Wednesday 5 October 2011

Lunch at Spring and a quiet dinner in

Today was our highly anticipated lunch at Spring, our favourite restaurant in Paris.  Anyone who's read my previous blog knows how much I respect and admire Daniel Rose and his culinary genius, so I won't bore you with more of my rantings.  Suffice it to say that a meal at Spring is more than just a meal, it's an experience and we had another wonderful one again today.

We took our time walking over to the tiny rue de Bailleul in the 1st arrondissement and were a few minutes early for our 1pm reservation.  Daniel welcomed us warmly and we were seated at our table where we ordered wine (a lovely Sancerre) and sparkling water.  This was the only decisions we had to make since Daniel serves a fixed menu which he changes on a daily basis depending on what's fresh and available that day.

We started with 2 little amuse bouches ~ picked eggplant (OMG) and grilled octopus.



The first course was a perfectly poached egg served with sorrel, porchini mushroom, artichoke and buckwheat gallettes.  Daniel has a knack with putting things together that you don't think really go, but they SO do!  This dish was such a revelation, with the egg dissolving and making a kind of thick soup with the other ingredients.  It was so good that every single drop was sopped up with the great crusty bread.


At this point, most diners, including ourselves, have had a little (or more) wine and people start socializing.  The couple at the table next to us were celebrating his birthday with a magnum of Spring Champagne and we started to talk about various subjects, including Paris restaurants (duh!), work, the economy, being Canadian (he's from Toronto), politics and uh, food and wine, lol.  The 2 ladies next to the couple joined in our conversation and soon we were all comparing restaurant lists and madly jotting down notes for our next visits.

Our main course was veal and veal sweetbreads, stewed granny smith apples with mache and veal jus.  This was the second time I've had sweetbreads, the first being last year at Spring!  They are so delicious ~ perfectly seared and crunchy on the outside and meltingly tender on the inside.  I know some people are uncomfortable with trying offal, but if you just close your eyes and open your mind and just try it, you may be surprised with how much you may like it.


Dessert was a lovely pear tart that looked humongous but somehow managed to disappear before our very eyes.  We were also served a couple of little extra desserts, including tiny lemon creme tarts and a greek yogurt granita.


While we were having dessert, I heard my name called and I was delighted to finally meet Sophie Brissaud, a very well known Parisian food blogger and cookbook author.  We chatted for a little bit and it was so nice to see her after reading her blog for so long and seeing her posts on Facebook. 


Daniel & Sophie



After almost 3 hours, we reluctantly left Spring and did a little shopping along rue Rivoli on our way home.  We bought some cheese at a wonderful cheese shop in the Marais recommended by another local who is very well versed in all things food related in Paris, some foie gras, grapes, baguette and little goodies from Georges Larnicol, along with a fresh Pouilly Fuisse to wash it all down.  


little chocolate works of art

Den choosing some caramels

kouign amann


We've had a relaxing night in and are ready for another great day tomorrow.  Not sure what we're doing, it's supposed to rain tomorrow so we may look for things we can do inside.  There's a couple of art exhibits we've talked about, but we'll decide when we get up.  Our landlord has invited us to a little together at his favourite wine bar along with some of his other regular clients and then we have dinner reservations at Au Passages, a new place opened by some Spring alumni.


So bon soir et bonne nuit, a demain........

3 comments:

  1. wow! the food at Spring certainly looks delish!! I have never eaten there but may have to add it to my list!! My friend Jane (who you met at the GTG) also rents thru your landlord (I think?) A pic I saw of him told me he was 'easy on the eyes' Murielle! :-) Have a wonderful day ahead!
    Bisous Murielle x

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  2. Hey Roniece,

    Yes, Jane told us that she was also renting from Thierry. He is such a wonderful sweetheart, he truly cares about all his clients and just wants them to have a great experience in Paris. He has invited us to his favourite wine bar tonight along with some of his other regulars, we are looking forward to it. He is definitely easy on the eyes and such a great guy.

    Jo

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  3. Jo, what a nice post. We must lunch at Spring some time, and hope to me you and/ or Sophie there. -- Jake

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