PopSugar San Francisco

Enter For a Chance to Win Tickets to Cirque du Soleil's TOTEM at AT&T Park

PopSugar SF — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:02:36 PST

World-renowned entertainment company Cirque du Soleil has stationed its iconic blue and yellow tents in Lot A of AT&T Park, bringing TOTEM, one of its newest visual and acrobatic feasts for the eyes, to San Francisco. Whether you've yet to attend one of these touring shows or have seen many in the past, I assure you, you've never seen anything quite like this. Inducing continuous bafflement, the fascinating acrobatic feats in this extravaganza will give you the greatest appreciation for the potential of the human form.

Want to see for yourself? Enter PopSugar San Francisco's Cirque du Soleil ticket giveaway, and you might just be so lucky to see this incredible show on Dec. 6. All you have to do is "Like" PopSugar San Francisco on Facebook and provide your email address and zip code below from now through Dec. 5 at 8 a.m. PST, and you'll be automatically entered. Painless, right? Read all the rules and start entering away for your chance to attend TOTEM. Good luck!

This giveaway has ended.

Win Two VIP Tickets to the Treasure Island Music Festival and a $1,000 Shopping Spree to ALLSAINTS SPITALFIELDS

PopSugar SF — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 23:59:00 PDT

Kick off Fall with a VIP experience at the Treasure Island Music Festival and a brand-new wardrobe from ALLSAINTS.

One lucky winner will receive two VIP tickets to the Treasure Island Music Festival with transportation to and from the festival and a $1,000 shopping spree at the ALLSAINTS Union Square store.

The best part of it all? Every entrant will receive 20 percent off ALLSAINTS. So what are you waiting for? Enter below for a chance to win.

This giveaway has ended.

Enter For a Chance to Win Tickets to the Screening of Something Borrowed

PopSugar SF — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:45:00 PDT

Who doesn't love a girls’ night out? PopSugar and PopSugar San Francisco are hosting an exclusive screening of Something Borrowed on Wednesday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the AMC Loews Metreon 16. Want to join the fun? Well, lucky for you we are offering the chance to win tickets to this amazing event!

To enter, all you have to do is provide your email address and zip code below from now through April 28, at 10 a.m. PDT. Painless, right? Read all the rules and enter for your chance to attend the PopSugar and PopSugar San Francisco screening of Something Borrowed. Good luck!

Enter your email below for a chance to win tickets to the San Francisco screening of Something Borrowed!

RN47: A Wine Charmer

Colleen Barrett — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 07:41:16 PST

Named after the highway running through Burgundy, France, RN74 (301 Mission St., 415-543-7474) is like the love child of French rustic and city polish. Candlelight glows from within its sleek but plush interior, transforming the bottom floor of the Millennium Tower into a scaled-down French train station that's been set for dinner.

Wine may be the main course - a European train station schedule flips letters to highlight last-bottle deals throughout the night - but updated, American takes on provincial French favorites have eyes on center stage. A deconstructed oyster chowder took Fall comfort food seriously - but not too heavily - and included the most perfect piece of bacon I have ever tasted. Cornish hen with chanterelle mushrooms and pearl onions was large enough for two, though I ate it for one, and a maple pot de creme finished the meal on a sweet note.

RN74 is everything you'd hope a Michael Mina restaurant would be. It can seem pricey with a $199 glass of wine on the menu (though there are options for those who don't break twenties for pinot), but it does do special occasions right. And if you want the experience without the weighty bill, go Sunday when a seasonal, three-course prix fixe menu for $39 makes Sunday dinner an elegant feast.
Source: RN74

6 Fresh Shops For Gifts in the Mission

Colleen Barrett — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:16:15 PST

The average gift shop is a cubbyhole of cuteness that's useless. A good one should make you covet something you don't need, but an extraordinary one is disarming. It convinces you life would be easier, sleeker, and more civilized if only you took the object of your affection home. With this litmus test, I set out to find gift shops selling items worth wrapping - without crossing Market Street.

Start where Hayes Valley meets the Mission at Rare Device (1845 Market St., 415-863-3969), a store that mixes high design with everyday gadgets. This blend of usefulness and delight activates the brain's must-buy center, even if it's for someone else. Switch modes at the Victorian-inspired BellJar (3187 16th St., 415-626-1749), which is like an updated version of leafing through your grandmother's keepsakes.

Head down Valencia to the garden of gifts, Paxton Gate (824 Valencia St., 415-824-1872). Life meets death at this curiosity shop of succulents and shark teeth, terrariums and test tubes, and taxidermy that's as benign as framed butterflies and as disturbing as mice dressed in doll clothes. Too specific? Too vexing? Too mousy? Go retro at Gravel & Gold (3266 21st St. 415-552-0112), where you can find your '70s-obsessed friend a gift made of the decade's gold, frankincense, and myrrh: ceramic, sheepskin, and wood.

For feathers and lace, porcelain delights, and old photos of strangers' families, walk up Valencia to the freshly reopened Gypsy Honeymoon (1266 Valencia St., 415-821-1713). It's like a high-end thrift store of Victoriana rounded out with a few affordable treasures.

If you're still empty-handed, take BART one stop to Glen Park, where Perch (654 Chenery St., 415-586-9000) packs a metric ton of wrapping potential into a bird's nest-size store. It's a trove of locally designed jewelry and homeware, kitchen tools, and entertaining goods that will perch high in any home.

Source: Rare Device

Sit Back and Eat Up at Slow Club

Colleen Barrett — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:17:08 PST

In a city that chooses cutting-edge over custom, the nearly 20-year-old Slow Club (2501 Mariposa St., 415-241-9390) shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, if you stumbled upon its vintage-looking exterior in the Mission's most eastern stretch, you'd be forgiven for assuming it's new.

Concrete floors and walls cement its industrial feel, but candlelight exudes warmth - a welcomed sight on the otherwise desolate corner of Mariposa (between 17th and 18th) and Hampshire. The dinner menu is a fixed framework of soup, salads, grilled flatbread, pasta, and hearty meat dishes, but rotating, seasonal ingredients reinvent it regularly. Small ingredient edits are made nightly and weekly (check its menu before you go) while major dishes change with the seasons.

The grilled flatbread can right a long day, and its ingredients vary more than any dish on the menu. The latest incarnation is topped with caramelized onions, roasted apple, smoked pancetta, and sheep's milk mozzarella. If you approve of the toppings, it's hard to go wrong, and Slow Club makes it seem impossible.

Brunch is more fixed than dinner but no less delicious. I'm incapable of ordering anything other than the turkey sausage hash. The colorful concoction of butternut squash, Yukon gold and sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, and apples topped with poached eggs, arugula, and cheddar will leave you carbohydrated after a long night out.

Whenever you go, steal a seat at the bar for your meal. The cocktails show imagination (if only the Earl Grey martini would be resurrected), and the bartenders tend to you like you're their first and last customers - always well paced but never slow.

Source: Slow Club

4 Fresh Shops For Baby Gifts

Colleen Barrett — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:27:23 PST

When friends and family start having babies, a whole new shopping genre opens up; unfortunately, there's no secret baby district you haven't heard of yet. So while you may need to leave your 'hood, you shouldn't have to go far with these aww-inspiring shops around town.

Fiddlesticks (540 Hayes St., 415-565-0508) in Hayes Valley should be a first stop for the childless and clueless. Classic but stylish clothes and sturdy-looking toys line the front of the store, and all are clearly broken down by age group. Go straight to the back for a comprehensive selection of Tea, the San Francisco brand that says modern cool without whispering Etsy handmade.

Walk a few doors up to Lili Merveille (552 Hayes St., 415-553-8523), a boutique filled with Parisian brands and hand-painted onesies - all imported from France. You get the sense children dress more traditionally when life is en Français - think ruffles, flowers, poof - but you might find a delight for the Francophile in your life.

Baby doesn't have to mean cutesy at Aldea Niños (1017 Valencia St., 415-874-9520), a design-minded store, owned and curated by the interior designer behind Aldea Home. With novelties for the nursery, designer toys, and indie-designed clothes to choose from, one lucky kid will have good taste before he's eating solids.

For fashionista friends, try Bubble (3108 Fillmore St., 415-771-0570) in Cow Hollow. Miniature versions of designer brands (True Religion, Diesel, Juicy) mingle with an expansive mix of silk-screened tees, tasteful college sweats, and all sorts of hip, cottony cuteness. So soft, you'll just want to put a baby in and hold.

Source: Fiddlesticks

The Heart of the Mission

Colleen Barrett — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:26:12 PDT

Step off Valencia's crowded sidewalk and into this mechanic's garage turned wine bar. Heart (1270 Valencia St., 415-285-1200) has one ambition in life: leave the pretension of wine tasting behind and invite the convivial bar spirit in.

This being the Mission - and the owner (Jeff Segal) being a 26-year-old who dreams in red, white, and rosé - its heart is more visceral than Valentine. A meticulously rusted aorta marks the spot outside, and not a trace of the starry-eyed sentiment bleeds from within. Instead, bottles of wine warm wooden walls on one side, yet rotating art on the other knocks its rustic-modern vibe askew, feeling more like an MFA show than an integrated installment.

A forgivable peccadillo when you open the menu waiting at your table. Its wine collection may be why you come, but ambitious small plates - created by Dogpatch's most popular lunch stop, Kitchenette - will bring you back. A corn-thyme bread pudding with braised mushrooms was Fall-day perfection while cauliflower panna cotta topped with green tomato marmalade was an oxymoron of savory sweet, which for its intense flavor and novel texture is probably best shared.

The wine list appeals to a sense of adventure over stature; it's unlikely you'll recognize a name as Heart favors obscure varietals sourced from mom-and-pop wineries in France, Spain, and Italy. One caveat to know before you go? Wine is served in mason jars, a controversial tumbler, especially for white and rosé drinkers looking to chill out. My rosé came a few degrees too warm (or do I just drink it too cool?), so the heat that hand-holding added seemed negligible. For whatever soul-searching young Heart needs to do, it's a welcomed place to meet after a Mission-perfect Saturday, dwell during the week (there's WiFi), or grab a bottle and go - you can!

Source: Heart

New and Used Goods Glimmer at Gravel & Gold

Colleen Barrett — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:56:58 PDT

Go digging for flea market finds and handmade crafts at Gravel & Gold (3266 21st St. 415-552-0112), a '70s-inspired California dream of a store. The small but spacious shop is like a glamorous cabin in the woods moved to the corner of 21st and Lexington (between Valencia and Mission). Its three lady owners personally source the captivating mix of vintage and new clothes, kitchen- and homewares, and rare but inspired books (think '70s self-help), then tell each maker's story in a handwritten note on display. So perfect it may seem too indulgent for an everyday purchase, but it's a can't-go-wrong spot to buy a gift. Just browsing? Check out its calendar for the next workshop or event, when a dressing room turns into a DJ booth and this Mission street corner turns gold.

Source: Gravel & Gold

5 Posh Boutiques in Russian Hill

Julia Millay Walsh — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 18:42:47 PDT

Russian Hill may not be known for the worldly cuisine and tourist amusements of its neighbors, but looking down on the bay from such very high heights, the area does have one very worthy claim to fame: boutiques. Clever curators seem to flock to the neighborhood, and it's become a destination for one-of-a-kind antiques, darling housewares, and unique apparel and jewelry. Here are a five posh boutiques that shan't be missed in Russian Hill.

Jak Home (2423 Polk St., 415-839-8264)

Interior designer Kathleen Navarra runs her design studio out of the back of this quiet Polk Street shop, opening up the storefront to showcase a well-curated collection of contemporary accessories, vintage home accents, and gorgeously upholstered furniture.

Cat Seto (2406 Polk St., 415-753-2909)

Stationer Cat Seto's eponymous store showcases an adorable mix of jewelry, candles, feminine home accents, and party dresses for the girly girls about town, as well as, of course, her very own paper goods.

Les Cents Culottes (2200 Polk St., 415-614-2586)

When in romance, do as les Français do . . . slip on some seductive lingerie. Stocked with an extensive collection of delicate undergarments from luxe French labels like Simone Perele, Lejaby, and Princess Tam Tam, Polk Street’s Les Cents Culottes is the way to a man's heart.

Picnic (1808 Polk St., 415-346-6556)

If affordable, contemporary cool had a name, it would be Picnic, your must-shop stop on Polk and Washington. This charming store's balance of jewelry, accessories, handbags, apparel, paper goods, and artwork from local and national designers makes for a lady that’s got eclectic chic down from head to toe.

Elle-Même (1210 Union St., 415-921-2100)

If you're after a more unique look than chain stores have to offer, make Elle-Même your destination for one-of-a-kind gems. Tucked onto Union Street just below the buzzing cable cars of Hyde Street, the elegant boutique sells only vintage and antique jewelry. With styles timeless and whimsical, as well as costume and precious metal pieces, you're bound to find something that suits only you – and your budget.