CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen

1666 Market St. (between Franklin & Gough)
(415) 437-1770
www.cavwinebar.com

After weeks of trying, SQ, SJ and I finally had plans to go to dinner (note the introduction of requisite last initials.) I proposed CAV because it's been on my list for some time now and wine (as always) sounded like a good time.

We were starving by the time we settled into our table, so SQ immediately ordered the marinated olives. I'm not normally a fan of snacking olives, but these were firm in texture and mildly seasoned, contrary to my experience of bitingly salty, mushy olives. We then began to pore over the bible of wines. I was very impressed with the massive selection of wines of all prices from all different countries, however the wait staff was not super helpful in narrowing the options down for us. How does a wine bar not have a sommelier?

After deciding on our wine, we started with Sweet Potato Fries with tomato jam. These were served piping hot and were meaty and salty with a hint of cinammon to them. Next, we shared the Grouper Ceviche with asparagus, cherry tomato & lime wheel fritto misto. Normally, I'm a fan of both ceviches and fried foods, but neither were that great and together, they were disastrous. The fish was all lime and little anything else while the fritto misto was over-fried resulting in really tough veggies - not to mention the odd mismatch with the ceviche.

Next we had the Pan Roasted Black Bass with manilla clams, white corn, leeks, haricots verts and sweet corn broth which was pretty lackluster short of the remarkably small portion size. The tastiest plate we had was the Sweet Corn & Ricotta Ravioli with cherry tomatoes & opal basil. The ravioli was cooked perfectly, with nice thick pasta layers and bursting with creamy, succulent flavor. I only wish there was more because I think we all could have kept eating these!

The crown jewel of our meal, however was the cheese plate. SQ picked three cheeses - a triple cream, a goat and a white cheddar, and while these were stellar, the plethora of accouterments served with them define this plate in my mind as "the perfect cheese plate". Peppering this plate of cheesy goodness were grapes, hazelnuts, dried apricots, kumquats, green apple, cashews, and a new experience for me - TRUFFLED honey. Oh my god was that heavenly.

The Verdict: Worth It If You Go For Wine And "The Perfect Cheese Plate"