French department store Printemps brings surprisingly thrilling food to Wall Street

The loudest cheers on Wall Street aren’t for the New York Stock Exchange’s closing bell, but for the opening of the five most dynamic restaurants FiDi has ever seen under a single roof.They’re at Printemps, the new Paris-based fashion store that’s the glam showpiece of One Wall Street — the landmarked former Irving Trust office building recently converted to luxury condos.The neighborhood, once starved for quality cuisine, is now a lively residential district as well as a business hub.It’s enjoying a dining renaissance with the revived Delmonico’s on Beaver Street, SAGA and Crown Shy at 70 Pine Street and lively indoor-outdoor cafes on Stone Street.But it never had anything like Printemps’ nexus of high style and kitchen magic, which are surprising and delighting food-lovers, scene-makers and night owls.Last Friday at 10 p.m.

— two hours after the Printemps store closed — its flagship restaurant, Maison Passerelle, buzzed like a Wall Street Balthazar with couples dressed to kill.  The next afternoon, Salon Vert — a sexy, green-accented, second-floor raw bar/cafe — was so full, I had to wait for a seat at the  bar.Was this really happening at Broadway and Wall Street, a corner where the favorite dish historically was a street-cart hot dog?Olivia Gracey, 31, a West Village publicist who’s not involved with Printemps, was as surprised as me by Printemps culinary pleasures.“We stumbled into Salon Vert as a reprieve from prowling the sunglasses and bags.

I’m now obsessed,” she told me.“I’d drink the sweet potato soup with a straw if they’d let me.”Wealth advisor/consultant Marina Warner, 41, favors Cafe Jalu, a casual cafe next to Maison Passerelle.

“The people-watching is wild and hilarious.I didn’t know so many fancy people were in FiDi with HUGE dogs,” she said,  adding, “The pain au chocolat is pretty insane when I need to eat my feelings in a good way.”All five eateries are run by Haitian-born chef Gre...