out at Slate Plus (54 W 21st St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 212-989-0096), a Flatiron lounge that serves a 54-ounce porterhouse and a cheeseburger the size of a hubcap, where Dufresne, 35, is discussing one of New Yorkers’ most frequently committed sins.
But what is gastronomic excess? In this city, it all seems excessive—the truffles and foie gras, the $17 glasses of wine, even a meal at Dufresne’s restaurant, where he transforms bread into “toast oil” to make a sauce for trout. To the chef, however, none of this is necessarily gluttony. “You can be gluttonous with potato chips, and you can be gluttonous with caviar,” he says. “It’s how much you eat, not how much you pay for what you eat, unless you’re sitting down to a dinner of endangered species.”
Gorging, then, is the real transgression, and its consequences are readily apparent. “We’re an obese country,” he says, noting that many people equate a meal’s value with how much food comes piled on their plates. These are the diners who complain about the small dishes that make up Dufresne’s tasting menu—portions he carefully regulates to keep customers from feeling uncomfortably full. Yet he’s not entirely unsympathetic. “Of course, when I go out to eat, I eat more than I need to,” he says. “It’s quite enjoyable.”