FALL OPENING FOR SPRING BOUTIQUE
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Fans of Daniel Rose’s Spring will have to content themselves with the boutique until the new Paris restaurant opens in March. |
Daniel Rose shot to fame in a very short time with his tiny Spring restaurant in Paris’s ninth arrondissement but more or less shut up shop earlier this year to open a bigger place somewhere near Les Halles. Nine months on, he can add expertise in French bureaucracy to his list of skills: because of various difficulties with the renovation, his new restaurant will not open until next March. To “put us on” as my Yorkshire countrymen say, and whet our appetites for more, he has just opened a small grocery store and wine shop across the way from the restaurant Garde Robe, where he sells an eclectic, highly personal range of wines, plus an “as I please” selection of other gastronomic goodies.
Three winemakers were on hand at the opening: the delightful Catherine Breton, from Bourgueil in the Loire valley, handing out samples of her sparkling Vouvray, which is still in its bottle fermentation stage and was accordingly bursting with yeasty freshness; Jean Montanet from Domaine de la Cadette in Vézelay, with a very refreshing and lively Pinot Noir; and Jean Christophe Comor, of Domaine des Terres Promises, whose vines are located between Aix-en-Provence and Toulon, with a meaty, lip-smacking red vin de table.
We missed the boudin blanc hot dogs with morels, unfortunately, as other duties called, but we shall be keeping an eye on the young man’s activities, and at the very least sourcing our supplies of Maldon sea salt from him, as few others in Paris seem to stock the divine flakes produced in England.
But even those of you who are not salt freaks will find plenty to excite your taste buds and brain cells at Spring Boutique, from black turnips to some of the best apples ever (all produce is organic, of course), along with such gourmet tidbits as Valrhona chocolate, Soluna coffee, almond oil and aged balsamico vinegar. Richard Hesse
Spring Boutique: 52, Rue de l’Arbre Sec, 75001 Paris. Métro: Les Halles. Tel.: 01 58 62 44 30. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10:30am-9pm.
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MManager Josh Adler talks about the new Spring boutique. |