CLOSED

This 10 year old restaurant is a Parisian treat

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LOCATION

Spring is on Rue Bailleul, just off Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement. It’s a 5 mins walk from the Louvre and about a 15mins walk from Colette.

THE SPACE

Spring feels in some ways like a modern art gallery, just without the artwork. It’s got a pared back high end aesthetic but it’s not a boring space; features like the hanging light as you enter the restaurant give it character. It’s a place that I think would appeal equally to a young crowd as well as more mature diners. 

FOOD & SERVICE

Spring has been going for 10 years and Daniel Rose, the founder opened up shop for the first time in the States (NY to be precise) earlier this year, which is how my friend came across Spring, reading about the guy behind it in the NY times. 

Turns out Daniel, a Chicago native went to her high school, so she was curious to check it out. She booked Spring for our last dinner in Paris and boy am I glad she did. It was quite simply an exquisite experience – the food, ambience, service – was all on point. 

They serve a single set menu of 4 courses for all diners which changes on a monthly basis. If you have any dietary restrictions email them in advance. The dinner comprises two starters, one main course and a dessert but the night we went we definitely ate more than that but I will never say no to more food than was promised. We went with a ‘drinks’ pairing as it wasn’t exclusively wine we drank. 

We had some champagne to start and a little panisse appetiser with tomato, anchovy and a good drizzle of oil. I like anchovies but the saltiness of it can generally overwhelm, so I was curious how I would find this, considering its ratio to panisse and tomato was high but luckily it was perfectly balanced and very enjoyable.

Then came a glass of wine from Domaine Henry Pellé, Menetou-Salon to go with the cold hake dish served with cucumber, radish and a fresh herb sauce – it was a rather delicate pleasing dish.

Followed by red mullet with poivrade artichoke and kalamata olive and a glass of Bandol 2012.

After all the fish, it was time to dive into meat ville and veal filet we ate accompanied with girolles mushrooms and a gorgeous veal tartare on a thin crispy piece of bread with a bit of glasswort thrown in. This was served with grenaille potatoes with peas in a butter sauce. All of this was right up my alley. Wine pairing was  Saint-Veran Le Grand Bussiere.

A little cheese and beer followed…

…then, it was time for pudding – whoop! They gave us a 1) strawberry basil sorbet which was so so good 2) cherries in syrup sprinkled with crumbled pistachios and 3) a raspberry cheesecake of sorts which we drank with some Jurançon.

O MY WORD – happy fucking days.

VIBE

The guys at Spring were an absolute riot which made the experience here so memorable and fun. It seems like they were hell bent on getting us drunk and I most certainly wasn’t going to fight it. They gave us more wine than we paid for I’m sure and proceeded to make us finish off a giant bottle of Chartreuse. Even on our way out when we were waiting for our taxi to take us to ECC, they brought out a bottle of gin for us to taste. 

Seemed like a relatively subdued crowd overall, us being the exception which is why I think the folks at Spring gravitated towards us. It was one of those special nights where we just vibed well with the Spring lot but I’m holding out hope that I’d have a similarly excellent time next time I revisit.

MOOLAH

Tasting menu + ‘drinks’ pairing came in at about €120 / c.£100 – all totally worth it.

THE TAKE OUT 

The food at Spring is not crazily experimental and it doesn’t want to be. Seasonal produce and solid french cooking presented in a modern way is what you’ll get. My experience was definitely enhanced by the service which was playful but professional and I would revisit here for sure.

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Cuisine: French

Avg cost Inc. an alcoholic bevvy: Prixe Fixe £70 without wine pairing [££££]  

Address: 6 Rue Bailleul, 75001 Paris

Reservations: Yes 

Hours: Dinner only: Tue – Sat from 18:30

Phone: +33 (0)1 459 605 72

springparis.fr

LAST VISITED JUN 2016

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