Best Restaurant Décor

Le Colonial

20 Cosmo (at Post), 931-3600, www.lecolonialsf.com

Once you enter Le Colonial's encompassing atmosphere of drowsy tropical elegance, jangling, frenetic downtown San Francisco ceases to exist. This urban oasis, tucked away in the inner courtyard that once housed Trader Vic's and accessed via a fronded open-air atrium, is rich with polished wood, crisp napery, carved rattan, and the gentle glow of candlelight. Two floors and multiple nooks and enclaves feature intricate tile flooring, vintage pressed-tin ceilings in deep red, antique Oriental rugs, richly upholstered forest-green wicker sofas and armchairs, and slow-moving overhead fans that evoke long, cool drinks out of the midday sun. The French colonial ambience, exemplified by vintage photographs of Saigon street life circa 1927, is especially embracing when you take your Asian Pearl cocktail out on the shuttered veranda and contemplate the swaying palms.