Wylie Dufresne Wylie Dufresne was born in 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island moving to New York in 1977. In 1992 he completed a B.A. in philosophy at Colby College, Maine. After college, Wylie enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in New York and was then employed at Jo Jo's from 1994 to 1997. Wylie was hired to work on the opening of Jean Georges, eventually becoming the sous chef. In 1998 Dufresne was hired as chef de cuisine at Vongerichten's Prime in The Bellagio, Las Vegas. In 1999 he left Prime to become the first chef at 71 Clinton Fresh Food, a 30-seat restaurant on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Dufresne opened wd~50 (named for the chef's initials and the street address) in April of 2003, on Clinton Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. His partners in the venture are Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and restaurateur Phil Suarez. Frank Bruni of the New York Times awarded wd~50 three stars in March of 2008. In 2006, in the Michelin Guide's inaugural American edition, wd~50 received one star, which it has retained in each subsequent year. For further information: Rachael Carron (212-477-2900) Jon Bignelli Born in Connecticut, January 31, 1978, Jon Bignelli graduated from James Madison University with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology in 2004. Though he has no formal culinary training, Jon was raised in a family that sat down to meticulously prepared dinners every night. His father had lived in France and enthusiastically introduced the family, including Jon, to the joy of cooking and dining well. Jon has also been fortunate to work with the following chefs during his career thus far: Jerry Hayden (Amuse), Marcus Samuelson (Aquavit), and Nils Noren (Aquavit). He was promoted to the position of sous chef at Aquavit. In March 2007, Jon joined wd~50 as roundsman and was promoted to sous chef a year later, in June of 2009 he became wd~50’s Chef de Cuisine. Jon won the “Season’s Choppings” (Holiday challenge) episode on Chopped (Season 3), the Food Network reality show. Malcolm Livingston II Malcolm Livingston II was born on August 13th, 1986 in the Bronx, New York. Malcolm attended the Culinary Art Institute of New York City, graduating in 2006 with an A.O.S. in Culinary/Restaurant management. Upon graduating, Malcolm began his restaurant career at Le Cirque, where he was the youngest member of the kitchen. At Le Cirque, under the tutelage of Pastry Chef Regis Monges, he learned both classical and modern technique from 2006 to 2007. In 2007, Malcolm began working at Per Se with Pastry Chefs Richard Capizzi and Sebastien Rouxel, both of who he found to be inspiring mentors. At an offsite event, Malcolm met Chef Alex Stupak and secured a week long stagiaire at wd~50. Three months later, in May of 2009, he returned to wd~50 to take up a position as the pastry sous chef. After a year, Malcolm took over the position of pastry chef when Alex Stupak vacated his position to open his own restaurant. Malcolm relishes the creative environment that wd~50 affords him and his team.