During an Asian fried chicken dinner with best friends Randy and Jack on Monday night; my phone rang at exactly 10:30pm

with Chef Daniel Rose on the other end.

My heart sank when he said, “Wendy, you won’t believe it, I was just taking a coffee beak around the corner and three fire trucks came roaring up the street yelling out “Daniel Rose!”

He continued, "Apparently someone in the building smelled gas, called the authorities and blamed the restaurant and me by name." I apologized for laughing out loud with relief, “Honey! Thank God it wasn’t a fire and it can’t possibly be your fault since the restaurant isn’t even cooking with gas.”

On the train on the way home his follow-up text messages made me wonder if this latest episode might prove to be too much, so I turned around and headed his way.

The area looked like a war zone – completely blocked off with vigilant police behind red tape, fire trucks, concerned neighbors and business owners staring at each other, lights flashing and the sound of jack hammers. I called him in the crowd and asked why they weren’t cracking open a bottle in the restaurant to watch the chaos from the comfort of the dining room ... he said, laughing, “We can’t. The firemen have my keys! But I’m okay, Marie is here and we’re smiling through it...it was a city gas line under the street."

If you haven’t heard, he’s within a week of finally reaching the finish line to open his much anticipated restaurant SPRING… two long years after signing the papers and facing snail-paced red tape delays due to unexpected historic renovation complications with more architects, city planners and town hall. When the rest of us might have given up, he kept going as best he could with a smile – telling himself that every interruption must have a reason and higher purpose.

It got me thinking about something Mark over at Willi’s Wine Bar rightly and poignantly observed on his blog earlier week:

“This ‘Spring’ is not simply about a seasonal gift from nature. It will symbolize resourcefulness & a high level of personal commitment, incarnating determination, resilience & inner strength.”

So, while the food world is wondering how to get IN for dinner, his peers and friends are cheering from the sidelines in admiration for not having given up and gotten OUT.

The morning after "gas-gate", Randy, Jack and I stopped by the street to see the damage which thankfully had been reduced to a single hole in the ground.

Daniel saw us and stepped out in the street wearing his chef vest, wiping his hands on the towel tucked neatly into the waist. “Wendy, we’re cooking for the investors and the architects are here, but come in for a glass of Prosecco and we’ll show you all around.”

I’ve seen the restaurant many times, so while Randy and Jack got the royal tour...

I smiled thinking of Daniel upstairs cooking and wearing his chef vest again - and even more so when he popped downstairs to see what we thought of everything. He is "over" last night, although he said he wants to send me the photos he took in the heat of the moment. (Reminder, send 'em over buddy, I'll post one here.)

He's been wearing his worker blues at the Spring Boutique and playing tour guide through the renovation for so long now that I told him I bet he can’t wait to get back behind the stoves where he belongs – shifting his focus back to “feeding diners souls” with food philosophy.

When they do the ribbon cutting ceremony, I hope that Daniel and team decide to use the scissors on symbolic red tape instead to start their new Spring journey… a humbling lesson in patience… “personal commitment, incarnating determination, resilience & inner strength.”

Alexander Lobrano recently spoke with Daniel about Spring in his "Eurofile" column for the New York Times which says it all about putting one foot in front of the other, against all the odds.

People are asking if it is too much pressure on Daniel both financially and in opening. From the looks of how he has handled it all so far?

I say that from the rubble, a chef ... 

...and his kitchen, has risen ... ready to rock and roll and feed our souls.

Spring, 6 rue Bailleul, 75001, à1-45-96-05-72. springparis.blogspot.com