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

Salmon season opened this weekend in San Francisco, so tonight we're stoking up the Weber for the Weber family.

Not until I got home from Whole Foods did I notice that the 3 lbs. ($54.87) of Wild King Salmon Fillets I bought yesterday, are fresh from Oregon.

At least, the Poultry & Fish Grilling Rub, I am using came from Williams-Sonoma, the local gourmet "place for cooks." The ingredients in their rub include: garlic, onion, dill, tarragon, pink peppercorns, lemon peel, paprika, black pepper and fennel seed.

Two locations in San Francisco that Williams-Sonoma's Grilling Rub can be found:

Williams-Sonoma in The Marina at 2000 Chestnut at the corner of Fillmore

Williams-Sonoma in Union Square at 340 Post between Stockton and Powell.

Whole Foods is located one block west of Van Ness at the corner of California and Franklin. Whether the salmon comes from Oregon or the Bay Area, both are outstanding. The key is to make sure you get wild salmon, as it is much higher in beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids.

All the other elements of your meal can be found at Whole Foods, from organic asparagus and salad makings to rice to fresh bread to micro-brewed beers and the best California wines.

If you're an angler and prefer to catch your own fish, we recommend suiting up at Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters at 463 Bush Street in Union Square.

Keith Westra, one of the guys on Josh Frazier's team at Leland, began his love of the sport on the north coast of California pursuing King Salmon and Steelhead.

Fellow Leland "ambassador," Karl Kirbus who is an eight-year veteran of fly fishing said, "The salmon in the Bay Area are running fast and deep right now which makes them tough to catch fly fishing. When they start to spawn and come up river, typically around the end of July or first of August, this is when our local salmon season begins."

If you're intrigued by the sport, whether it's salmon or any other fish, but don't know where to start, consider going on a guided trip with Leland Adventure Travel.

Destinations include:

Clearwater House, Northern California
Deschutes River, Oregon
Henry's Fork Lodge, Idaho
Ladies Week at Three Rivers Ranch, Idaho
North Platte, Wyoming
Smith River, Montana

Freshwater (International)

Dean River, British Colombia
Isla Monita Lodge, Chilean Andes
Minipi River, Labrador
Moose Lake Lodge, British Columbia
Poronui Ranch, New Zealand
The Rio Grande, Argentina

Saltwater (International)

Ascension Bay, Mexican Yucatan
Belize Mothership, Central America
Christmas Island, South Pacific
Flamingo Bay, Bahamas

For those who would rather have their fish prepared for them, Ana Mandara at Ghirardelli Square continues to be one of our favorite "places of taste" in San Francisco.

Two others to consider: Wolfgang Puck's Postrio and Fred Fahrni's Cafe Mozart.

The romantic Cafe Mozart is celebrating their 28th anniversary this year. They are currently participating in the "Dine About Town 2004" special promotion which offers a three course prix fixe dinner for $29.95. Included on this menu is a soup or salad starter, a main course of either Filet of Salmon Meuniere, Poulet Dijonnais, Roasted Cornish Game Hen, Beef Stroganoff or Plat Vegetarien, followed by a dessert and hot beverage. Perhaps a place to consider in preparing for your Mother's Day celebration...

Inspire & Be Inspired.

~Jennifer King

Related Articles:

5/03/04, SFGate.com, BAY AREA / Salmon Season Starts with Hope

5/14/03, RE: San Francisco, Smart Eaters Go Wild With Salmon

P.S. The "related products" below include:

"Essential of Grilling: Recipes and Techniques for Successful Outdoor Cooking" by Denis Kelly and Chuck Williams

"The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Grilling" by Denis Kelly

"Complete Grilling Cookbook" by Chuck Williams, John Phillip Carroll, Allan Rosenberg and Noel Barnhurst

"Weber's Art of the Grill: Recipes for Outdoor Living" by Jamie Purviance and Tim Turner

The Weber 3290001 Genesis Gold C Stainless Steel Propane Gas Grill - ($699 retail) currently available for under $600.