Yummy tastes on Ritch Street

This week my mom is in town, so I took some time off to explore the City with her. We had a wonderful lunch at Little Skillet. They offer great down-home food and seating in a nice alley way, perfect for enjoying the City's vibe. I had the fried chicken - which was great! Mom had the fried chicken cobb salad...with the best bacon ever! The fruit salad was so fresh I could have eaten it all day. The star of the show, however, was the brown sugar and pepper biscuits. Right next door is a Blue Bottle coffee stand, so after your meal you can grab some caffeine.

Hits: brown sugar and pepper biscuits, fried chicken, lunch with mom

Misses: Cash only

Info:
Little Skillet
360 Ritch St
San Francisco, CA 94107-1746
(415) 777-2777www.littleskilletsf.com

Some cool art on the alley:

Samantha

This week I had a client meeting near Japantown so I took a detour and spent some time checking out the recently opened New People Mall.

1st Floor

The 1st floor has a great little cafe that sells Blue Bottle Coffee (now I know where to go in that neighborhood for great coffee) and organic Bento Boxes, among other things. This is the only part of the mall that opens at 10:30am...everything else opens at noon. It is a light and airy space that would be a nice place to grab a coffee and catch up with a friend. A whimsical wall with great sayings leads you to the 2nd floor.

M Floor

The "M" floor shop has great product displays with bright end caps. Merchandise is highly edited and has a clear point of view and the space is highlighted with a beautiful lighting fixture. This would be a great place to find unusual kids gifts, or something for yourself that you most likely do not need. I bought a matchbook that instead of matches has birthday candles. Now we all know I do not need these candles, but they were too hard to resist!

2nd Floor

The 2nd floor has a lot of sneakers and black clothing that had a retro Madonna feel to it – think 1984, crosses and black hose, but with a 2009 flair. Again the items were highly edited and have a strong point of view, which in this case I appreciated visually, but was not tempted to buy. The also had SOU sneakers - if you are not familiar, here is what their website says about the sneakers, “Sou is a unique footwear brand from Kyoto that infuses Japanese classic 'Tabi' work shoes with vibrant graphic patterns. SOU SOU’s combination of form-fitting soles and striking modern looks has created a huge following, from dancers to sneaker-obsessed. While new and fun, each shoe is crafted by hand, preserving the best of tradition.”

3rd Floor

The Art Gallery is on the 3rd floor of the mall. The colors of the art are amazing and inspired me to think differently about the holiday tables we'll create this year. I am not sure how I will capture the saturated colors with flecks of light but I am already looking at new linen choices.

Great Connections

They thought about the stairwell in the store, which I applaud. Instead of a dreary staircase, there are great, fun drawings that guide you to the various levels. It made me want to take the stairs to see what was next.

We Should Not Forget the Bathrooms

The designers used their imagination with the bathrooms. The 2nd floor restroom is bathed in red light and has some unusual drawings of girls and ants/bugs....an interesting space to say the least.

Movie Theater

Last but not least, they have a movie theater. I didn't have the opportunity to check it out this time around, but will be sure to go back.

Wish - It opened before noon.

Overall - This mall is refreshing and I left inspired – which I can't say about many malls these days!

-Samantha