The first day on our recent trip to Paris was capped with a dinner at a new restaurant called Spring. The restaurant was suggested to us by one of my wife's wedding cake clients. Located just a whisk's toss from the Louvre, we walked to dinner from the apartment we rented on Rue Montmarte. It is located on an alley that you might not walk had it been in most large cities. It was founded by an American, Daniel Rose, who went to Paris to study Greek, got hooked on cooking, went to cooking school at the Bocuse Institute, worked around France and then dove into the restaurant business.
The menu format is Prix Fixe with some minor choices within the menu. On American couple seated next to us was annoyed with the format and left five minutes after arriving. They had no sense of adventure.
Our meal was quite good. The standouts were an razor clam amuse bouche . Razor clams are seldom seen on a menu and these were simply done with an olive oil-herb butter. The starter was a riff on asparagus with amusing garnishes. A fish course was next, sea bass with artichoke hearts and a fish based coriander spiked broth. We also enjoyed a classic skate wing in brown butter, breast of duckling (maigret) with chickpea puree and an array of desserts (see photo below).
In their own words: "Dinner is 84 euros. An optional cheese course is 15 euros
Spring Restaurant serves a ‘prix fixe’ menu. The dishes are inspired by the market and the French tradition. Daniel Rose and his team love France and all things french. In addition to a team of cooks, servers and sommeliers, there are dozens of different suppliers, producers, and fisherman from all over France who make your meal possible. Dinner is served in 4 courses (3 savory dishes and dessert).
There is no menu or ‘carte’- we simply make you dinner. The only thing you might want to choose is the wine, but our Sommeliers would be glad to choose for you.
The Spring story began in 1998 when Daniel Rose moved to Paris to finish university. After graduation, Daniel moved to Lyon to learn to cook and enrolled in the Institut Bocuse cooking school. After 6 years of apprenticeship and adventure all over France, Daniel decided to open a restaurant. Having very little experience running a restaurant he opened the only one he thought he could run properly: a very small one. After a few years of a consistently full house, Daniel discovered an abandoned skate board shop in the center of Paris and decided to move locations.
On the 14th of July 2010, after two years of renovation, Daniel and his new team moved Spring to its current location and it has since been growing into a proper restaurant. Spring restaurant is Daniel Rose’s vision of a classic french meal: abundant and excellent products from all over France, attentive service and carefully chosen wines.
While Spring began as a ‘one man show’, Spring is now a team effort with cooks, captains, waiters, sommeliers all united by the same purpose: to please our customers and create an enjoyable moment at the table."
