This morning at 11am, Rugged Elegance and the Noe Valley Merchants Association will unveil The Official Noe Valley Neighborhood Guide at Fattoush Restaurant.

The guide is sponsored by the Noe Valley Merchants and Professional Association and produced by Rugged Elegance, LLC -- publishers of the citywide RE: Companion...Places of Taste guides, the aerial map of San Francisco, the SF.RuggedElegance.com destination site and RuggedElegantLiving.com online publication.

In their July/August 2004 Edition the Noe Valley Voice wrote:

The Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association is so pleased to have produced an official guide to Noe Valley that the organization, along with publisher Rugged Elegance, is holding a launch party for the guide on Thursday, July 15, from 11 am to 2 pm. It will take place at Fattoush Restaurant, 1361 Church Street, between Clipper and 26th streets.

"Our members and neighbors have been asking for something like this for years--a map to show where things are. It's just gorgeous, very upscale and classy," says Carol Yenne, the association's president. "Rugged Elegance already had a guide for Noe Valley with about 20 people on it. We expanded that to include everybody from Café XO, at 30th and Church, to the Noe Valley Ministry to Firefly, and all of our members in between," she adds.

Abed Amas, owner of Fattoush, will offer attendees a taste of his unique Middle-Eastern dishes on the restaurant's patio, and publisher Rugged Elegance will present each merchant member with a copy of the Noe Valley guide.

Others can purchase a guide at the event for $4.95.

Subsequently, the guide is expected to be available at businesses throughout the neighborhood.

Sponsors of the Noe Valley Official Neighborhood Guide include: The entire real estate brokerage team at BJ Droubi & Company, Kathy Zucchi of Edward Jones Investments, Abed Amas of Fattoush Restaurant, J Thrupp Painting Incorporated, La Coterie Style Studio (which opens today on 24th at Noe), Jennifer King & Tim Fredel of Rugged Elegance, Carol Yenne of Small Frys Children's Clothes, Toys & Gifts, and Dr. Lee Bender of Zephyr Real Estate & Investments.

Rugged Elegance has also invited Select Establishment owners and managers to celebrate the launch of their Rugged Elegance Companion Summer edition of guides. Included in the collection are twelve neighborhood guides, as well as a guide to the Hidden Treasures of the city.

The Rugged Elegance Companion...Your Guide to Places of Taste

The twelve neighborhoods Rugged Elegance has initially selected to promote include:

Cow Hollow

Hayes Valley & The Civic Center

Jackson Square

Noe Valley

North Beach

Pacific Heights

Presidio Heights

Russian Hill

The Financial District

The Marina

The Theatre District / Nob Hill

Union Square

Whereas the Official Noe Valley guide will be distributed via the merchants within the Noe Valley neighborhood, the Rugged Elegance collection / hotel concierge edition is currently being distributed online through SF.RuggedElegance.com, as well as through Select "Rugged Elegant" Establishments and San Francisco's luxury property real estate brokers such as Gil Fleitas and Steven Mavromihalis of Pacific Union who are currently using the guides and San Francisco aerial map to market The Hills Residence on Broadway.

The primary distribution channel Rugged Elegance has established, however, is through many of the best hotel concierges in the city.

The Official Noe Valley guide and the Rugged Elegance Companions were published for residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as for tourists.

Since the collection edition was designed to fit into the glove compartment of a car or truck, Rugged Elegance will also begin targeting high-end automotive dealerships and luxury rental car agencies this fall.

The current collection / hotel concierge edition retails for $34.95.

Illustrator/Designer, Samuel Leshnick

Thanks go to our sponsors, our host, Abed Amas from Fattoush, and Rugged Elegance designer/illustrator, Samuel Leshnick for redesigning the Noe Valley map to include St. Philips Church & School, Noe Valley Ministry, James Lick School, Noe Park, the Post Office, 24th Street Parking and the J Line on Church.

Special thanks go to Carol Yenne, owner of Small Frys and President of the Noe Valley Merchants Association, for her vision and leadership in this production.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

~ Jennifer King

On the weekend of May 15th and 16th, David Clay Jewelers invites the San Francisco community to join in the celebration of their 25th Anniversary and the Grand Opening of David Clay Time.

Members of the Rugged Elegance and greater San Francisco community one of the preeminent craftsmen of our city. City officials have made Friday, May 14th "David Clay Day." This official status is in honor of David's influence as a small business, boutique pioneer and master of his art.

The middle of May, also marks the opening of David Clay Time, a boutique located two blocks west of David Clay Jewelers.

The exact location of David Clay Time: 2030 Union Street between Webster and Buchanan

Three years ago, Clay won a trip to Lugano, Switzerland where the watch manufacturer, Alfex is based. In 2001, the jeweler's sales of Alfex watches jumped 135% in one year. This success was part of Clay's inspiration for opening a separate shop two blocks down Union Street next to Betelnut.

Marcello Iacomini, who started with David Clay in September 1999 as his sole watchmaker, will move from 1872 to 2030 Union on May 14th. He and David will work together as a team to determine which lines to carry. Thus far, they have commited to carrying Alfex' George Plumb Design's Red Dot Special Edition, as well as Maurice Lacroix' Masterpiece Collection, Omega watches and other fine European timepieces.

On May 15th and 16th, guests will be invited to make a donation to benefit the San Francisco Hearing and Speech Institute, in exchange for the opportunity to win a diamond.

A fishbowl full of cubic zirconias (known as CZs) and diamonds will be part of special drawings throughout the evening. Even the experts won't know if a CZ or diamond is selected from the bowl -- until after it is weighed.

The "Diamond Grab" will be available to anyone who wants to make a $5 donation and try their luck.

To congratulate David and his team at David Clay Jewelers please call (415) 922.4339.

If David's timepiece venture is any bit the quality product and serve that his jewelry business has become over the past twenty-five years, you can count on seeing David Clay Time included in the RuggedElegance.com Cow Hollow neighborhood site and the Summer edition of Cow Hollow's Rugged Elegance Companion...Your Guide to Places of Taste.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

~Jennifer King