I ate at Spring on Friday night, along with two other writers who have already published accounts of the very same meal. I’ll spare you the repetition and simply direct you to these reviews by Barbra Austin and Adrian Moore. You might also like to read the review by Mr. Lung from the following night, which Daniel Rose told me was the “most sensitive review” that he had seen in a long time.

For my part, I wrote a story that was published by BlackBook today, detailing the hype that surrounds this opening. I’ve excerpted a bit below and you can head over there to read the whole thing.

With Expectations High, Spring Restaurant Reopens in Paris

…“I’m terrified of being seen like Itinéraires,” says Rose, referring to the disdain that greeted Sylvain Sendra’s new venture after he sold Le Temps au Temps. Some of the things that diners loved about Sendra’s cramped little bistro didn’t seem to work at the new restaurant.

Rose faces a similar challenge, moving from an undecorated shoebox in a far-out neighborhood to a flashier space in central Paris. Like Sendra, he added staff and raised prices in order to pay for them. These aren’t the only changes, however. Nearly all of the hooks that comprised Rose’s story have changed within the last three years. The underdog who cooked alone and undercharged for every plate has grown into the Hot Chef who manages a team and sometimes speaks in terms of “branding.”

Such changes have done nothing to slow the rush for reservations at the new Spring. The sense of urgency surrounding this second coming is reflected in the jittery title of a discussion thread on Chowhound: “Report on New Spring? Someone? Please?”

Rose wishes it weren’t this way. “A restaurant is just part of the decoration of life,” he said. “It isn’t life itself. I want Spring to be a normal restaurant.”

Whatever the chef may wish, Spring was far from normal on the first Friday of opening week. With the exception of one small family and two neighbors from the building, the restaurant was filled with industry folk. Rival bloggers sat shoulder to shoulder in one corner while Masson and Rubin nuzzled at the bar. Everyone watched the open kitchen as if it were a stage….

> Continue reading at BlackBook

> See photos of the new Spring Restaurant