Those behind San Francisco's new four star Hotel Vitale, which opened on Wednesday, March 9th 2005, are on a Joie de Vivre mission. Their mission combines the talents of Architect Clark Manus of Heller-Manus Architects, zen-like interior design by Colum McCartan, the management of David Curell and Christine Gaudenzi and the vision of Joie de Vivre's king of hospitality, Chip Conley. Together they conspired to offer a "luxuriously natural" City by the Bay boutique hotel experience. And they've pretty much nailed it!

The Embarcadero waterfront dream took six years and $53 million to complete. In fact, of Chip Conley's previous twenty plus Northern California hotel ventures, it is his first to begin from the ground up.

The corner of Mission and The Embarcardero is a "dream" location where city buses used to sleep.

Interior Designer McCartan was on site yesterday putting finishing touches in every corner before Mayor Gavin Newsom and former Mayor Willie Brown's arrival for the grand opening. In every room and every nook and cranny he used light, shadow, natural materials, and then sprinkled them with a touch of soul.

A Rugged Elegance Inspiration Network Exclusive by Jennifer King

Now that I've hopefully captured your attention...

Last week, I stopped into XOX Truffles to get a big box of Jean-Marc and Casimira Gorce's creations as a partial wedding gift. As I sipped my XOX latte and waited for the collection of twenty-seven flavors to be put together, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between Jean-Marc, as he stood there making his creations, and three women indulging in a taste of his finest.

Three times a year, these two sisters and their friend typically rendezvous for a wine tour up in Napa. Nancy Eggert travels from Denver to San Francisco to experience the West Coast's finer places and products of life. However, on this trip -- for a change -- she, her sister, Paula Zigant and their friend Catherine chose chocolate-tasting over wine-tasting.

The three women were gracious to share their itinerary with me and their comments as inspiration for others who live in this great city, as well as for those traveling to Northern California looking for an alternative adventure in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Over the past year, in preparation for coming to America's most European chocolate mecca, Nancy had compiled her list of Chocolate Adventures after collecting all the best articles from her favorite magazines including: Gourmet, Departures, Food & Wine, Travel & Leisure, Bon Apetit and Town & Country.

She had every article with her along with a tasting bag to take back to her sister's place. At the end of their adventure, the three intended to share a glass of wine and do a taste test of each of their favorite chocolates of the day.

First Adventure

The ScharffenBerger Factory Tour in Berkeley (free to the public)

914 Heinz Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94710
phone: 510.981.4066 or
email: tours@scharffenberger.com

Tours of the 27,000 square foot factory are free to the public.
Reservations are recommended.
Private tour groups cost $35 (limit 30 people)

For more details go to: ScharffenBerger.com

The Scharffenbergers and Steinbergs use vintage European equipment and artisanal methods to create their "lovingly handcrafted" chocolate from the finest cacao beans.