From the get go our goal has been to provide a casual place where San Franciscans and visitors could enjoy great wine and food. When we first opened in September 2005, we called ourselves a wine bar. However, since our inception, we have had a full kitchen. The menu format has changed a bit over time, but in truth we're serving as much food today as we always have. Does this make us a restaurant, people wonder? It definitely makes us more than a wine bar, so we changed our name to CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen in 2006.
What makes us different from other restaurants is that our menu revolves around our wine program, not the other way around. We have about 250 wines from all over the world that exhibit unique and at the same time, archetypal expressions of grapes and terroirs. We have become known for leaning toward the esoteric, but what was esoteric ten years ago is pretty common today and the bottom line for any wine that I put on the list is that it tastes good. If a wine is good you should be able to enjoy it on its own, but that said, most wines are best with food. In our case, we are lucky in that we have very talented and dedicated folks in our kitchen who make excellent food, further enhancing our wines. We also have a floor staff that has great wine knowledge and are especially adept at wine and food pairing.
We hope our customers appreciate and enjoy what we do. It truly is a labor of love. A number of people, both current and former employees, have helped make CAV what it is today. A restaurant can never rest on it's laurels especially in a place like San Francisco that has so many great places to go for wine and food. We're always trying to stay on top of our game and make things even better and never lose sight of the initial idea that wine and food is for everyone to enjoy.
CAV Wine Bar & Kitchen
1666 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
