Rue de Castelnau has just become a little more festive with the arrival of Casavant, a very pretty late-night restaurant that claims to be a French brasserie. Open seven evenings a week from 5 p.m., with stoves that don’t go out before midnight, the place aims, among other things, to become the meeting place for catering workers.
But, of course, everyone is welcome at Casavant. It’s a nice addition to the neighborhood, where you can easily see yourself settling in for a few hours with a group of friends and ordering the entire short menu, but also sitting at the bar to swallow a hearty plate of sausage house and its mash, with a glass of red.
The restaurant is named after the grandmother of one of the four co-owners, Matisse Deslauriers, himself born a stone’s throw from his new home. The young restaurateur also partially owns the wine representation agency À Drink Standing, which fills several floors of the cellar, in cohabitation with other friendly agencies.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
This Grenoble-style bar also has the caliber of a Casavant classic.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Sausage and mash is a comforting French brasserie classic that should always be on the menu at Casavant.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Every good French brasserie has its tartare.
1/3
The other owners are Geoffrey Gravel, with whom Matisse worked in the dining room at Vinvinvin, the actress Amélie Demchuk and the chef Charles-Tristan Prévost. The latter has just come out of the kitchens of the Hunting and Fishing Club. He has spent the last five years with the group which also owns Le Filet and Le Serpent and cherishes the learnings he made during his time at Satay Brothers, alongside co-owner Mathieu Winnicki.
Although they studied at the same high school, with only one year difference, Charles and Matisse did not really know each other. But when the quartet first met, “it worked immediately.” And so far, it seems that the good vibes are there.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Casavant, the new brewery in Villeray.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Matisse Deslauriers, Charles-Tristan Prévost, Geoffroy Gravel and Amélie Demchuk are the four co-owners of Casavant.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
It was the MRDK firm that created the Casavant space, in a location that has seen several other restaurants pass through in recent years.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The wines on the list come largely from the portfolio of the À Dessine Debement agency, but also from friendly agencies.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The Casavant is located rue de Castelnau.
1/5
In homage to the bistro cuisine of their favorite Parisian addresses, the owners wanted to have a sausage and mash on the menu. But unlike the classic brasseries/bistros of the City of Lights, Casavant doesn’t have a two-page menu that tours the repertoire; the dozen proposals fit on one sheet. Some dishes will be constant, others seasonal, like the chanterelle risotto and the delicious corn plate which is coming to an end.
The 45-seat room was very well exorcised by the MRDK firm (Ménard and Dworkind). The refined marriage of Art Deco and surrealist details (including a superb black and white canvas by the artist Nicolas Grenier) erases the somewhat chaotic past of this premises which has seen a few too many restaurants in the last decade. We feel that this time, it should stick!
350, rue de Castelnau, Montreal