Skip to content

La Cave à Michel

Cave a Michel Restaurant in Paris | Paris By Mouth

There is no real “Michel” behind La Cave à Michel – the name of this lively, standing-room-only Belleville wine bar uses the name in its French sense of “everyman.” And indeed, the bar is as welcoming and informal as its product standards are rigorous and precise. The product of a friendly collaboration between caviste Fabrice Mansouri and Romain and Maxime Tischenko, the brothers behind next door tasting-menu restaurant Le Galopin, La Cave à Michel rivals the Left Bank’s L’Avant Comptoir for the best Parisian cuisine you’ll eat standing up. Romain Tischenko reins in his more maximalist impulses in the bar’s tiny kitchen, and turns out small plates of jewel-like delicacy: beef tartare beneath ricotta salata, bass céviche, or mozzarella with salmon roe. Mansouri’s selection of natural wines is well-considered and well-priced. If service can become a little sluggish at times, it’s because the bar is reliably packed with restaurant industry regulars and Mansouri has a gift for banter. Serious cuisine is rarely this fun.

— Aaron Ayscough, January 2016

Practical information

Address: 36 rue Saint-Marthe, 75010
Nearest transport: Belleville (2,11)
Hours: Closed Monday & Tuesday; Open Wednesday-Sunday 4-11pm
Reservations: Walk-ins Welcome
Telephone: 01 42 45 94 47
Average price for dinner: 20-39€
Style of cuisine: Small plates & tapas
Facebook

[slideshow_deploy id=’61607′]

Reviews of interest

The Guardian (2015) “During the day, La Cave à Michel operates as a normal wine shop, but from 6:30pm Tischenko comes over from Le Galopin to spend the evening cooking gourmet tapas in a minuscule kitchen at the end of the classic zinc bar. The narrow, standing-room only joint buzzes at night, with Mansouri at one end explaining some of the 300 wines it stocks while, at the other end, Tischenko cooks up a storm with dishes such as Galician octopus grilled with organic aubergine, Basque peppers stuffed with yoghurt and tarragon, and a fresh, tangy mix of tomatoes, peaches and coriander.”

L’Express (2014) “Oeufs durs en self-écaillage à badigeonner d’une parfaite mayo (2 euros), guindillas (petits piments verts) juste roussis au chalumeau (5 euros), voilà pour les picorages spontanés. Plus élaborées, les “raciones” du jour que Romain concocte dans sa kitchenette improvisée: l’assiette de potimarron, joue de porc, champignons et cacahuètes (7 euros) est bluffante; les betteraves, ricotta et crevettes séchées (8 euros) ont un sacré peps.”

Le Figaro (2014) “Le meilleur œuf mayo de Paris… il vous suffit de retenir que dans ce long spot décoré avec goût vous attendent flacons de petits producteurs et tapas à tomber.”

Not Drinking Poison in Paris (2014) “Mansouri and the Tischenkos have transformed the awkward old Contre-Etiquette space into a spare, elegant, standing-room-only wine bar that offers, Wednesday through Sunday (!), a solid natural wine selection, a rousing atmosphere, and a winning menu of ambitious small plates produced from a comically small kitchen.”

Paris Bouge (2014) “… l’œuf mayo, avec une mayonnaise parfaite qu’on finit à la petite cuillère et au pain ou les «Guindillas, Kintoa», piments verts doux passés au chalumeau et servis avec la crème du jambon basque. Ce soir là il y a aussi la « Mozarella, Cresson, Olives », douce et accompagnée d’olives au goût vraiment formidable ou encore la vive composition d’« Artichauts, Pomelos, fromage frais».”

Le Fooding (2014) “Leur repaire: un bar à tapas tout en longueur et en azulejos, où picorer debout, au zinc, de radieuses assiettes bien proportionnées: guindillas (piments verts) brunis rapidos au chalumeau avant de finir avec des tranches de lard de kintoa; mulet fondant attendri par une marinade nippone, piquillos, framboises et mûres; poulpe ultra-frais à l’effiloché d’aubergine et fines tranches de féta rapportée de Grèce; palourdes mouillées au jus de soubressade; tartare de veau tout suave, crème crue et physalis ; ou encore œuf dur mayo…”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *