This is why I roam around cities I visit, rarely going to the same place twice. I stumbled upon an enchanting establishment called Le Colonial.
The place is in a back alley off Taylor St between Sutter and Post in San Francisco. I noticed valet parking in the alley in front of a nondescript door and figured something good must be going on in there. I make a couple surveillance passes and then confidently stride through the door to immediate pleasure. I didn't have any expectations per se' but a grand art nouveau wrought-iron rail staircase presents itself to me, beckoning me upward. 
At the top I find myself in a second story open-air wrought-iron peaked portico lined with candle-lit cafe' tables under ever present California outdoor heaters. A grand entry, and a fine place to linger and dine in itself. I walk to the maitre de, "Do you have a bar" I ask. "Of course Sir, up the stairs to the left"
The main dining room is ahead of me as I enter the building. Gleaming white paneled wood and table cloths with sparkling glasses and service ware keep watch over a refined and well dressed clientele who left their valet parked cars out front.
The stairs climb the left wall of the dining room. I ascend into tropical French colonial Vietnam. What a great vibe, dark oak floor with a rust red bead board ceiling. Rataan furniture populates a huge 70x50' room. Candle lit tables sit between rattan furniture seatings. The candles slightly flicker in the calm air movement generated by tropical ceiling fans. Fabric wainscoted walls line the room with bamboo lined panels at 4-8 feet. A wall cornice and stucco fill the remaining space to the high ceiling. Beautiful photographs of early twentieth century Vietnam line the walls. Potted tropical plants and floral Victorian lighting grace the walls and decorative columns. As I sit at the bar 1920's jazz fills the room. It's the vignette for the murmur of conversations, clinking of dishes and workman tasks of the bartenders. The scene moves in slow motion before me as I inhale the ambience. I imagine I'm in French colonial Hanoi in the '40's.
Check it out.
Le Colonial. 20 Cosmo Place, San Francisco, Ca. 94109
