Wouldn't you like to be at Canlis next Monday night?

Looking for a Monday night out not long ago, my sister despaired of finding a good meal.

What she didn’t know is that the old dark-Monday norm has been eroded by the recession, as part of many restaurants’ strategy to maximize return on their overhead. (This explains the rise in happy hour and brunch as well.)

 I told her she could not only splurge Mondays at such bucksy destinations as Canlis, Ray’s Boathouse, Book Bindery, Salish Lodge, or El Gaucho. She could get sushi at Shiro’s or Nishino, tapas at Harvest Vine, steaks at John Howie or The Met Grill, farm-to-table at Tilth, and extraordinary Piedmontese Italian at Cascina Spinasse (whose day off is Tuesday).