Delicacies & Delights: Spring

As Parisian foodies await the imminent reopening, in its new location, of Daniel Rose’s restaurant Spring, the American chef and his French girlfriend Marie-Aude Méry have opened a niche boutique near the Louvre selling the kind of top-quality seasonal foodstuffs Rose uses in his cuisine—snails from Burgundy, outstanding charcuterie—bellota, bresaola and Basque porc noir—and the most divine-looking cheeses including creamy Robiola, Taupinette goat cheese and Corsican Fleur de Maquis. The new boutique épicerie, says Marie-Aude, who is now Rose’s co-chef, operates “in the spirit of a neighborhood grocery store”, so that local residents can drop in until 9 pm to pick up perfumed cooking oils and vinegars, sea salt from Noirmoutier and organic “slow food” staples such as haricots Soissons (large white beans from Soissons, north of Paris), petit épeautre (small spelt from Provence) and lentilles blondes (beige-brown lentils, a specialty of Saint-Flour, in the Auvergne). Daniel and Marie-Aude source all the boutique’s produce themselves, tracking down Philippe Mordelet’s homemade green-tomato-and-verbena chutney in Toulouse, Edmond Fallot’s traditionally made mustards in Burgundy, and Rémy Vanbremeersch’s Miel de Paris considerably closer to home—the old-fashioned beekeeper has his hives in the city’s 20th arrondissement. Spring’s resident caviste Josh Adler has put together a brilliant selection of wines—principally French, focused on small producers, plenty of organic labels—which can be sampled at Thursday night’s lively tasting sessions 5-9 pm. 52 rue de l’Arbre Sec, 1st. 01.58.62.44.30

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