Hi Rita!

I know a really lovely place in San Francisco called Eden & Eden.
The store is owned by a very nice english woman, which stocks the most exquisite items such as La Maison de Lola handmade dolls, great homewear, and really wonderful vintage finds.
You do have to visit!

I recommend checking out the City Lights bookshop in North Beach. It has a great selection of books and even a "Beat" section redolent of the poets who used to gather there. And when you're tired of shopping and need a swift one, I highly recommend you pop in next door to Vesuvio, a really cool bohemian bar where Jack Keorauc used to frequent. The tables and chairs are practically screaming with stories to tell of what antics went on there. :-)

when i lived there, i loved shopping in the following areas:
1) Sacramento street, up in Presidio Heights. Endless little boutiques for home, clothing, needlepoint, maniucures and a few little dinning areas too if you hop over to California street at Presidio.
2) Hayes Street and now maybe it's expanded to neighboring streets. Awesome, unique boutiques and 3 of my favorite restaurants: Supenkouch, a German place with yummy spatzle (sp?), Hayes Street Grill http://www.hayesstreetgrill.com/
and Absinthe - Brasserie for their lavendar creme brule.
3) The Mission has resently become really fun with funky little stores on Dalores Street and Mission and around. It used to be a little sketchy walking around, so maybe go with a local who knows where to find the perfect pair of urban tennies.

Hi I lived in SF, and just moved over the Bridge to Mill Valley. My favourite shops are : Nest on Fillmore St, Summer House in Mill Valley {you would LOVE it, its filled with dash and albert rugs, antiques, jewelry, john robshaw and gorgeous clothes}; Any of the vintage stores in Haight Ashbury there is one in particular, can;t remember the name, that sells gorgeous dresses for cheap, and I love the Junior League Thrift store on Fillmore, I found a Henry Cuir bag there for $30; and there must be an elderly English Lady who gives stuff to this store as I always find great vintage Laura Ashley and M+S!!! Have fun and if you need any more ideas let me know!!

Don't miss the Curiosity Shoppe, X21, Candy Store, Den, Monument, Little Otsu, Paxton Gate, the Apartment, and the Touch in the Mission; Rare Device on Market; Swallowtail and Interior Visions on Polk; and Alabaster, Lotus Bleu, Nancy Boy, Rose & Radish, Propeller, Tazi Designs, peace industries, Zonal, and Scandinavian Details in Hayes Valley.

Also, I don't know if you're planning to cover JUST San Francisco, but if there's any chance you'd take a quick hop across the Bay to Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville, there are several great, independent home stores there that are well worth a visit:

Atomic Garden, Maison D'etre, and Form Vintage Modern on College Avenue in Oakland; FiveTen Studio and Mignonne in Old Oakland; Entrez in Downtown Oakland; Industrielle and Johansson Projects Gallery in Uptown Oakland; Klassik by Lynne in Emeryville; and Relish at Home, Highcotton Living, Tail of the Yak, and Trout Farm in Berkeley.

Photos, reviews, and details of many of these shops here:

http://morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com/search/label/Retail%20Therapy

Have fun!

All the best,

Leah

Hooray for San Francisco!!

I love Nest (on Fillmore), The Apartment (18th at Mission), and Flipp (on Green at Polk).

***You absolutely CANNOT miss 826 VALENCIA.*** (Valencia at 20th).
It's a pirate shoppe in front, and a writing workshop for grade students in the back, put on by the fine folks of McSweeney's. Be sure to check out the fish theater and to grab a few books. Little Otsu is across the street, and also worth a gander while you're there for great cards and paper goods. The Apartment is around the corner, and there are tons of great boutiques on Valencia, both home and clothing. X21 Modern is great, and Monument for mid-century / modern, and I love Architectural Elements. Also great is Dog Eared Books(all on Valencia).

Have a pastry and coffee at Tartin (NY Times calls it the best bakery in the US), and then head up to Fillmore for more fun, great boutiques and shops, including Jonathan Adler and Benjamin Moore.

For food, Luella in Russian Hill on Hyde, and Zazie in the Haight/Cole Valley, at Cole and Carl. Also there is a really great cheese and wine shop Say Cheese. And there are great dress shops on Haight.

For music, the be-all-end-all is Amoeba, where the litany of a hundred people all flipping though rows and rows of cd's fills your ears. It's very Nick Hornby.

This is one of the very best cities, and I hope you enjoy your time here!

Hooray for San Francisco!!

I love Nest (on Fillmore), The Apartment (18th at Mission), and Flipp (on Green at Polk).

***You absolutely CANNOT miss 826 VALENCIA.*** (Valencia at 20th).
It's a pirate shoppe in front, and a writing workshop for grade students in the back, put on by the fine folks of McSweeney's. Be sure to check out the fish theater and to grab a few books. Little Otsu is across the street, and also worth a gander while you're there for great cards and paper goods. The Apartment is around the corner, and there are tons of great boutiques on Valencia, both home and clothing. X21 Modern is great, and Monument for mid-century / modern, and I love Architectural Elements. Also great is Dog Eared Books(all on Valencia).

Have a pastry and coffee at Tartin (NY Times calls it the best bakery in the US), and then head up to Fillmore for more fun, great boutiques and shops, including Jonathan Adler and Benjamin Moore.

For food, Luella in Russian Hill on Hyde, and Zazie in the Haight/Cole Valley, at Cole and Carl. Also there is a really great cheese and wine shop Say Cheese. And there are great dress shops on Haight.

For music, the be-all-end-all is Amoeba, where the litany of a hundred people all flipping though rows and rows of cd's fills your ears. It's very Nick Hornby.

This is one of the very best cities, and I hope you enjoy your time here!

Yay San Francisco!

If you are coming, you might as well visit the Ferry Building and browse its shops and eateries.

Boulette's Larder has really unique european ingredients, pastries and finger foods for sale, along with a wide open kitchen you are free to roam in and look into when eating or having cofee. Boulette is the owner's dog and is truly a sight to behold. You've never seen a dog like this! Very close to Boulette's Larder is a small french antiques shop that focuses on kitchen related items.

There's also amazing window shopping on Jackson Street. Mainly antique rugs, posters, furnishings and maps, etc. I love walking on Jackson on my lunch break with a Panini from the Jackson Street Cafe, which is tucked in between buildings right before Jackson on Battery.

I heard about a vintage clothing store called Painted Bird, in the Mission District, but have never been...just looked at the Yelp! comments for it, but it looked cool.

Something spa related is the Kabuki Springs and Spa in JapanTown on Geary. For $20, you can take advantage of a most amazing spa experience with sauna, steam room, cold plunging pool, hot tub, lounge seating, complimentary salt scrub, traditional seated showers- and all decorated so beautifully. For someone who takes as much pleasure from the surrounding decor as the relaxation itself, this place is great!

My all time favorite pizza destination is Pizzetta 211 in the Outer Richmond district. The tiniest resto ever, with four tables, a small wood trunk bar, and two outdoor tables...it's got delicious pizza made with gourmet ingredients. The menu is small, and the one desert of the day is made there, usually with hand-whipped cream to boot.

More later, if I can recall!

Ditto all other posters regarding Nest. It's an awesome store.

Schein and Schein is a reputable old maps store in the North Beach area, although they still haven't found me the perfect map of Florence for my husband!

William Stout Architectural Books has a pretty darn good interior design book section, as well as great art and architecture books...but be warned all the books are new and priced as such.

In Marin County (where I live), there is this great new shop called Nicole Grey and Co. in Strawberry Village, right off the freeway. It carries high end candles, soaps, pottery, faux flowers, local jewelry, linens, books, frames, etc. It is in the same shopping center as Nancy Koltes and Smith and Hawken.

In Mill Valley, there is a cute store called Pullman and Co. It has a combination of home furnishings, accessories and jewelry, like beautiful cameos by Extasia.

Last post!

I just read an article about Flora Grubb Gardens, a nursery that is trying to foster real community around gardening with places to sit and pass the time, and talk to other green thumbs.

WOW! thank you so much. x

I just had breakfast at Dotties on Jones street. THere may be a line out the door, but it is well worth the wait. Regarding shopping, each neighborhood has a great shopping street. Check out Clement in the Richmond district and go have a beer at one of the Irish bars.

Happy New Year, Rita
I enjoy your posts! I don't know if you ever read SFGirlbyBay(www.sfgirlbybay.blogspot.com), but Victoria Smith, the writer, is always chronicling terrific independent stores, small galleries and great little out-of-the-way places there. She is super nice and I am sure would have plenty of great leads. Looking forward to seeing the feature in Domino and keep up the great work!

We always start our day at Tartine when we are visiting in SF. The almond croissants are better than any we have found in Paris. It's also very close to the Pirate shop and right next door is Paxton's Gate where you can pick up a bat skeleton or some other unique item.

question for Rita Konig I am trying to find the Herve Gambs scented water you mention in your book 'domestic bliss' can you tell me where i can get it in the UK? MANY THANKS

Welcome to San Francisco Rita! You've already received some great tips, but if you go to my blog and look way down on the right side, you'll see a blog roll entitled "IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO". Lots of good spots there!

http://www.sfgirlbybay.com

I also did this guest post on SF a while back for design*sponge:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2007/04/san-francisco-sources.html

I highly recommend dinner at Zuni (the oysters, and the roast chicken!), or the Slanted Door at the Ferry Building for brunch or dinner. Yum.

Enjoy your trip! Victoria

wow, that is amazing SF girl. i will go through in more detail. thank you. x

I LOVED this store when I visited: http://www.lotusbleudesign.com/categoryView.php?categoryId=6.
I also loved Citizen Cake in the same neighborhood. Great cookies!!!

Four home decor shops epitomize San Francisco, period: De Vira on Maiden Lane. Swallowtail; Sue Fisher King; and the basement of the historic Wilkes Bashford store off Union Square.
Rebecca

if you are looking for ways to decorate on a dime, check out this incredible non-profit store called "Scrap" http://www.scrap-sf.org/donations.htm. They are a non-profit organization that receives donations from Printers, Carpentry shops, Interior designers, Frame shops, Advertising firms, Upholsterer, Art supply stores, etc. Amazingly cheap, definitely hit or miss if you are looking for something specific but super cheap and has some real treasures! I paid $1.50 yesterday for 20 greeting cards (10 vintage) 3 remnant upholstery fabric and 7 buckles. Hard to find the darn place though. I think I finally have it down though after the 4th time getting there. Have fun in SF! There are lots of hidden treasures like this one in the same general area.

Thank you all for these suggestions. i have just arrived and am now about to go and check out all these places. thank you so much, it really makes such an enormous difference. I went to two delicious restaurants last night, spruce for a cocktail and snack and then A16. was so good.

LISS - sadly Herve Gambs discontinued his scented water. i think i was the only person that got into it! It is a shame as it was such a nice idea, much more so than filling the iron with lavender water.

You have to go to Nest on Fillmore, Sue Fisher King on California and Alabaster.

i have just finished my first day in SF. went for a run along the bay this morning, have been to Nest, Sue Fisher king, March, Bae, the pirate shop, X21, A16, Spruce, Yank Sing, Monument, Farnsworth, Tradesman...and more. i have been all over town, and to tartine. it is a great city. i absolutely love it and am really looking forward to more tomorrow.