Our Noe Valley Favorites, Mapped

Could the cafe-laden, stroller-bedecked, Muni-connected outpost of Noe Valley get any more idyllic? Apparently so. In the past year, millions have been poured into the library and neighborhood park, Whole Foods staked a claim to the old Bell Market space (with plans to open later this year), and no fewer than five restaurants sprouted. At press time, the newest, Noeteca, was set to open this month in the former space of the Last Laugh Coffee House at Dolores and Valley, where Alex Kamprasert (of nearby Chloe’s Café) and Scott McDonald will serve bistro classics alongside 20-some wines by the glass and half-glass. Even during a down economy, in Noe the glass is half-full.