»In which Monday is the quietest night

The tradition of shutting down restaurants of a Monday is alive and well in Hayes Valley. Last night I was meeting a peripatetic friend, and had thought that a nice evening at the Citizen Cake or the Absinthe was in order -- we could eat a few small plates, and have good wine and good coffee. Neither was open: we walked down the eerily quiet Gough St. to Hotel Biron, which was full and noisy with a private party. We then walked around the corner to Cav, the Catalan-inflected wine bar in Market Street's Deco Ghetto. Really, it's a high light of these few blocks: it does not make the pretence of a sidewalk café, and thus avoids the disappointment of Zuni for a casual drink. And the staff at Cav welcomed us, although we were not sloshing back the vino nor eating a full meal.

We did not want a meal, but neither did we want fast food. I do like the growing number of San Francisco wine bars, and the quality of the food they serve.

Yelp has nice snaps of some of Cav's dishes.