Oakland

This cute, artfully cluttered shop is one of those places where you go to buy one gift, and walk out with all sorts of treasures, whether it's a tiny baking set for kids, a silk-screened linen throw pillow, or beautiful brass hairpins.

Everything in Temescal Alley is great but this jewelry store is a definite highlight. It's beautifully merchandised with geodes, bones, stones, feathers, and plenty of other hippie paraphernalia (most of it is for sale). The actual jewelry—some vintage some contemporary—has a witchy, kind of dark-magic vibe to it.

The buyer, Sherri, worked at Neiman Marcus for years, so she has pretty great and sophisticated taste. To stock her elegant, comfortable shop she travels to Paris, London, and New York to bring back the best of the shows (Marni, Preen, and Natasha Zinko to name a few). It's best to let her or a member of her knowledgeable team to take the reins and fill the fitting room for you, as more often than not, they can predict what you'll want before you know you want it.

We can easily write a love letter to each of the 18 local-owned specialty shops lining this adorable, strollable alley. Here you'll find a dreamy florist, an excellent book shop called Book Shop, a vintage store, a handful of galleries, our favorite jewelry store in the city (Esqueleto), a place that specializes in stuffed donuts, and so much more.

What's cool about this awesome little ramen shop is that it's the brainchild of Jerry Jaksich, Rayneil De Guzman, and Sam White—all three are Chez Panisse alums. So it's really no surprise that the food, though not super authentic Japanese, is prepared with insane skill. Everything on the modest menu, from the pickle plate to the squid fried rice to the Hokkaido buttercorn-miso ramen is legit, but it's the veggie ramen that really rocked our world. Be prepared for a longish wait as the 45 seats are filled up on a first-come, first-served basis.

Australian baker Alson Barakat's teeny shop is a go-to when it comes to fresh-baked, ingredient-driven pastries (the strawberry shortcake is outstanding), but the pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the fried chicken sandwich. The perfectly crispy chicken and piles of from-scratch coleslaw make it well worth the inevitable wait in line.

Australian baker Alson Barakat's teeny shop is a go-to when it comes to fresh-baked, ingredient-driven pastries (the strawberry shortcake is outstanding), but the pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the fried chicken sandwich. The perfectly crispy chicken and piles of from-scratch coleslaw make it well worth the inevitable wait in line.

Commis holds the title for being the first and only Michelin-starred restaurant in Oakland. And honestly, once you try Chef James Syhabout's multi-curse tasting menu (at a little over a hundred bucks a pop, they’re a fairly reasonable treat), the accolades totally make sense. Stellar food aside, it's the kind of place you want to dress up for, making the sleek, minimal dining room ideal for celebrations.

Russel Moore has been running this lively, industrial-looking spot with his wife Allison Hopelain since 2008. The massive wood-fire oven is the focal point, both aesthetically and practically, as the majority of the dishes (oysters with absinthe, grilled king trumpet mushrooms, shellbean gratin) on the pared-down, constantly evolving menu pass through it. Check back often, as they sometimes do special edition culinary events. September, for example, brings with it Paella Mondays.

The folks at Pizzaiolo value their suppliers as much as they value their customers—an obsession Chef Charlie Hallowell picked up during his tenure in the kitchen at Chez Panisse. And it's this belief in good ingredients (organic flour, responsibly raised wild stock from local ranchers) that manifests itself in some of the best casual food in Oakland: veggie-centric antipasti, incredible proteins, and pretty epic thin-crust pizza. Oh, and the breakfast is not to be missed.