First, notes on tonight's menu (it changes every day). Then some more about the restaurant. It's a prix fixe menu of five courses. You just come in, sit down, order an aperitif if you wish, and they start bringing the food! For me it was a 2.5 hour experience featuring:
1. Eggplant, smoked eel, thinly sliced radish - the eggplant appeared to have been cooked at a low temperature (the skin was still nice and smooth) and chilled/dressed, or maybe it was just marinated; the eel was nice and oily and just lightly smoked, a great contrast to the eggplant; the radish provided very nice crunch and freshness.
2. Seared St. Jacques (scallops), chilled green apple/ginger "soup," apple matchsticks (perfectly cut by hand - I watched!), thin salted slices of white radish, chopped black walnuts - sweet, herby, just a touch of acid, pure.
3. Bar (sea bass) Parmentier with braised leeks, lemon, lime, beurre blanc - the fish was extremely high quality and very tender and sweet without being mushy; the "Parmentier" came in the form of mashed potato croquettes (the mashed potatoes were piped into little blobs and deepfried) that were enhanced with a tiny bit of lemon zest (brilliant - the best "tater tots" ever); the leeks were very tasty but a bit difficult to eat since the hadn't been sliced (they looked like a thin tube of manicotti), and of course the beurre blanc tied it all together beautifully.
4. Duck two ways with beets three ways: half of a seared magret de canard (duck breast from specially fed animals), "confit" of duck leg and thigh (not the traditional preserved duck confit, but instead slowly roasted in duck fat), glazed red and yellow beets, thinly sliced raw beets, tiny beet greens - all beautifully prepared and delicious, but it was (shockingly) almost too much duck for me at this point of the meal (I'm guessing almost a pound of meat) and there wasn't enough contrast between the various elements of this plate (all sweet and dark and earthy and on the "heavy" side); also, if the duck breast had been sliced traditionally it would have been easier to eat.
5. Dessert in four waves!
5a. First, a little saucer of "love in a cage" fruit (a.k.a. groundcherries) that accompanied the rest of the desserts - they were small orange fruits in a papery husk - the fruits tasted like a cross between apricots, passionfruit and sour cherries.
5b. Next, pistachio cake crumbles with a scoop of yogurt sorbet, some pear puree, and bits of cocoa bean - very interesting taste and texture contrasts and yummy yummy yummy.
5c. Third, one deeeeelicious chocolate "beignet" in a pool of sweetened cream with pomegranate seeds - I think the beignet was actually a hunk of chocolate double-dipped in batter and deepfried - who needs the now almost passe molten chocolate cake?!?
5d. And finally one of the most unusual desserts I've ever eaten - a scoop of olive oil and vanilla "butter" sprinkled with black Hawaiian sea salt and dusted with a bit of lime zest! I believe that the olive oil and vanilla bean seeds were just beaten (a long time) into a thick buttery consistency. Very tasty sweet and and a bit mysterious! The "love in a cage" fruits were especially good with this.
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| eggplant, smoked eel, radish |
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| St.Jacques, green apple, white radish |
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| bar, leeks, potato croquettes |
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| duck 2 ways, beets 3 ways |
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| "love in a cage" |
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| pistachio cake, yogurt sorbet |
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| chocolate beignet |
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| olive oil "butter" |
Chef Daniel Rose is originally from Chicago, but has lived in Paris for several years. He and his French wife Marie were the complete staff at two previous incarnations of "Spring," but although they now have several other multi-national sous chefs and staff members, they are font-and-center in the kitchen and the heart-and-soul of this charming new restaurant. One of their "things" is that every day they prepare food that they've never made before, based on what's fresh and great in the markets. Obviously, some of the sauces are other ingredients are prepared earlier in the day, and all required ingredients, oils, butters, herbs, etc. are well organized and in place ("mise en place"), but it's worth the price of admission to get a reservation for 8:00 p.m. (when they open for dinner), get one of the seats at the kitchen counter, and watch them figuring out the logistics for preparing and serving food to the first customers! From that perch you also get to chat with Daniel and other chefs and just watch the dance as at least four cooks occupy the small yet brilliantly-designed kitchen at the same time. They even have a little container with a ramekin of water and small squares of paper towel on the counter in just the right spot to grab, moisten, and clean any drips of food off the plate before it goes to the customer.
Their concept is actually quite efficient and sensible and waste-free from a restaurant ownership perspective too. They have only one "seating" a night, so they know exactly how many people they will serve (since they're always full). They decide the menu, so they don't have to order enough ingredients for multiple alternatives. And they cook in the classic French style of wasting nothing (e.g., Daniel told me that the portions of the apple that weren't made into matchsticks were pureed for the "soup" for the second course). Smart smart smart.
I'm happy to say that they use the same copper pots as I have at home. (What comes out of my pots isn't QUITE at their level, but hey...I don't cook 8 hours a day...and I'm not half as clever!)
At 10:30 the scrubdown began - Marie washed all kitchen surfaces (cooking irons, countertops, blacksplashes, griddle, etc.) with soapy water, then pulled a hose from its little nook and squirted down everything, then squeegy-ed it dry, pushing the water to the floor and from there into a drain. So efficient! Their booking calendar is kept on an iPad - so modern! It really is a great spot. You must visit when you can. A full evening's entertainment and some of the tastiest and highest-quality food I've had in months was a mere 109 euros. Make your reservations well in advance - as I said at the top, "Spring" is one of the hottest spots in town - I called about a month ago, and this was the only opening they had for the whole week I'm in town. They are also open for lunch (I assume that you need reservations for lunch too). Address: 6, rue Ballileul (1st Arrondissement) Metro: Louvre-Rivoli Phone: 011.33.1.45.96.05.72 Other reviews at: http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-spring-restaurant/
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| Marie |
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| Daniel |
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| cleanup time! |
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