Pre Holiday Gastro Slam Day

The dishes you'll see at the Passage 53 when they reopen after holidays!

And what you can eat at SPRING now!

Spring has sprung. Daniel Rose does it again, and evolves.

I think it would be fair to say that Daniel rose to the occasion (I can hear the groans already....) , and I was lucky enough to be one of the first (along with a "best of" Paris' expat blogging community/fangirls)  to dine at the new Spring restaurant, just down the road from the Louvre.

The restaurant, hidden on a quiet, narrow little street not far from the Spring Boutique, has been really well thought out, with a large open kitchen behind which a team of chefs (this is no longer the one man chaud of the former Spring in the 9th..), performing like clockwork, with Daniel overlooking and supervising the operations. The dinner is the same concept as before - a no-choice market-driven tasting menu, that changes almost daily according to the seasons and the chef's whims. We had: lime flavored, mint specked melon with lomito, an eggplant platter (in croquette, pickled, mashed) with eel, sashimi quality tuna with flash cooked gambas, artichoke hearts, and a delicious pigeon with ris de veau and the tiniest girolles you can ever imagine. Desserts were a very interesting serving of black cherries with fresh almonds and apricots with a lemon verbena syrup.

 I loved the buzz and the open kitchen, and hope the fact that an American has created the most interesting restaurant in Paris in years might make them sit up and actually do something about it. As Daniel says, he is hoping to take Paris restaurants into the 21st century.

The restaurant , still a work-in-progress, is on three levels, with the lower level being a soon to be unveiled wine bar/tapas counter , which , hopefully will be doing good champagnes and wines all day long with luxury comfort food such as boudin blanc hot dogs and the lobster rolls that Rose tested out in the dying days of the old Spring on his Sunday get togethers. There is also a well stocked wine cellar with some surprisingly rare bottles, although it has yet to be fitted out with ventilation.

Can't wait to try the lunch menu of "tapas" , based around a bouillon concept.

Here are a few photos (in no particular order):

Spring
6 rue Bailleul, 1st
01 45 96 05 72
64€ set menu including 5 dishes, cheese and two desserts

Chicken Coup - Daniel Rose's Table 28

The famous "coucou de Rennes"

Aforementioned chicken with thinly sliced gratin

cake with pear compote, creme fraiche and chocolate




As much as I despise all the bandwagon, tablehopping restaurant blagging, the gods of the gastronomic zeitgeist have dictated that I must report about the hottest new table in town, namely yankie wunderchild chef Daniel Rose's brand spanking new "neighborhood joint", Table 28.

In place of the former Spring (old signage still up) , this modern little rotisserie serves up a simple menu composed of good quality products. This evening: roast chicken (the rare coucou de Rennes, no less), complemented by apples and roast potatoes in goose fat, and a mushroom salad with grenadines, followed by pears with honey, pear cake and pear compote with creme fraiche and chocolate. The idea is not to do another Spring, but rather a remote-controlled, Rose consulted menu that will appeal to neighbors (ie take out) as much as clued-up, jetsetting diners, with another chef behind the oven (leaving Rose to continue his other projects). The entire meal tonight was prepared by Daniel, who wasn't actually supposed to be there, and we counted ourselves as the lucky few, as this will not be a likely occurrence in the future. Again, this is not Spring II, but a simple place for a good meal, early or late, without spending a fortune. Menus are 29€ or 34€, whether you order a quarter or a half chicken.

Coming up soon are a new Spring Boutique (opening in a month or so) at 52 rue de L'Arbre Sec in the 1st, and, obviously the one everybody is waiting for, the new Spring, next March at 6 rue Bailleul, with lots of surprises in store (artisinal hot dogs, doughnuts, that new nitrogen ice cream machine...)