Spring, an American in Paris

Emmanuel Tresmontant-2009-01-26

 

 

Is it a bistro, a restaurant or a table d’hôte? Hard to say, actually! Spring is perhaps a new concept which hasn’t yet been defined, much like the very first restaurants which sprung up in the heart of Paris back in the 1760s: modest stalls here and there which would serve meat bouillon at all hours to famished passers-by in order to ‘restore’ (restaurer, in French) them.

 

Nestling in Paris’s handsome 9^tharrondissement between Avenue de Trudaine and Place St. Georges, Spring is a petite 25 m² space containing eight maple wood tables set between a sliding glass door and an open ‘American-style’ kitchen.

 

At a moment in history where great chefs have pride of place in Who’s Who, here’s a young man who studied philosophy and was an absolute amateur in the kitchen – and now he’s really stirring things up. Daniel Rose is something of a human version of Ratatouille (‘Anyone can cook,’ remember?); a Harry Potter with pots and pans! From the most modest of beginnings, and without any idea of what would soon transpire, Rose has acquired a following of gourmet foodies who are as enthused about the new flavours as about the chef’s sincerity.

Each day, Daniel Rose and his French companion Marie-Aude Mery (29 years old, a true kitchen wizard who trained with überchefs Pierre Gagnaire and Guy Savoy) visit the market together and dream up a € 35 lunch menu with a starter, main dish and dessert.

So the first thing you need to know is that you’ll have no choice. The second is that the meal will be served to everyone at the same time, which means that if you’ve arrived at 1.00 pm, you won’t start eating until 1.30, or maybe even 1.45… Daniel Rose intends to make his guests relax, take their time and play along.

 

‘I get the jitters every day,’ he tells us. And in fact, he does look awfully nervous as he ties on his apron, like an actor about to enter the stage! But this expression of sincercity also meets with the public’s approval. He approaches cuisine more as a life experience than a vocation or contest. ‘I started to cook in 1998 by chance, and from one day to the next I might just leave it all behind!’

He learned the basics during a year at the Institut Paul Bocuse. ‘Even so, there are all sorts of things I don’t know how to cook – omelettes, for example!’ His greatest fear? ‘Monotony, repetition... Pleasure and a love for food are my guiding lights.’

 

In a nutshell: a no-choice market menu, a ridiculously long wait, a minimalist decor which gives us the opportunity to notice whatever’s on the table (hmmm... Bordier’s seaweed butter... and look at those knives – aren’t they lovely - must be from Thiers, the capital of French cutlery near Clermont-Ferrand)... And to observe Daniel who silently tastes each of the wines and every dish he’ll serve whilst Marie-Aude watches over the rabbit.

So now you know what to expect: a meal which breaks every rule generally observed in French restaurants. It seems to me that the main point is the sense of equality which is established between the cook and the customer: no superiority either way. We’re all partners. And then, of course... there’s the food!

 

The creamed artichoke soup with foie gras and croutons which Marie-Aude has ladled into the sixteen soup plates lined up on the counter is pleasant and velvety without being too showy. It serves its purpose: to stimulate the appetite in preparation for the next course.

The next course is the main dish, which Daniel sets down in front of us while whispering ‘lapin à la moutarde’ – rabbit in mustard sauce. Yes, the name is simple, but there’s far more nuance to this bunny than meets the eye. Slow cooking (it’s baked in the oven for 2.5 hours) has made the meat incredibly tender. Around it are cooking juices, melt-in-your-mouth carrots with a hint of bitter orange, a beetroot carpaccio, thinly sliced button mushrooms, a delicate potato pancake and a bit of endive... It is a harmonious marriage which gives rise to a concentrated celebration of flavours and aromas.

For dessert, there are Turkish Delight-like poached apples sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with crème caramel and homemade coffee ice cream. An invention rich in femininity and indulgence – would that the portions were larger!

 

Daniel Rose loves fine ingredients; his cuisine is instinctive. Given a large bunch of Swiss chard, for example, it might occur to him to cook it with some chicken bouillon and a sea bass fillet.

‘I’m aware that spending € 50 to dine here (with the wine, mineral water and coffee) is already a lot of money! We’ll have to try to become even more affordable. In Chicago, you can easily eat well on a daily basis for a few dollars – much better than in Paris! On the other hand, they don’t have the calibre of fine restaurants you’ll find here. The problem in Paris is that good cuisine has become too elitist; it’s not very accessible...’

 

Daniel Rose has put together his wine list himself. Quite heterogeneous, it offers wines acquired directly from vineyards as well as from merchants. If your budget allows for a magnificent vintage which is very rarely found on restaurant wine lists, I would recommend Jean-Yves Bizot’s Vosne-Romanée for € 94. This is a magnificent Pinot noir from Burgundy, delicate and floral, and very pure - exactly like Marie-Aude and Daniel’s cuisine!

 

6 rue bayonne 75001 Paris

75009 Paris

Tel: 01 45 96 05 72

Lunch menu (starter, main course, dessert) for € 35 / Market menu (two starters, main course, dessert) € 42.

Reservations must be made in advance.