Among the ranks of non-French chefs who opened restaurants in Paris and carved their names in this city with highly selective taste, Daniel Rose from Spring is probably one of the most well-recognized. A Chicago native who moved to France to study the language and ended up cooking, chef Rose opened Spring in 2006 and ever since, the restaurant has been one of the more popular dining destinations in Paris. For a country that really cares about the origin of its chefs, that is a remarkable feat. How could an American lead a restaurant located nearby the Louvre that constantly draws the crowd on a nightly basis? My dining experience at Spring taught me that this restaurant is a winner.

I visited the restaurant for dinner, where you can have a daily changing tasting menu at 84 euros per person. Reflecting the background of chef Rose, the restaurant has more of a New American feel to it. I heard English from a number of tables nearby, and the dining room has the modern and trendy décor of a restaurant somewhere in Manhattan. Even the food in impression was a bit closer to New American than French. Not that I complain, though, because each dish that came was expertly prepared with attention to ingredients and execution.

Each morning, chef Rose goes on grocery shopping to get the freshest ingredients of that day, and prepares a daily changing tasting menu based on what he purchased. That approach already showed in the fresh trio of starters in oysters, tomato and beet. I wasn’t a huge fan of the langoustine that came with foie gras, fennel and Greek style cooked vegetables (despite the promise of various ingredients, I felt the overall construction of the dish was a bit off), but I loved both the John Dory and veal fillet dishes that came after. John Dory was very nicely cooked, and well supported by the surrounding elements of eggplant, mushroom and buckwheat. Veal fillet that came with chards and anchovies was also juicy on the inside, and came with a side of potato accompanied by veal head and foot that wasn’t as heavy as I thought would be.

Followed by the refreshing Greek yogurt sorbet, the restaurant served a dessert of three dishes, consisting of white chocolate and raspberries, chocolate and hazelnut and fig and almond tart. Each dish had the refined elegance that wasn’t overly sweet to my liking, especially the tart that featured the texture of fresh fig quite well.

The service at the restaurant is attentive and friendly. There are some wine selections at reasonable price points, so I recommend sharing a bottle if you’re so inclined to complement your meal. If you want to see how an American chef has developed his culinary philosophy based on his love of the French food as well as his American background, Spring is a worthy place to visit. I would certainly love to have a restaurant like this in New York City.

KenScale: 8.5/10

• Creativity: 8.0/10
• Execution: 8.5/10
• Ingredients: 8.5/10
• Flavor: 8.5/10
• Texture: 8.0/10

Address: 6 rue Bailleul, 75001, Paris, France

Telephone: +33-1-45-96-05-72

Website: http://www.springparis.fr/