The next time you are dressed in your Sunday best and in search of sunny brunch spots in San Francisco, look no further than Sacramento Street's The Magic Flute Garden Ristorante.

Presidio Heights, situated west of Pacific Heights and just north of Laurel Village on California Street, offers outposts of delight from Divisadero to the east on Sacramento all the way west to Spruce.

The Magic Flute is one of them.

The Magic Flute Interior

The Magic Flute is located between Spruce and Locust on the south side of Sacramento. The romantic "Garden Ristorante" and Italian cuisine make this a superb "rugged elegant" place of taste regardless of the weather ... but especially on a sunny day.

Their back patio is reminiscent of the old Tuba Garden days that were once the draw across the street.

In fact, The Magic Garden even has a Tuba Garden Restaurant sign planted in their garden outback.

Philip LaCavera's patio is worth the wait when the sun is shining.

The tables in his garden are made of white Italian marble each with a black iron base.

For those who prefer the warmth of the sun but not the brightness there are plenty of umbrellas to provide shade.

Yellow daisies and cherubs spouting water abound.

On cooler days, the patio is heated.

If you didn't know you were in San Francisco, you'd think you might have emerged in a small garden cafe in Florence.

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.