Cavalier, all-night dining bar, natural wines and kick-ass cocktails

Forget the old Cavalier and its Afghan, Georgian and Egyptian ambitions. This autumn, the Canal Saint-Martin restaurant is getting a facelift and unveiling new ambitions. At the helm of Cavalier 2.0 is Ayyam Sureau, surrounded by chef Michaël Aldibek and sommelier Prune Moirenc.

Michaël Aldibek, a 25-year-old chef trained at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants - Lafleur, DiverXO, Noma, to name but a few - acquired his first chef's position at Cavalier, where he was keen to showcase his lively, electric cuisine. With a clean slate, the chef pulls out of his hat small, hearty plates to share with his guests.

For the address is much more than a restaurant, it's a veritable dining bar orchestrated around two axes: eating well and drinking well... until noon! If it's not easy to find a sapidly honorable address after a certain hour of the night, Cavalier takes the decision to stay open until 5 a.m. from Thursday to Saturday, and to offer night owls not only its drinks menu but also its food menu until the wee hours of the morning.

Liquidement vôtre, head sommelier Prune Moirenc (ex-Saturne et Robert) selects from some forty references, with an emphasis on natural and biodynamic wines; while head mixologist Léo Nicaud (ex-UmaNota) goes to great lengths to come up with different cocktails, mixing French spirits and vintage aperitifs with a good dose of gentle madness.

Like the Vaca Diablo clarified cocktail (13€) with Fourme d'Ambert cheese (the taste isn't very pronounced, we assure you, but it's there all the same), the Paloma in Paris cocktail (Byrrh, mezcal, agave, lime, grapefruit, soda; 12€) or the Gin To' Cavalier (gin, blackcurrant leaves, Suze, tonic; 11€), all in false simplicity. And what could be better than sipping them on the small terrace on the lively Faubourg du Temple street?

Among the plates that pack a punch are the absolutely addictive brain fritters (12€), bathed in aïoli and Granny Smith apple gel to bring a welcome acidity to the melt-in-your-mouth abat; an egg yolk confit (12€) carefully concealed beneath a homemade tarama, trout roe, potato siphon and a good layer of shredded bottarga ; competition corn ribs (8€), buttered to perfection; a vitello tonnato (12€), meticulously prepared according to the rules of the art; or goat's namelaka cream (9€), lemon marmalade and amaretto molasses, the perfect link between cheese and dessert.