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REVIEW Maybe it's the flight of robust German reds talking, but Cav seems like the sleekest, yet somehow the most laid-back, entry in the recent rush of wine bar openings. (Is there, like, a wine bar mafia hiding out here lately?) While other new oenophile venues certainly have their particular charms, Cav's the only one that aims for hipness without turning class into sass.Read more »

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Opera Plaza doesn't look like restaurant heaven, and, for the most part, it isn't. The development's long-running success story is Max's Opera Café, a faux deli that deals in mountainous portions, with dill pickles and fries. Over the years there have been a few places with more style, among them Carlo Middione's Vivande and Bruce Cost's Monsoon, but in neither case was traction established, and neither concern lasted long.Read more »

› le_chicken_farmer@yahoo.com

CHEAP EATS Crawdad de la Cooter has a new squeeze. I called him up and said, "Hey, man, let's go eat, huh? You hungry?"

And he said what anyone would have said in his position. He said, "Who is this?"

"It's the Chicken Farmer," I said. "Crawdad's ex?"Read more »

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› paulr@sfbg.com

The hamburger has a certain Zelig quality in America: It turns up all over the place, in guises high and low, at fancy metropolitan restaurants and greasy truck stops on the outskirts of every Podunk and Palookaville from coast to coast. Some, like the famous Zuni burger, are made from carefully ground high-end beef; many others — many, many others — are made from meat whose provenance we probably don't care to think about.Read more »

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REVIEW This jazzy, Euro-cozy joint in the ’Loin just got licensed for hard alcohol, but don't let that stop you from enjoying its Spanish-inflected wine list and sparkling sojuladas (a lovingly crafted combo of soju and limonada). Read more »

CHEAP EATS "Did you hear about the barn swallows in Minnesota?" Earl Butter said, while we were waiting for our waffles.

"This reminds me," I replied. "This idea that there are more alive people now than dead ones — where did you get it?"

"Late Night," he said.

"David Letterman?"

"Yeah."

"Ah."Read more »