Turpan

Come to this deliberately cluttered mom-and-pop (located in the historic Tree Studio building) for all the benefits of antique shopping, without having to deep dive for the good stuff—here, piles of vintage hotel silver salvaged from European estate sales sit next to 1950s maps found at local flea markets. And while everything on display is good, it’s the tiny kids corner—packed with books, serving sets, and vintage toys—that’s arguably the main attraction. Fair warning: Serious collectors have to be quick on the draw as much of the offering is one-of-a-kind.

Stepping in here is the closest thing to time travel. Peter Merz opened this North Side institution in 1875 to resemble the European apothecaries his customers were missing, and other than moving to a bigger space in the 80s, it really hasn’t changed much: Holistic remedies and herbal tinctures (rounded out by a massive selection of vitamins and supplements) are displayed in their original antique jars, while natural skincare and beauty products from modern day favorites like Dr. Hauschka, Klorane, and Jao line the shelves.

Owner Claire Tibbs puts a lot of love into staging the beautiful range of vintage modern furniture, ceramics, textiles, and jewelry as a series of vignettes, making this sprawling space that much easier to navigate. It also means you get a pretty convincing preview of what, say, a retro brass bar cart or Hans Olsen leather chair might look like in your own home. On a smaller scale, the selection of local-designed jewelry, home goods, and apothecary items is as easy on the eyes as it is on the wallet.

Navigating this colossal salvaged furniture and décor warehouse is actually surprisingly easy, especially if mid-century modern is your design sweet spot. Inventory is updated pretty much daily so no two trips are alike. Conveniently, they also offer carpentry services at the on-site workshop, making this an excellent resource for decorators and designers. Plus, the lush courtyard is an easy sell as a popular special event and wedding venue.

In just a few years, owners Lance and Jim have made a name for themselves for their impeccable taste, and for bringing otherwise-unknown designers and brands to their shop on North Michigan. Their tastes run the gamut from post-pop ceramics by Seletti, to tongue-in-cheek stationery, to Building Block tassel bags, Rachel Comey trousers, and Markus Lupfer sweatshirts: In their words, “it’s a general store that’s anything but general.” In the beauty department, find everything from Binchotan charcoal masks, to a full range of clean skincare.

This fabled auction house’s claim to fame is organizing modern and contemporary design shows that have the power to bring seasoned collectors to their knees and inspire novices to start investing. In addition to a gallery and consignment department, the Chicago location is home to the Wright Now showroom, which houses globally-sourced décor, furniture, and fine art that can be viewed by appointment.

Housed in what used to be a 1930s apothecary (thankfully, the original wood paneling was left untouched), RR#1 Chicago is one of those stores that you’ll have a hard time leaving empty-handed. On offer: a dizzying array of candles, teas, and soaps, as well as kitschy prank gifts, tea towels, and novelty books. It’s pretty ideal for picking up a last minute something for the hostess, they'll even gift-wrap your selection right at the counter.

Chicago antique malls are the stuff of mid-century modern legend, and BAM is the crème de la crème. At 75-vendors strong (most with a focus on Art Deco, Mission, and Mid Century modern design), it’s got something for everyone. Furniture, clothing, accessories, costume jewelry—all of it blessedly organized so there’s little need to dig. And as locals will tell you (or more likely, not tell you) the semi-annual sales are epic.

Kelly Whitesell and Elizabeth Del Castillo, the founders of this Wicker Park standby, are known for their trend-driven, yet somehow totally timeless sensibility, which is perfectly reflected in the boutique’s easy-to-navigate layout and eclectic buy (Judi Rosen denim, knits from Barcelona-based Yerse, and In God We Trust charm necklaces). And while the eponymous house line might skew a little young for some, for the right girl, the racks of retro-tinged dresses and printed separates are a sartorial goldmine. The apothecary, however, is a sure bet for just about everyone—think, D.S. & Durga fragrances and Qualitas candles.

This beloved vintage furniture/décor/botany mecca was a major contributor to making the Chicago goop Pop the experience it was. Even if you’re not in the market for say, a crushed velvet fainting sofa or crystal chandelier, perusing the bright space is an inspiring experience. Can’t do in-person? The online shop is the next best thing.

This deeply under-the-radar shop, located on the second floor of a Chinatown office building, is more like a gallery than a boutique. You'll find an Opening Ceremony blouse, hung next to a vintage poster, a one-off book, and a Mended Veil necklace. They opened a second location downtown, known as Ooga Booga 2 or Ooga Twooga.

Though this design shop got its start in a space on Abbot Kinney, its relocation to DTLA is finally letting A + R stretch its legs a bit, and show larger pieces, like Bend Good's metal chairs and Scholten & Baijings' technicolored rugs. It's all arranged with smaller, more suitcase-appropriate picks, like Hay's Kaleido trays and Y'a Pas Le Feu Au Lac's vases.

Equal parts clothing boutique and toy store, this is the sort of place where you can pick up a gift for anyone under 10. It's very well-edited, meaning that there aren't a ton of options, but they're all good, from Aden & Anais swaddle blankets, to non-toxic crayons, to robot-printed pajamas.

Marble-topped Tom Dixon candles, cyan-hued wallets from PB 0110, and pretty sublime cashmere blankets are just a few of the offerings at this serene, grey-washed space. Bedding and linens, coffee table books, and Hella Jongerius plates round out the mix.

In addition to the delicious lattes, homemade sandwiches, and old-fashioned candies and trinkets, this general store stocks an equally excellent selection of homewares, including perfectly minimal white ceramic bowls, gardening tools, kitchen supplies, and more.

If you're one of those people who believes that the card should be as well-conceived and personal as the gift, this is your mothership. They have all the best lines, along with sweet notepads, journals, and a good selection of pens.

Known for modern and beautiful letterpress stationery, Sugar Paper also does great holiday cards, wedding invitations, and monogramming. The tiny shop (in the Brentwood Country Mart) also offers cards and paper goods from Rifle Paper Co., Kate Spade, and more—and they can wrap any gift (just bring a box) while you wander the mart.

Now four locations strong, this general-style store offers a deeply curated range of clothing and accessories, along with really beautiful home goods. Expect to find Ulla Johnson jumpsuits (for her), Engineered Garment pants (for him), along with Want Les Essentials laptop sleeves, Cire Trudon candles, and Fort Standard trivets. There's also a location in Pasadena and Santa Monica.

Everything at this long-standing, architecturally-minded boutique—from Noguchi lamps, to Heath bud vases, to Alice Park wallets—would look just right inside, say, a Schindler or a Neutra home. The emphasis is on great gifts (almost everything comes pre-gift wrapped in basic brown butcher paper), whether it’s a framed beetle or Carl Aubock designed book-ends. There's also a location in Silver Lake.

A true mid-century American icon, Heath has been producing beautiful modern and minimal tableware (with a brief break) and tiles since 1948. In fact, it's part of the permanent collections in New York's MoMA—and graces many a table across the Los Angeles restaurant scape. The store, like the products, is modern and minimal, with wooden shelves, concrete floors and a lot of space to browse. Besides the Heath line, they've selected a handful of designers to showcase. There are multiple locations in the SF area, including an outpost in the Ferry Building. The factory store in Sausalito offers seconds (i.e., subtly imperfect plates and bowls) at big discounts.

While its unlikely location on a grungy strip of Lincoln Boulevard keep this spot slightly under-the-radar, The General Store always justifies the trip. While it’s set in a big lofty space that could theoretically hold hundreds of items, the impeccably-curated store is an exercise in restraint: You’ll find hand-done ceramics, brass trivets, thread wrapped bows and arrows, and rare, vintage books. The original is actually in San Francisco.

Owner Rachel Berks focuses exclusively on artist and designer-made clothing, jewelry, pottery, posters, and prints. This is one of those stores where you never know what you're going to find, whether it's a simple turquoise drop necklace or a Gravel & Gold toiletry case, emblazoned with line drawings of boobs.

Interior designers Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe put out their own own line of perfectly-textured home goods (solid cast brass hand sconces, tufted headboards, hassock ottomans), which they've mixed with an eclectic range of accessories at this subtly-industrial shop. You'll find Japanese bear bookends, pillows cut from vintage Hmong embroidery, black-bristled brooms, and Astier de Villate journals—and you'll want to buy it all.

Lost & Found in Hollywood occupies a stretch of adjacent buildings on Yucca Street, which is tucked away above Hollywood Boulevard. It’s there that you'll find one of L.A.'s best shopping destinations. While there are spaces for women and homes, we particularly love the kids edit, which revolves around feathered headbands, papier-mâché masks, and t-shirts emblazoned with everything from motorcycles to birds. The new outposts in Santa Monica are huge, offering more floor space to men's and women's clothing, along with even more delights for little ones. (Plus, a great edit of home.)

We were pretty thrilled when Love Adorned finally landed on the West Coast last year—after all, its flagship in Nolita (the jewelry companion to the legendary New York City tattoo parlor NY Adorned) is stunningly cool. It's also one of the few stores around that can embody an entire aesthetic, one that is subtly bohemian, gothic, and yet gloriously feminine, too. You'll find stunning, slightly asymmetrical diamond rings from Polly Wales, cool, Natural Park–themed bandannas for kids, and the resin champagne buckets by Tina Frey. The location in Santa Monica is fittingly airy and light and lined with all the jewelry treasures you’d expect along with a smattering of kitchen goods, throw pillows, and beautifully scented candles. There is also a location in Amagansett.

In addition to being one of the longest-standing shops on Abbot Kinney, Bazar is also one of the most special. Owner Tina Wakino keeps the smallish space packed with antique furniture, textiles, and racks of hard-to-find international brands and vintage pieces for both men and women, then she rounds out the assortment with imported apothecary favorites from Santa Maria Novella and Astier de Villatte. Though small, the children’s section holds incredibly adorable options for giftables and accessories that are unlike anything you might find at a traditional toy store.

Shopping for dudes can be risky business, though in our experience, the house line of basic tees and pants at this handsomely turned out men’s shop has a pretty stellar success rate. The vibe here is all about California cool, and the walls of vintage photography and retro memorabilia express that aesthetic perfectly. And if the racks of essential from Filson, Red Wing, and Rogue Territory, plus the tables of subtle, well-designed accessories and home goods aren’t enough of a draw, there’s a classic barbershop in the back where barber, Chrissy Phelan, performs her famously precise cuts.

Near the popular junction of Santa Monica Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake, this favorite shop has a curiously curated array of goodies from handmade pottery to children's toys, graphic t-shirts, jewelry, handbags, and stationery. Nearly everything in the shop feels like a brilliant find, making this a particularly good place to shop for special gifts.

Based in Mar Vista's Mitsuwa Marketplace, the Japanese-based Kinokuniya offers great notebooks, stationery, pens, and gifts. Kids, in particular, go nuts here.

It's easy to overlook this home goods shop, which has been holding down the fort on Beverly for years. It's a little bit out-of-the-way, which makes it easy to miss, but it's absolutely worth seeking out. John Derian decoupage plates, hand-beaded scarfs from Megan Park, and slightly macabre (but gorgeous) objects, like bronze cast beetles mingle with Ige's own line of pillows and fabric calendars.

True to its name (M.I.A. stands for Made in America), every piece of merch stocked in this homey, lovingly curated shop is made in the U.S., as the goal for founders Micha Thomas and Jaime Lawson is to shine a light on local independent makers at a time when so much of production is done overseas. The mostly handmade and small-batch edit includes a little bit of something for everyone: soy wax candles by Venice-based Yoke, delicate linen dresses by Matteo, Minnesota-made handbags by heritage brand J.W. Hulme, and so much more.

Though the assortment at this Atwater Village favorite includes quite a bit of vintage (mostly of the denim and cotton tee variety), mixed in with home goods, apparel (plenty of stuff for guys to rifle through, too), and apothecary items from beloved international lines like Fredericks & Mae and Jao, plus one-of-a-kind pieces from the local community of makers, it all feels totally fresh.

As the West Coast's largest art and architecture-centric bookstore, this is the sort of place where you can put together a stack of beautiful coffee table books.

Founder Melissa Lovoy opened Lake in February 2007 in the heart of Silver Lake and filled this quietly low-key space with pieces that are modern, beautiful, and well made.

This great little record store features a tight edit—but that shouldn't dissuade you from asking them to help you track down something that's not out on the floor. During the week, they're open until 9pm.

Styled like an other-worldly trading post, RTH takes much of its inspiration from the Southwest. It makes sense, as he owner (and designer), René Holguin, hails from El Paso and did stints at Ralph Lauren, J.Crew, and Levi’s before setting out on his own. There’s a house line of perfectly aged leather bags, smocks, and Liberty print scarves, along with seed bead pins and bracelets.

While there are a few pieces scattered about for men, the focus here is really on women's accessories, home goods, and picks for kids...though there's a smattering of ready to wear, too. Pieces from Rachel Comey and Jesse Kamm share rack space here with eensy sweatshirts from Boy + Girl and Misha & Puff while the glass cabinets are lined with Gabriela Artigas earrings and Fort Standard bottle openers. There's another location in Dallas.

Since 1985, this place has been offering every conceivable genre of vinyl to loyal West LA music lovers. Merchandise is restocked daily, there are stations where you can sample music, and you can trade in or sell your records here, too.

Whether you're in the market for kids furniture from Scandinavia, or a Pantone-themed mug, this long-standing boutique sources home goods and gifts for kids from all over the world.

A testament to owners (and real-life couple) Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung’s creativity and taste, this color-happy shop in Little Tokyo somehow manages to look entirely different from visit to visit. While the core categories—home décor, stationery, accessories, and kids—stay the same, the assortment is constantly updated to keep up with the latest and greatest in design and still meet Poketo’s playful aesthetic. Expect to find Japanese stationery, tabletop pieces from Danish firm HAY, beautiful art books, and so much more. There's also a sister location in Culver City and in The Line Hotel.

Founded on the design principle that less is often more, Formerly Yes (which formerly used to just be online-only), now occupies an airy boutique Downtown—just a stone's throw from the Ace. Much likes its site, the offerings are extremely winnowed down and edited, i.e., you'll find only design classics, like Braun alarm clocks, Japanese platters, and Iittala tumblers.

Known for fun, colorful stationery and cards for every occasion, it's entirely possible to (happily) lose an afternoon at Shout and About browsing through every good on display. In addition to their stationery, the store has a selection of jewelry, plants, and other gifty items, making it an ideal one-stop shop for last minute birthday, housewarming, and just-because presents.

Set up in the center of the most walkable stretch of the Arts District, Alchemy Works is the brainchild of Lindsay and Raan Parton (their former Apolis store is now a pop-up within Alchemy) and aims to bring a bit of the coastal lifestyle to downtown. The industrial-style shop doubles as an events space, so there’s lots of room to roam around and admire the hand-picked apothecary pieces, letterpress prints, indy-designer accessories, and more. Also sharing the space is a Warby Parker shop-in-shop and a Blacktop coffee counter. It's Newport Beach location is equally stunning.

This kooky shop is filled with the types of gems, crystals, candles, incense, and other knickknacks that make perfect metaphysical souvenirs to bring back from LA. If you have time, opt for one of the amazing readings or a treatment with one of the healers on staff, who offer modalities like Reiki, crystal healing, and shamanic energy medicine.

Started by Paige Appel & Kelly Harris (founders of the much-loved event design business Bash, Please) opened their long-awaited shop on Washington boulevard in Culver City, within easy striking distance of nearby Platform, where there's also some excellent shopping to be had. The buy is a mix of one-off items like West African woven fans and Zuni stones along with pieces from up-and-coming designers, like Beatrice Valenzuela slides, Cinq jewelry, and Sara Barner bags. The apothecary has great body oils and some Shiva Rose creams, as well.

Flowers in antique glass jars, succulents large and small, steampunk kids clothes, pressed flowers, it all may sound a little Etsy-esque, and well, it is, but it's so well achieved and so aesthetically pleasing that it's hard not to fall for. Botanique, both a florist and a shop for artisan wares, opened up its sprawling, wood-lined space on Exmouth Market in October and already promises to be a fixture on the local craft scene with a series of seasonal workshops for those interested in picking up a few skills.

Affordable jewelry by lesser-known designers is nearly impossible to find in London, which makes Hall, a hole-in-the-wall shop tucked away behind Westbourne Grove, so special. Here, owner and designer Min Lee gathers her favorite designers and displays them along with her own designs. You'll find Annette Ferdinandsen's organic, insect-inspired pieces next to Ilana Ariel's more angular designs, along with Min's own collection of fashion jewelry—everything from simple bangles to gemstone earrings and cuffs, to signature wave rings, and more. Look for Min at the shop for inspiration on how to put it all together—she truly is the master of layering jewelry, high and low.

Alex Eagle's eponymous concept store has moved from its Knightsbridge townhouse local to an expansive loft space in Soho. The owner stocks hard-to-find brands like Isa Arfen, Lemaire, and Protagonist mixed in with homewares by hip design studios like Makers & Brothers. With the odd Jean Prouvé stool or Alex Eagle collaboration—many are her takes on classic heritage brands like Swaine-Adeney—dotted here and there, this shop is always packed with discoveries.

Born out of a friendship between June Summerill and the late Bernadette Bishop, their store is one of Holland Park's hidden gems, worth venturing a few minutes out of Notting Hill to visit. With an eye for hand-crafted home goods - June & Bernadette forged relationships with many international ceramicists, textile artists and glassblowers - and merchandise their goods in their own style. The best hand painted tablecloths, in an array of patterns all designed in their in house studio, handblown glassware, plus essential kitchenware round out the offerings. This is a dreamy, beautiful store that is over 25 years strong. They sell internationally through their website.

Tom Dixon is undoubtedly the British designer of the moment, having just completed the Mondrian at Sea Containers. His shop, located underneath the delightful Dock Kitchen, features picture windows looking out onto Regent's Canal and stocks Mr. Dixon's pared-down furniture, lighting, and accessories. You've probably seen his brass and copper light fixtures around town and if you haven't you'll be sure to fall for them here. The shop is also packed with delightful knick-knacks scoured from all around the world.

Blush pink walls and a warm grey ceiling complement the beautiful furniture and accessories sold at this relatively new Marylebone shop and design studio. Handcrafted wooden furniture, jacquard throws, simple terracotta ceramics, and beautifully turned-out desk accessories are just a few of the things you'll want to schlep home. While the shop is off the main street it's worth the detour to see. They also take custom orders.

This place is frequented by serious photo aficionados, from librarians to collectors to students, looking for rare and out-of-print books and magazines.

Run by husband-and-wife team Ian Paley and Emily Dyson, this multilevel space is stocked with independent designers from all over the globe. While the women's section is home to plenty of international names that are hard to find elsewhere (along with a strong NYC contingent like Rachel Comey and Steven Alan), it's the meticulously edited kids’ selection—Morley tees, Oeuf toys—that's earned the shop praise from locals and visitors alike.

This brand originally caught our eye with its wry animal print textiles and wallpapers for the home, all made traditionally in sumptuous fabrics, but with a slightly subversive edge. They've now taken their prints and turned them out in clothes, wrapping paper, and more which actually totally works.

Here, you'll find around 25,000 books piled on every imaginable surface, from tabletops to the staircase. The shop has a literary slant but stocks all sorts of titles, from architecture tomes to cookbooks to thrillers.

Even the wooden brooms are carefully selected to fit in with the artfully stark aesthetic at Labour and Wait. Come for striped sailing shirts, Japanese enamelware, hand-forged gardening tools, leather satchels, and polka-dot primary-color handkerchiefs. In sum, a slightly random selection of household goods that come together beautifully.

Run by a collective of designers and craftsmen, Luna & Curious brings together a pretty outstanding (and affordable) assortment of home wares, clothing, toys, and curios made by young, predominantly British makers. Every few weeks, they turn a section of the shop over to a new designer to arrange and display their wares however they'd like; it's always pretty inspiring.

Located in a tiny Victorian shopfront, Pentreath & Hall sells carefully chosen homewares and an ever-changing variety of unusual delights. Many of the objects, like co-owner, Birdie Hall’s decoupage plates, and Eric Ravilious for Wedgewood ceramics, satisfy the "look well under a glass cloche" category requirements.

At this Philippe Starck–designed (and gilded) shop, you'll find all Taschen's trademark tomes on art, photography, fashion, architecture, film, erotica, and more. Conveniently placed right across the street from the Saatchi Gallery, this is a shop for the well-heeled art lover. The gallery space downstairs shows off certain titles in more detail.

This legendary store opened in 1875 on Regent Street, and to this day maintains its beautiful wood-paneled interiors and grand Tudor revival exterior. While the Liberty brand is alive and well, still selling their trademark flower print fabrics, so is their buying team with small capsules from all our favorite brands including Frame, Acne, Alexander Wang, Isabel Marant, and Kenzo. Treat yourself to a scarf here as they always have the widest and most wonderful selection, and the staff in the Scarf Hall on the first floor are famously good at advising you on how to tie them.

SCP works with a closely curated group of designers to manufacture their furniture and home accessories in workshops around the world. Donna Wilson's playful knits get a lot of airtime here, as do designers like Lucy Kurrein, Michael Anastassiades and more. Owner Sheridan Coakley does a lot of travel and always brings back great finds with him. Aside from the high concept furniture, lighting and accessories, this shop is one of the best in town for gifts.

With more than 11 stores in London, this English staple is a great place to pick up kitchen and picnic materials (though their mens and womens collections are also worth a look). Their streamlined and affordably priced homewares include utilitarian blankets, rustic terracotta bowls, enamel-dipped cutlery, and more. If you're hoping to impress friends from home with seemingly simple basics they can't get at home, this is your spot.

This shop provides a tiny sneak preview into architect John Pawson's vision for the museum. Colorful design objects, gadgets, toys, and gizmos are carefully arranged on a Vitsoe shelving system on dark grey walls, creating a beautiful and contrasting display. It's a great selection of small, affordable gifts and more high-concept pieces for the real design lover like John Pawson designed ceramic bowls, a Barber & Osgerby teapot, Artek's Alvar Aalto stools and the like.

Geo-fleur specializes in houseplants—and while this is a great place to come for plants themselves (they've got a gorgeous selection of bonsais, cacti, and succulents), we also love coming here for accessories like copper-bottomed planters and macrame hangers. Their plant subscription, which mails a new plant and its associated trappings every month, makes a great gift for gardeners—or, alternatively, friends with black thumbs.

Long-time Islington resident Lizzie Evans set up shop in her hometown below an upstairs space where she offers workshops in weaving, terrarium making, calligraphy, and more. The shop itself, which locals know from her iconic guinea pig logo, carries design-minded home accessories, prints, and stationery. Her display of wrapping paper and ribbons makes it a great spot for holiday and birthday shopping.

This sweet shop in Shoreditch was founded by Portuguese owners Olga Cruchinho and Dina Martins in an effort to bring their favorite staples from their home country to London. There's a range of products, from foodstuffs (tinned fish, jams, honey, olive oil) to beauty products (creams, soaps, even specialty toothpastes) to Portuguese wine, notebooks, and stationery. It's a great spot for hostess gifts, in particular.

Started by two graphic designers who use the store to present their own designs as well as favorites from others, Present & Correct stocks everything required for old-school correspondence, including stamps, shelves and shelves of stationery, and boxes of specialty pens and pencils. There's also star-shaped erasers, vintage calligraphy sets, brass paperclips, and wooden tape dispensers. It's perfect for grown-up back-to-school.

The name Seeds has several meanings. For starters, it's a nod to the store's physical space, which occupies what used to be a flower shop in Kensington. It's also a reference to what the owners describe as the store's duality as a place to see (they host exhibitions and special projects with artists and designers) as well as a design store (hence the DS). The entire space is completely shoppable, so you can find everything here from hand-thrown clay pots, to art-inspired jewelry, to works of contemporary art.

Primary colors, geometry, and the Bauhaus prevail here. This is a full-on lifestyle store for the geometrically obsessed. There are handcrafted leather goods, hand-bound notebooks, colorful pillows and throws, all within the very tasteful bounds of the owner's aesthetic. Expect to find many a British brand you haven't heard of yet.

If you have a stationery or sticker addict on your hands, they’re going to freak. This Japanese mega-store facing Bryant Park is one of our favorite midtown oases, and a solid option for a quick sushi cafeteria-style lunch. There’s an entire floor dedicated to Japanese manga comic books, a solid selection of design books and international fashion magazines, but the basement is the main draw. There, aisle after aisle is stuffed with an incredible array of Japanese stationery goods—adorable pens, pencils, notebooks, and erasers to last a lifetime.

From clothing to ceramics and beauty goods, this store's main focus is on hand-crafted items, many of them locally made. We've found lines like Caron Callahan, Chimala, Ace & Jig, and Cosmic Wonder on our forays here.

Phoebe Cates's boutique is pretty great: You’ll find really beautiful jewelry and a great assortment of toys, including hand-painted Russian dolls and Keith Haring dominoes. You'll also find clothes from little known designers, especially for the neighborhood, like Ally Capellino handbags and Yoshi Kondo dresses. It's not surprising it's a hit on the Upper East Side, as it brings uniqueness and discovery back to a neighborhood that’s generally dominated by big brands.

For years, this teeny tiny shop on Williamsburg's main drag has been one of the best resources in Brooklyn for jewelry. Stackable rings, sweet little pendants, and more precious offerings from designers like Elisa Solomon fill the cases. Weirdly, because space is tight, we actually like shopping their website more.

Because it started as the jewelry extension of the East Village tattoo parlor, New York Adorned, you might expect that the jewelry here would be of the skull and crossbones variety. But it's actually gorgeous, and for the most part, dainty. They also have an excellent—and unexpected—range of home goods and gifts.

You'll only find Caitlin Mociun's eponymous jewelry collection on her site—but should you go to her new, Williamsburg store, you'll see the work of her friends, too, including hexagonal brass necklaces by Iacoli & Macallister, and Chen Chen and Kai William's marble bangles. You'll also get to shop Mociun's full line, from her signature eensy, triangular turquoise pendants to her custom rings, which feature a mismatched—and stunning—combination of stones.

The first thing to catch our eye upon entering this striking black interior is an antique black carriage full of books and hand-made cushions: It's just one of many visual statements throughout the space. Look around and there are shelves lined with design objets of diverse provenance, and of course there are no labels, as those would fetter the very calculated, striking displays. While the main room features a mix of furniture and objects, the annex features a deeper look at the work of their stable of craftsmen, from Malian textile designer Aboubakar Fofana to Oyuna, the Mongolian cashmere designer.

This sweetly curated home goods shop in Brooklyn Heights stocks artisan-made goods with a slightly nordic bent, from Mid-century style furnishings to ceramics, lighting, throws, and more. The art on the walls changes frequently, as does the stock—while it's named for the fire fighter's term for a hopelessly cluttered home (after the Collyer Brothers who collected north of 140 tons of stuff), the stores are anything but.

Jamie Creel and Christopher Gow are serious collectors who spend much of their time traveling the world sourcing far-flung objects for their townhouse shop. We go just to see the wacky and elegant displays that mix coral and taxidermy, Suzani textiles and kitschy South African ceramics. It’s a real mix with prices to match, and if you’re looking for a truly offbeat gift—like say, a hand-blown glass hammer and nails—chances are you’ll find it here.

Occupying a sliver of space in a quiet stretch of Soho, Global Table is one of those places that's packed from floor to ceiling. Sourcing items from all over the world, the prevailing aesthetic is bright, colorful, and modern, though they also have a great selection of wooden serving pieces, like salad bowls and cutting boards. It’s rare to walk out empty-handed.

Beyond being the best resource in New York for Astier de Villatte’s stunningly hand-turned plates, bowls, and glasses, John Derian's instantly recognizable decoupaged glass plates and paperweights have a unique old world appeal that also applies to the small objects, furniture, and curiosities he stocks in his iconic East Village shop. It's a small microcosm packed with antique objects and hand-made works by artisans with a similarly whimsical aesthetic, from Leanne Shapton's painted wooden "books" to Hugo Guinness' drawings and prints. Derian also designs his own line of furniture which mixes right in with the flea market finds and printed fabrics at his dry goods shop next door.

Along with her own line of printed wallpapers and textiles, Michele Varian sells a mix of flea market finds, jewelry, and general curiosities. It's always worth a stop for an unusual gift or home accent.

Helmed by fashion stylist Lauren Snyder (she’s worked for Bergdorf Goodman and Glamour), The Primary Essentials revolves around goods that feel hand-worked—but never crafty. Gorgeous indigo-dyed textiles and simple quilts mingle with Earth Tu Face body washes, simple canvas carryalls from Joshu + Vela, and blue ceramic studs from Jujumade.

Housed in Andrew Carnegie's former Georgian mansion, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum still conserves the original dark wood-lined interiors and imposing staircase, even after closing for a few years for a major upgrade in the hands of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, among others. The shop on the second floor is part of the revamp, too, with the architectural firm's custom modular shelving framing the tailor-made space. The wonderful mix of beautifully designed objects and utilitarian goods remains the same, however, from Fredericks & Mae birthday candles to Michael Graves kettles and much more.

Recently relocated to a brand-new, much larger space, Sprout Home offers a wonderful variety of plants, planting accessories, flowers, floral arrangements, and adorable home goods, for the city's urban gardener. They also offer classes from Wreath Making to caring for container plants in colder months. With its airy but elegant aesthetic, this store is truly inspiring. There’s also a location in Chicago.

We head to Steven Alan for the perfectly tailored yet lived-in men's and women's shirting that comes in an endless variety of plaids and stripes. Beyond that, it's the relaxed mix of pieces from designers like A.P.C, Isabel Marant, Rachel Comey, that keeps us coming back. The outpost in Tribeca is the flagship and the original, though there are now locations scattered around the city. They've recently opened a home goods shop, too.

While you won't walk out of Swallow with big case goods, you are likely to find something small and unusual, like a tiny brass bird or an opalescent vase. They also have really beautiful tabletop, from rough-hewn stone plates, to little salt cellars.

Across from the museum, the MoMA Design Store is incredibly well-done, making it one of those rare spots that's a one-stop resource for everyone on your list come the holidays. Here you can purchase everything from Issey Miyake's architectural Lucent tote, to an Eames chair, to a Yoshitomo Nara doggy radio, to obscure titles you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.

This Japanese export has been quietly opening outposts all over NYC, though Muji goods have been shoppable at MoMA for years. The stores are simple in both concept and aesthetic: After all the brand is predicated on the idea that the best design is the least design. Minimalist fixtures and neutral color palettes are used to display the most well-designed utilitarian goods—housewares, t-shirts, stationery, and more—that are as functional as they are generic, which allows them to fit in every home regardless of sensibility.

Off the beaten path on a Manhattan side street called Extra Place, Stevenson Aung and Angelique Chmielewski, opened a brick and mortar showcase for their shop, full of off-the-beaten-path extras. In their careers as industrial and fashion designers, respectively, they’ve spent years amassing quite the collection of Japanese design, and finally have the perfect glass-fronted location to showcase it all, from Azmaya tea accessories to Sunao cutlery, to Fog Linen baskets.

What started as a coffee and tea shop with flowers and small succulents for sale has quickly become much more of lifestyle shop, carrying a mix of mostly local-made ceramics, books, magazines, and small design goods. Stop in for a Blue Bottle coffee, or a Bellocq tea—their studio is next door—and walk out with a couple of small indoor plants, a Postalco notebook, and a Grain Edit beeswax totem candle.

As far as specialty shops go, CW Pencil Enterprise is downright granular. It’s shoe-box sized and therefore really easy to miss, so keep an eye out for the pencil drawing, which the owner, Caroline Weaver, put up in lieu of traditional signage. Inside, the floors are black-and-white checkered, and the shelves are lined with neatly labeled jars of pencils and on-theme art. Make good use of the pencil-testing station, which is set up on a Mid-Century desk and topped with vintage-looking sharpeners and old-school notebooks, while the staff (it’s usually Weaver herself manning the store) drop knowledge about each pencil’s provenance, history, color, and optimal use. CW carries amazing stationery brands like Craft Design Technology, Tombow, and Field Notes; and then there’s the Pencil of the Month club and custom pencil services, which the owner fulfills herself by hand with an antique hot foil press.

While they're best known for their gorgeous (artist-inspired) packaging, Mast Brothers places great emphasis on the art of chocolate-making—as evidenced by the fact that they offer tours of the process itself at each of their stores. The Brooklyn location is one of the three flagship stores and factories for the brand, which brothers Rick and Michael Mast founded in 2007 (the other two are located in Los Angeles and London). A package of bars makes for a practically perfect—and blessedly TSA-friendly—hostess gift.

Nina Allen's shop, Tophat, first grew out of her online store, Sweet Bella, where she sells specialty items like fruit and vegetable-shaped ceramics, unique pins and patches, and Stalogy office supplies. Her nondescript shop on Broome Street doesn't look like much from the street (even for Broome Street), but it's well worth stopping by, as she stocks the shelves with the same things from her online store, plus one-of-a-kind finds and antiques that she doesn't post. In the winter they have toboggans for rent.

Helena Barquet and Fabiana Faria's concept shop on Orchard Street is part of the cadre of businesses blurring the boundaries between the Lower East Side and Chinatown. Barque and Faria originally met working at galleries, and their store is reflective of their art-inspired aesthetic, with reupholstered midcentury furniture, sculptural home accessories, and neon-tinged coffee table books. There's also a great selection of candles and quirky accessories, so it's a home-run for gifting.

In 1634, grocer and wax merchant Claude Trudon opened a store on Rue St. Honoré—and Trudon has been lighting the city’s palaces and homes ever since. Thanks to their superlative wax and rigorous candle-making process, the scented pillars burn for hours—without ever sputtering or smoking. They’re not cheap—after all, as company lore would have it, Napoleon’s only gift to his newborn son was a Trudon candle encrusted with three pieces of gold—but they are exquisite. The Paris boutique, complete with a rainbow wall of tapers, busts cast in wax, and the full expression of fragrances, shouldn’t be missed.

Though it's often (mistakenly) credited as being the first department store, there's no doubt that Le Bon Marché's founders, Aristide and Marguerite Boucicaut, were pioneers, particularly in a culture that so adamantly prizes specialty stores. Launched in 1838 as an extension of the Boucicaut's single market stall, it became a fixed-price department store in 1850 (before that, you would barter), moving into its sweeping, Art Deco home in 1867. While it's been expanded several times since (and now belongs to LVMH), it's still inarguably one of the most beautiful, large-scale shops in existence. Whether you're looking for Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Maje, or Iro, it's likely here: Along with lingerie, kids clothing, furniture, household essentials, and shoes and bags. The food hall, La Grande Épicerie, is pretty insane, offering a rich array of specialty products, from Fauchon macarons to Baltic smoked fish. Many visitors concentrate their buying power here in order to hit the spending level required for VAT.

Though it’s well located on Rue Saint-Honoré, this is the sort of spot that’s easy to walk right by. Inside it’s dimly lit, cloister-like, and achingly cool, complete with rickety, slightly off-kilter shelves that sag under the weight of Astier de Villatte’s ceramic tableware. Made from black terra-cotta clay and then finished in the brand’s signature milky white, these perfectly imperfect dishes are the hallmark of some of the best-dressed tables we know. You’ll also find the house line of geometric-print, gold-rimmed notebooks (made by the last master printer in Paris) and the gorgeously old-fashioned candle and incense collections, along with a handful of oddities, like glassware cast in the shape of skulls and stout little teapots.

Since 1820, E. Dehillerin has been outfitting the kitchens of Paris with copper pots, paring knives, whisks—and a million other ingenious gadgets nobody ever knew they needed. It is a huge store and an incredible resource, though come with full pockets (and plenty of room in your suitcase). They also sell online and ship globally.

A devastating fire nearly destroyed Deyrolle in 2008, sending nearly 90 percent of its rarefied inventory up in smoke. Everyone rallied: Customers donated animals purchased in years past back; Christie's held an auction; Hermes reissued their "Plume" scarf to raise funds; and ultimately Deyrolle reopened its doors to a collective sigh of relief. Founded in 1831, it's one of the most special stores in the world, after all, since it's essentially a shoppable natural history museum. As you move past the gardening boutique that occupies the ground floor and climb the stairs, you'll come face to face with lions, tiger, bears, and thousands of exotic birds, butterflies, and beetles—all carefully preserved, and even more meticulously displayed. We love the reissues of the 19th century pedagogical prints (horse breeds, the anatomy of the eye, the trees of France), which are more affordable—and packable—than a giraffe.

It's rare to find a store that's so much bigger than its collective parts, but Merci is one of those spots that opened to an endless stream of breathless acclaim—and just as many inches of coverage in the press. This is easy to understand: For one, profits go to charities in Madagascar; for two, it's gorgeous and artful while still feeling accessible to all. Located in an airy, sprawling nineteenth-century fabric factory, this superstore sells the best of pretty much everything. Labels like Isabel Marant, Vanessa Bruno, and Stella McCartney mingle on the clothing racks; natural shampoos and Comme des Garçons perfumes line the shelves in the comprehensive beauty apothecary; and there are loads of amazing homewares, too. Fresh flowers and gardening tools? Check. Don't leave without visiting the Used Book Café in the basement, as you can flip through any one of the 10,000 preloved books that line the walls while you wait for your brunch.

Large and loftlike, this industrial-feeling store has an ambitious mandate: fair-trade clothing and accessories from little-known and established artisan brands, mixed in with a smattering of vintage furniture, art books, records, and indie zines. If you've got little ones, don't miss the outpost devoted to kids.

There are very few boutiques that fully embody an aesthetic, but L’Eclaireur does this perfectly—no small feat, considering there are seven very distinct shops scattered around the city, as well as a bar/restaurant that doubles as a shrine to Piero Fornasetti. Armand and Martine Hadida’s original outpost in 1980 was incredibly important for a number of reasons, most notably because L’Eclaireur was the first to break brands like Prada, Helmut Lang, Dries van Noten, and Martin Margiela in France. While the Hadidas have had every opportunity to rest on their laurels, the pace has been relentless ever since as they’ve continued to ferret out the world’s best new talent, in fashion, in jewelry, and in home goods. While the mix at every spot varies, we like the moodily gothic Place des Victoires location best. Under the light cast by a strange and fantastic bird chandelier, you’ll find Fornasetti umbrella stands, chunky chain link bracelets from Mawi, cashmere travel wraps by Denis Colombe, and coated Saint Laurent skinny jeans. If time allows, their most recent project shouldn’t be missed, either: They’ve taken a space in Habitat 1964’s vintage village at Les Puces, where they’re selling a smattering of archival fashion pieces along with furniture. The first U.S. outpost recently opened in Los Angeles.

With few exceptions, almost everything that lines the Crayola-colored shelves here rings in at under a hundred euros, whether it's backpacks, patterned wallets, or unique candles.

Home to a happy jumble of melamine plates, bedside lamps, chairs, and vases, Tsé Tsé Associées is run by two Parisian designers, Catherine Lévy and Sigolène Prébois, who met in school. Though business is booming, they still insist on designing every piece themselves. We love their porcelain cornet lamps, folded paper vases, and intricately patterned silk scarves.

A bookshop and antiquarian for over a century, Librairie Alain Brieux specializes in rare scientific and sometimes esoteric titles, though the real allure is its cabinet-of-curiosities vibe. The windows and interior displays are continually refreshed with weird and wonderful assortments of vintage anatomical models, glass eyes, unusual toys, and the like.

The husband-and-wife team behind revamped cosmetics line Buly added a couple degrees of fantasy when furnishing their flagship shop—modeled after a nineteenth-century apothecary—with Tuscan tiled floors, Italian marble counters, intricately carved wooden cupboards, and prettily painted beams. And then there are the products: alcohol-free scents and modern, paraben-free formulations, beautifully packaged in old-fashioned vials and glass jars. Whether you’re in the market or not, this shop is a treat just to look at.

While this chainlet’s busy, color-soaked printed dresses and quirky shoes might be a little over-the-top for our tastes, the global furniture and home accessory finds are a Parisian go-to for injecting a dose of color into a home. At the shop in the 10th, stock up on printed Nathalie Leté dishware, Mexican oilcloths, woven plastic chairs, and more, which are pleasingly crammed into every last nook in the shop.

Both the shop in the 9th and the Tea Room in the 1st are the kinds of Parisian pastry shops you might dream of with pretty, tiled floors, powder-blue walls, old world display cases, and dainty packaging. Both spots are great for stocking up on everything from molded chocolates to macarons, traditional sweets, jams, and marmalades to take home as gifts, though you’ll also want to grab a crème-filled pastry for the ride.

As its name suggests, this long-reigning home goods store in Portland prizes simple lines and useful shapes, like a simply but beautiful Brasilia coffee mill, or a set of Alexander Girard playing blocks. There's an emphasis here on pieces made in the Pacific Northwest, though it has global pull, too: You'll find candles and colored pencils from Japan, and vases from Scandinavia.

At once flower stand—they work with local florist Hilary Horvath—knick-knack shop, stationer, and clothing boutique, this general store kind of has something for everyone. While they reach as far as Europe for some of their finds, including Mariage Freres teas, along with American-made table linens and napkins, Doug Johnston baskets, cookbooks, magazines, and more, they also proudly carry a tasteful selection of Oregon’s best handmade goods.

While working in Amsterdam as a color designer for Nike, owner Kristin Van Buskirk developed a deep admiration for the quirky yet practical design brands that surrounded her. And so, upon moving back to Portland, she brought a couple of her favorites back with her and opened a shop, Woonwinkel—that’s home in Dutch. Here you'll find Hella Jongerius’ ceramics and Studio NL dinnerware along with some local, American brands with a similar design ethos, like Iacoli & McAllister, Von Tundra, and Studio Makelike.

This eclectic Downtown Portland shop is like a shrine to time-honored American craftsmanship: their selection of new and vintage clothing, home goods, tools, and other necessities are all hand-picked for those with a hands-on, active lifestyle (plus, rugged gear fit for braving the great outdoors, catered specifically to the inclement climate and woodlands-mountains-ocean trifecta of the Pacific Northwest). The storefront itself, outfitted with salvaged wood flooring and reclaimed barn wood walls that nod to Oregon’s rich heritage of manufacturing and agriculture, captures the city’s rustic-meets-contemporary style. There's a shoe-centric outpost in Boise that's worth checking out.

This cozy indoor-gardening boutique nestled in Northeast Portland has everything you need to create your own miniature ecosystem: healthy, happy plants, and plenty of decorative touches–there’s even special sand for planting your succulents in, which is a bonus because, 1) it’s quick-drying, unlike soil (succulents don’t require much water), and 2) you can layer colored sands–the red garnet sand, sourced from India, is especially pretty. The mini-gardening experts at Artemisia host workshops that teach customers all they need to know to make their own terrarium, all the while encouraging creativity. For a less hands-on experience, you can always buy one of the pre-made terrariums.

Husband-and-wife team Jocelyn and Robert Rahm (a painter and furniture reclaimer, respectively) restored this 7,000-square-foot warehouse into a workspace-slash-retail space in 2011, and it’s since become a major go-to for Portland’s designers and makers. Here you’ll find that everything has its own story, from vintage home goods and refurbished furniture to handmade ceramic pottery, sunglasses, and earrings, even organic fragrances—some of which is produced in the studio upstairs. This impressive, warm-yet-industrial environment is all for promoting homegrown talent; their second-floor studio is open to inquiries for any independent designers who’d like to share the workspace.

This Old Town Portland work-supply-meets-lifestyle shop is a hotspot for the city’s creative craftspeople and DIY enthusiasts. Locally-made and ethically-sourced goods are their specialty: you’ll find everything from work aprons to selvedge denim jeans, gardening tools to axes for chopping firewood, even a selection of stationery and decor for your studio. In keeping with the founders’ DIY spirit, its airy, modern interior, modular storage, and interactive displays were custom-built by their own team.

When childhood friends-turned-married couple Matt and Carrie Eddmenson brought their warm, inviting Nashville shop to Portland, everything we loved about the original came along with it: from their top-notch selection of jeans, including their own in-house line of American-made Japanese selvedge denim (his and hers), down to the friendly, knowledgeable service and community-centric events. Adding to the Americana ambiance is the wooded interior design, featuring a cedar-lined pine dressing ‘hut’ they blowtorched, sealed, and treated with a Japanese wood-preserving technique.

Powell’s hardly needs an introduction at this point—the Portland flagship is world’s largest new and used bookstore, with more than one million books inside its walls. The interior is always full of people, but with countless bookshelves to peruse, it's easy to find a quiet reading corner. Definitely take the time to look through the incredible selection of obscure titles and ancient editions in the rare book room.

Home to thousands of pieces of fine vintage, antique, and estate jewelry, Gem Set Love (formerly known as Gilt) has been a destination for collectors and casual shoppers alike throughout its 20-plus years in Northwest Portland. Brides-to-be flock here from around the country for the impressive collection of estate engagement and wedding rings with stunning, well-preserved diamonds and precious stones, as well as bracelets, brooches, necklaces, and earrings, each in hard-to-find, if not totally individual designs. With prices ranging in the low hundreds to the several thousands, there really is something here for every budget. This is a reliable place to bring in your own well-loved jewelry for repairs, too.

Every bit the neighborhood toy store, Kids at Heart has been in business for almost thirty years. They carry a great mix of the classic, nostalgic toys parents typically pick out as well as of-the-moment trends that the littles seek out for themselves. Probably the best part of the store is the books section, which carries everything from beautifully illustrated picture books to young adult novels.

Polliwog is run by a husband-wife pair who moved to Portland from Brooklyn—they were seeking a more flexible, laid-back lifestyle after having their first child. Polliwog specializes in products from small, hard-to-find brands, offering tiny knit hats, design-focused onesies, and battery-free toys.

Taking the concept of a local museum shop one step further, not only does the Frye seek out cool design goods and jewelry, but their focus is on local, Northwestern artisans and makers. Should you buy one of their ceramic fortune cookies with fortunes told by a local psychic, say, or an Alice Noon bucket bag, or even an Iacoli & McAllister light fixture, you know you’re leaving Seattle with a real Seattle souvenir.

Founded by the late Martha E. Harris, this flower/gift shop has been a Seattle fixture for 30-plus years. It's a great one-stop shop pre-housewarming or birthday party. They also design the loveliest bouquets and décor for weddings and events, and offer same-day delivery (if you're ordering online, do it before 10am).

It goes without saying that a bookstore devoted entirely to the culinary arts is a bookstore after our own hearts. This is where you want to go to find every cookbook imaginable (both current and out of print) and it’s worth checking the calendar of events beforehand, too, as the cozy space often plays host to chef demos, signings, and cooking classes.

Much like sister store Les Amis, Essenza takes a decidedly editorial approach to its selection of home décor, bedding, fragrances, skincare, and jewelry: The plush bedding, Diptyque candles, Megan Thorne jewelry, Santa Maria Novella lotions and potions, and more are all thoughtfully handpicked (oftentimes from overseas) and merchandised in a way that feels both approachable and special. It’s the kind of place husbands, boyfriends, brothers, and friends can turn to for gifts when striking out isn’t an option.

Lucca is packed from floor to chandelier-filled ceiling with an undeniably reliable assortment of giftables for any and all occasions: Astier de Villatte candles, piles of stationery both vintage-looking and modern, clean beauty favorites from Herbivore Essentials, and the kind of out-there, one-of-a-kind curios that make perfect presents for tough-to-shop-for friends.

Other than the simple, feminine-but-not-prissy interior and robust but not-too-cluttered displays, Moorea Seal (its namesake owner/buyer has been running the place since 2013) has another major thing going for it: A good portion, 7% to be exact, of the offering—tons of dainty jewelry, accessories, home goods, stationery, and giftables—is backed by some sort of philanthropic mission. A gold-plated opal ring, for example, supports Best Friends Animal Society, while the purchase of a hand-forged brass serving set contributes to the Washington Trails Association.

Seattle is home to a healthy roster of excellent bookshops, of which design-focused Peter Miller is arguably the most notable. In addition to a library of tomes that span all manner of topics from architecture to landscape design to interior decorating, the shop carries a tight selection of design-y home décor, drafting supplies, and other related goods.

This artfully cluttered home-goods shop and its stacks of fabrics (both current and vintage), piles of throw pillows, and rows of furniture and tabletop accessories are an interior decorators dream, whether professional or amateur. The mastermind behind the edit is Pam Robinson, who puts her fashion background to good use by sourcing the wares directly from Europe—particularly useful to anyone interested in vintage but not willing to do the legwork to find the good stuff themselves.

Like so many Seattle mainstays, this little-bit-of-everything shop marches to the beat of its own drum. There’s clothing from obscure international labels, beautiful—and a little bit quirky—home goods, jewelry, gifts, and a generous assortment from Seattle-made fragrance line, Blackbird. It’s also the kind of shop where there’s plenty for dudes to rifle through (skater tees, hats, records, and Pendleton everything).

Paper Hammer's amusing graphic cards are designed and handprinted in their warehouse studio in Tieton, Washington, a few hours outside of Seattle. You can find the cards in select stationery stores around the country but if you're in Seattle, go to their lovely shop downtown, which also carries gift-y items like coasters and letterpress tags with clever sayings.

Part gallery, part shop, KOBO carries rare finds from the art and design world, i.e. vintage Japanese tableware, handmade birdhouses, landscape paintings, and special textiles. Their exhibits, which happen six times each year, highlight Japanese artists, as well as artists from the Northwest. The original KOBO location is in Capitol Hill. The second location downtown is located in the former space of the historic Higo Variety Store—and KOBO has kept many of the vintage furnishings in homage to the almost-century-old, family-run business.

Specializing in gorgeous clothing and gifts for babies as well as beautiful accessories, toys, furniture, and make-believe items for kids, Mudpie makes every present feel special. It's bright space is classic and magical feeling, and they also do gorgeous gift-wrapping.

This jewel box of a shop is loosely split into two sections: one dedicated to modern fine jewelry (Kathleen Whitaker, Gabriella Kiss, Arielle de Pinto, and much more) and the other houses a substantial estate selection. The focus here is on unusual, handcrafted one-of-a-kind pieces you wouldn't find anywhere else—specifically, the edit of non-traditional engagement rings and wedding bands is unlike anything we've ever seen. The store itself, though teeny, is so beautifully appointed and so well stocked that you'll need more time here than you might think to really take it all in.

San Francisco's francophiles flock to this jam-packed yet tastefully merchandised home shop for everything from antique furniture, to hand-made quilts and silk bathrobes, to colorful Chinese lanterns, glassware, and kitchen accessories. Because of the range in price points, the complaint about this place seems to be that you can't walk out empty-handed.

There are three locations of this beloved shop, and the original is here. Set in a big, lofty space that could theoretically hold hundreds of items, the impeccably curated store is an exercise in restraint: You’ll find hand-made ceramics, brass trivets, thread-wrapped bows and arrows, and rare, vintage books. The second location is in Venice.

A true mid-century American icon, Heath has been producing beautiful modern and minimal tableware (with a brief break) and tiles since 1948. In fact, it's part of the permanent collections in New York's MoMA—and graces many a table across the Los Angeles restaurant scape. The store, like the products, is modern and minimal, with wooden shelves, concrete floors and a lot of space to browse. Besides the Heath line, they've selected a handful of designers to showcase. There are multiple locations in the SF area, including an outpost in the Ferry Building—the factory store in Sausalito offers seconds (i.e., subtly imperfect plates and bowls) at big discounts.

A little bit fishing lodge, a little bit mountain ranger, this shop’s aesthetic is a modern take on cozy cabin décor. Carrying everything from Turkish towels to Ace & Jig quilts, to dreamcatchers, it’s fun for anyone with nostalgia for that summer cabin by the lake, whether real or fictional.

MARCH may just be the best kitchen and tabletop store in the country. (In fact, we love it so much, we collaborated with them and Alice Waters on a dinner to raise funds for The Edible Schoolyard.) No, this is not the place to buy a Kitchen Aid, or a Silpat, but instead to discover a beautiful, hand-made mortar and pestle, Michael Verheyden candlesticks, or Billy Cotton glass and dinnerware. We were overjoyed when they finally went online last year.

Hands down one of our favorite shops to hit up when in San Francisco, Mill Mercantile is essentially Unionmade for chicks, meaning the vibe is timeless with a whiff of tomboy. It's set up like a mini department store with sections dedicated to shoes (Dieppa Restrepo brogues, classic New Balance), clothing (Apiece Apart, Gitman Brothers), plus home stuff and an impressive wellness corner (lots of Aesop, Arquiste fragrances). If you don't have a Bay Area trip planned in the near future, the online shop is the next best thing as it stocks the best of what's in store.

This goldmine of a shop is the work of former Old Navy designer, Leah Bershad. The space is dimly lit much like a museum, which makes sense since the Southwestern-tinged biker rings, folksy wall hangings, and embroidered dresses from Mexico are essentially pieces of art. And it's not all vintage either, as Leah stocks contemporary items from Ace & Jig, Raleigh Denim, and Cinq Workshop, too.

It's about time San Francisco got a proper high-end, design-centric furniture and décor store of its very own—granted, this one's an offshoot of a Brooklyn-born, NYC-based showroom, but still. The stuff here speaks to a clean, modern aesthetic, think: Roll & Hill's geometric lighting fixtures and gemstone-hued Arflex seating. Shopping here is not cheap (a box sofa we fell in love with rang in at a cool 8k), but thankfully you can set up gift and wedding registries.

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.

There's something of a down-the-rabbit-hole effect when you walk into this magical antiques store. Everywhere you look you'll see collectible curiosities that owners Rod Hipsund and Kelly Ishikawa plucked from antique sales and vintage markets. Particularly impressive are the old-school typewriters and stacks of pre-owned books. Even the contemporary stuff, like the Bonny Doon hand balms and pottery, has a turn-of-the-century vibe.

Packed to the rafters with books, gifts, stationery, and things for the home from all over the world, Rare Device is a time suck, in the best possible way. There's also a gallery space in the back, home to monthly art shows, workshops, and kid-friendly events. There's also an outpost in Hayes Valley.

Torryne Choate is a truly talented designer. While she can take on any floral challenge you throw her way, she's especially skilled at handling those way-harder-than-they-look homogenous sculptural arrangements—not to mention crafting flower crowns that put your Pinterest to shame. For our San Francisco pop-up shop, we asked her to put together arrangements to complement the architectural space; needless to say, she didn't disappoint.

As the name suggests, the heart of this sprawling, two-story bookshop is architecture, with a vast selection of fine art, design, and décor titles thrown in for good measure. William Stout, who’s an architect by trade, began his vast collection 30 years ago and has since grown it to include close to 20,000 titles. In fact, we tapped him to curate a collection of books for our San Francisco goop MRKT, fittingly set up in the Frank Lloyd Wright building.

The fashion crowd in SF was more than a little excited to find out that Emily Holt, formerly the long-time fashion news editor for Vogue, was bringing her exquisite taste back to her home city in the form of this adorable boutique in the Marin Country Mart. In addition to a great assortment of our favorite fashion brands (Khaite, La Double J, and Sophie Buhai, to start), her shop also carries a stellar selection of books and greeting cards, plus ceramics and other artisan products from local makers.

Topo Designs is a Colorado-based company, and this shop is their first store outside the state. The outdoor brand is best known for their brightly colored packs for hiking, backpacking, bike commuting, or just bopping around town (they also make the best, most durable laptop sleeves), and for the fact that all of their products are made in the United States. In the shop, you'll find a full selection of their offerings, plus favorites from aligned brands like Zeal and Smith Optics, Ursa Major, Wigwam, and Hestra.

This shop in Cow Hollow stocks all manner of Japanese specialty goods from slippers and brightly colored pens to bento boxes and washi tape. Prices are reasonable so it's great when you're picking up gifts for a big group.

Grange Hall, with its gothic, cabinet-of-curiosities vibe, is the yin to Dallas’s glitzier yang. There’s a pretty gorgeous range of home goods—Ted Muehling candlesticks, Astier de Villate ceramics, Cire Trudon candles—along with really stunning jewelry. They just opened an on-site café, too, that serves artfully arranged food and an encyclopedia's worth of teas. This is inarguably one of Dallas’s very best stores.

This store was once literally housed in a cabana on owner Merry Vose's property. However, when her covert, by-appointment operation was shut down by the city, she took her fan base to Lovers Lane. It's equally easy to miss there, which only adds to the allure and sense of discovery upon spotting the unmarked lavender door. The same mix of pretty, affordable labels—MiH, Monrow, Steven Alan, Nili Lotan—abounds.

In a state known for its antique fairs, you’re bound to stumble across great vintage troves, this one being one of the very best. As its name suggests, it’s an antique mall, not a shop, and you should expect to spend some time. You’ll find everything from Murano glass chandeliers to Art Deco dining tables to Chinese lacquered everything. Bonus: They ship everywhere.

Religious paraphernalia, old scientific posters, cowboy boots, turquoise jewelry, Mexican striped blankets, horseshoes, and a good amount of taxidermy, give this antique curiosity shop a particularly Southwestern feel. The seemingly endless, happenstance groupings and displays that line every nook and cranny of this quirky old shop mean you'll likely feel a bit lost.

Like, Friends & Neighbors, Las Cruxes is an experiential concept shop. They have clothing and jewelry, interior decor, books, and beauty, too. What makes Las Cruxes different is that it's also part gallery, and has a somewhat eclectic mix of art objects, drawings, and paintings. Before or after you wander the space, grab a coffee at Flat Truck next door.

A bungalow-turned-shop, with an attached cafe serving coffee, wine, beer, and snacks; and a teepee, wrought iron tables, and board games out back, Friends & Neighbors is as Austin (and adorable) as it sounds. Every room of Friends & Neighbors, which is still designed like a home, is a bit different. The living room has home decor, vintage clothes, and accessories; the bathroom: beauty products (including goop-approved clean brands like Olio e Osso), towels, and linens; while loungewear hangs from an armoire in the bedroom.

When Austin native Currie Person returned home to settle down, she realized that she missed the thoughtfully curated small art object stores she’d visited in Paris and New York. So, in a space she shares with JM Dry Goods, she opened Spartan, a minimalist but beautiful textile/apothecary/home store with everything from cerulean pottery from Victoria Morris and Kati Von Lehmam porcelain tumblers to sycamore cutting boards and stone-washed Turkish towels. Last year, they launched a fragrance collaboration with Olo called Spartan, inspired by—what else?—the Texas landscape. The boutique is just the tip of the iceberg for Person, though, as she also lends her eye to two other shops: Beam & Anchor in Portland and Voyager in San Francisco.

Along with Tex-Mex and live music, there's a big vintage scene in Austin. Aficionados will want to comb all of South Congress and South First Street, but if you're looking for a really great edit, go to Feathers. The shop, which has been open since 2005, is neatly organized, beautiful, and well-run (by two women, one of whom is a Texas native). It's worth a stop for vintage-virgins, too—the clothing and jewelry selection is very accessible, and there are always pieces here that are conveniently easy to work into an everyday, modern wardrobe.

ByGeorge opened in Austin 1979 but in 2014 the clothing and home store came under new ownership—it's now helmed by Austin restaurateur Larry McGuire (of Josephine House, among others). There are two locations in Austin: The Clarksville ByGeorge actually combines two shops next door to one another—a women's store and a men's store. On the women's side, you'll find designers like Chloé, Marni, Saint Laurent, and a good selection of bags and shoes; and on the men's, Brunello Cucinelli, Common Projects, and Levi's Vintage. The South Congress store carries clothing as well (A.P.C., FRAME, Outdoor Voices, Jenni Kayne, and more), but it's also known for its home goods and decor, furniture, ceramics, books, and great gift-y items.

We love a store with a range of price points, and with options ranging from Jerome Dreyfuss purses to Venessa Arizaga friendship bracelets, Saint Cloud certainly qualifies. While it's primarily an apparel store, the accessories (A Peace Treaty scarves, Erin Considine fringed earrings, Lizzie Fortunato gems) can be relied on for consistently good gifts. The fact that they have a great clean beauty selection (Ilia, Grown Alchemist, Olio e Osso) and the sweetest, most creative kids' buy is a major bonus, too.

Started by sisters Chau and Trang Nguyen, this sweet little store near Rice University has a tight edit of apparel, home goods, jewelry, and paper goods. They've also got a great clothing edit, with mid-priced lines like Ace & Jig, DUSEN DUSEN, and Rachel Comey. The badass woven dressing room dividers? The sisters made them by hand.

Biscuit is primarily known for designer Bailey McCarthy's quirky, colorful bedding collection, which incorporates everything from cactuses to arrows to astrology into sweet, soft-as-butter sheets and duvets. The Houston shop also has the best hostess gifts—the store's vignettes are scattered with cool coffee table books, candles, trays, and bar accessories. There are always great little knickknacks, too, like pineapple-shaped golden shot glasses, tin recipe boxes, and embroidered cocktail napkins.

The guy behind Manready Mercantile, Travis Weaver, is as Texas as they come—he grew up in a tiny town in West Texas, and his store drips of that aesthetic, with an enormous American flag hanging in the back, vintage saws, fishing signs, taxidermy on every wall, and an old-school canoe suspended from the ceiling. His brand began with a line of candles he made on the stove top in his apartment—the success of which inspired him to keep making products traditionally marketed to women (bath salts, bubble bath, and more) and making and packaging them for men. Now, he's expanded into clothing, and the brick-and-mortar showcases his own products as well as giftables from like-minded brands like Freenote Cloth, Mollusk Surf, Helm, and Taylor Stitch. During the holidays, it's pretty much a one-stop shop for brothers, dads, and SOs.

Formerly known as L’Arco Baleno, here you'll find globe-trotting, design guru Ambra Medda’s high and low finds. It might be the perfect wood slat bench or an ombré dip-dyed vase from Copenhagen.

All the best-made goods for the grown up boy (or girl) scout. And by that we mean that you'll find the perfect pen knife, Caran D'Ache pen, or Sell Marchell canvas and leather backpack.

Here you'll find well-designed, well-priced, and utilitarian goods for the modernist, whether it's the perfect French candlestick, or notebooks to organize your thoughts.

This mini-shop from the very well-loved independent record label, Ghostly, is definitely geared toward guys—specifically guys who love both music and design. There are backpacks for minimalists, prints from artists who often do album artwork, and plenty of stationery.

As its name suggests, the focus here is on brain games, from backgammon to chess, to marbles.

Here you'll find unusual and affordable home goods with just the right amount of quirk and character—it all has a slightly gothic, but gorgeous, sensibility. There is a by-appointment showroom, should you want to see some of the bigger pieces in person.

We were bummed when Brook Farm General Store—a long-standing Williamsburg go-to full of deeply American home goods—shuttered. But thrilled when we discovered it was to move a bit out of the city and focus on their online shop. The array is better than ever, from cutting boards to checkered aprons, to the perfect teapot.

Jewelry designer Caitlin Mociun is best known for her jewelry—signature clusters often in unexpectedly asymmetrical or haphazard arrangements—in the coolest possible way. Her shop, of course, makes her full line of jewelry available, but Caitlin also curates a selection of great gifts and accessories—she's got an excellent eye for geometric, Bauhaus-inspired ceramics—including a slew of clean beauty brands like S.W. Basics, Earth Tu Face, and Mermaid hair oil. She also has a shop in Brooklyn.

Alder & Co., which has its brick-and-mortar in downtown Portland, Oregon, is known for artisan products with various provenances—the owners are big travelers, and constantly bring back unique items from abroad, but they also have great relationships with local Portland designers, who are prominently featured both in-store and online. There's always a great selection of home décor pieces, like glass bud vases and wooden baskets for storing fresh (or dried) flowers and blankets. They also have a tight edit of apparel from far-flung designers, like Japanese Ichi Antiquités (they specialize in flowy, patterned dresses) or Me & Arrow (for block prints and cropped tops).

It was probably only a matter of time before there was a digital location for high-end smoking accessories, and Tetra delivers with an astonishing array of product. (Seriously, who knew there were so many designers making gorgeous pipes?) What you'll find: gold and silver Zippo lighters, sleek vapes, gorgeously packaged incense, and way-nicer-than-a-medicine-bottle containers for storing the good stuff.

Founded in Melbourne by Danish transplant Christina Fedders, Designstuff has an intense focus on Scandinavian goods, in the form of kids toys, art, furniture, and home accessories. Fedders has a great eye and is fastidious about curating, so it's hard to find anything on her site that's not worthy of a corner in your home. Her collection makes for great gifting for anyone who's just moved into a home or office—our picks include ceramic serving bowls, gilded Skultuna bookends, paint-speckled spoons, and a dustpan that's beautiful enough to display.

Founded by best friends Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur, Of a Kind sells limited editions by up-and-coming designers, whose stories are meticulously told on the site in an endlessly witty and likable voice (built by Cerulo, who is a former editor). Offerings range from alpaca-lined slippers in an art deco print, to a delicate, golden plant mobile, to brightly patterned dresses. The limited-edition program means that you won't find these pieces elsewhere, so they make great gifts.

The Cooper Hewitt Museum is New York's longstanding design museum, so it's no surprise that their corresponding store has an excellent selection of design-focused products. The brand selection is a great mix of high-end and low-brow, with a buy that includes Hay and Muji, plus a slew of books and one-off design items. Best of all, the museum itself is still a nonprofit, so all proceeds go back into the institution.

Contemporary art museums always have the coolest stores, and some of the best have come online in recent years, making shopping them a bit easier—especially in the case of the Minneapolis-based Walker Art Center. The buyers here have a great eye for quirky, hard-to-find design items, not to mention more commercially accessible pieces from the artists that show at the museum. Currently in our cart: Delfonics stationery, dog balloon wall decals, and Louise Gray quilts, which are designed in Minneapolis.

With so many publications struggling to make the jump from print magazine to online content provider, it's hard not to applaud Wallpaper's decision to jump headfirst into building an e-commerce destination. The shop, which launched in 2015, is everything you'd expect from the design-focused brand, sourcing furniture, home goods, beauty products, and other miscellaneous items, all with a sleek, Scandinavian-esque clean-ness. The vases, candy dishes, and tea sets all make great gifts for nesters.

Think of Stacy Anne Longenecker's online store, which is based out of Brooklyn, as the home accessories shop for the modern (and a tiny bit hipster) home. Her home and kitchen wares include bright, colorful ceramics, woven decorative baskets, and cooking utensils made by skilled artisans, and the selection is rounded out with colorful mid-priced jewelry, journals, stationery, and a robust kids shop. The art section is perfect for outfitting a new home on a reasonable budget, and the holiday section has exactly the kinds of items that make homes look festive without being over-the-top—starting with the cleverest ornaments we've seen.

Photography is a big part of the appeal of New Zealand-based designer and interior stylist Katie Lockhart's online showroom—each piece is beautifully photographed on a tonal dark and light green backdrop. Come here for great home accessories, like vintage linens, architectural iron bottle openers, and cutting boards made from salvaged wood. Lockhart has a brick-and-mortar in Auckland, as well.

The turquoise Georgian Hotel has been a landmark on Ocean Avenue since 1933. Today, it’s been totally reinvented by the developers who did the Ace Hotel and SoHo Warehouse in downtown LA. It retains the property’s historical roots, but feels elevated and modern.

If your kids are on the older side and can entertain themselves, the cocoon-like spa at Casa del Mar is tough to beat, and the candlelit terrace is especially mesmerizing for evening drinks. Guest rooms have a similar vibe to Shutters in that they’re light-soaked and stay-forever comfortable with massive beds and bathrooms the size of bungalows. The hotel started as a palatial beach club back in the roaring ’20s, and there’s an old-world LA charm to the place that makes you want to drink champagne, dress for dinner, and pretend it’s 1929.

Ocean-facing terraces and a courtyard swimming pool make this 70-room boutique hotel—right across the street from the beachside bluffs at Palisades Park—feel like classic Santa Monica. What sets the Oceana apart, though, are its spacious suites, which include living rooms with queen-sized sofa beds, private balconies, workstations, and well-equipped kitchenettes. If you’re going to stay by the beach, Oceana is in a prime location: it’s both a short walk away from the shops on Montana and just removed enough from the chaos of the Promenade. Spa treatments, yoga classes, guided hikes of nearby Temescal Canyon, and surf lessons sweeten the deal.

The concept behind Palihouse (which has locations in West Hollywood and Santa Monica) is genius: Each of the rooms, which range from studios to two-bedrooms, is built for long stays, with a small kitchen and generous living space. So while, like any hotel, you can book them for a few days—the big rooms are especially great for people traveling with kids—they can also be reserved for up to three months. The decor is warm and comfortable, with dark walls, white linens, and mid-century furniture.

Granted, the location isn't the most convenient to the center of the city, but this five-star Ritz has its appeals: For one, it's on the Marina, which is a nice backdrop for sunset drinks; for two, it's close to Venice, and the only nice hotel option south of Santa Monica; and for three, you can generally get really great deals on rooms, despite all the luxe amenities (pool, gym, spa, et al). It's a great option for visiting grandparents, as there's plenty there and in the surrounding area to keep little ones busy.

We heard rumors of designer Kelly Wearstler’s lofty goals for the interiors of the Santa Monica Proper, the new hotel from her and Proper Hospitality, the hotel brand led by Wearstler's developer husband Brad Korzen and his founding partners. But nothing hinted at how stunning it would be. Wearstler has designed a breezy, maritime-inspired space that transports you to a seaside villa the moment you walk in. She outfitted the lobby with elements that speak to the coast (a carved front desk that echoes the shape of a seashell, art backed with sand, flooring that gives a bird’s-eye view of a beach umbrella) and married those with bold, eclectic accents (giant archways in Douglas fir and marble and gorgeous ’70s art) that only Wearstler could pull off. The greatest feat here is the synergy between the hotel's two buildings: One is brand-new and sculptural; the other dates back to the 1920s and boasts a vintage patina with gorgeous original iron-clad windows. The aesthetic of the guest rooms varies depending on the building but are all anchored by gorgeous elements—glossy tiles, giant tufted headboards that look like the sunset, bespoke botanical wallpaper—that make a stay here feel like a literal dream. The rooms are generously sized, and each comes outfitted with a Parachute robe. (And we must say: The rooftop here offers the best view in all of LA.) Best for last, Surya Spa have just opened their flagship inside.

Shutters may look like it was lifted straight out of Cape Cod, but a quick survey of the endless sand out front suggests otherwise. Excessively comfortable, elevated beds may make it harder to get up in the morning, but should you manage to get your running shoes on, an oceanside path stretches for miles in either direction. Bike-rental kiosks dot the beach and there’s obviously welcoming surf just a few steps away—it really don’t get much better. The view, the location, the vibe: It's all great, even if some décor elements, like the bamboo bedposts and the heavy mirrors, don't feel very modern.

WHY WE LOVE IT

Alfalfa turns out really good salads, plus breakfast burritos, bone broth, and gluten-free doughnuts. They serve Intelligentsia coffee and tea from Kilogram, too.

Horseshoe bar, check. Complexion-enhancing lighting, deep-emerald walls, and dark wood, check. House martinis made with bayleaf-infused vodka, plus aged Flannery steaks, and design by the cool kids at folklor? Next-level Venice dining, unlocked. American Beauty is the steakhouse Rose Avenue didn’t realize it needed: All the delicious, nostalgic, good stuff you expect from a meat-forward spot is on the menu, but there’s also a hamachi collar and the ubiquitous crispy Brussels sprouts dish (the restaurateurs responsible know their audience—American Beauty is the brainchild of a trio of Westside restaurateurs responsible for Superba Food + Bread and The Tasting Kitchen, with cochefs Elisha Ben-Haim and Anthony Goodwin). The design thoughtfully preserved elements of the original Venice Ranch Market building but opened up the front (for sipping strong drinks while people-watching) and added outdoor seating. Grab a generously poured $10 glass of wine, choose your sexy steakhouse setting—booth, barstool, bent wood chair, they’re all here—and combat iron deficiency in style (or order the grilled corn and maitake mushrooms instead). In the area before 5 p.m.? Swing by The Window, the restaurant’s takeout arm, which kicked off the hype months before American Beauty’s opening night by serving highly photogenic burgers from a window in the same building.

This Los Angeles classic is still staffed by many of the same people who worked the U-shaped counter when we were kids: It's a stand-by for great reason. The menu is edited, the paper-wrapped burgers are no-frills and excellent, and the pie always comes à la mode.

This big, splashy steakhouse smack in the middle of San Vicente delivers on all the American classics you'd expect (filets, lobster rolls, and the requisite sides, like creamed spinach and mashed potatoes). It's expensive, but fun for groups or cozy date nights.

Bardonna serves brunch all day—the healthy-ish kind, with kale smoothies, pesto poached eggs, and a whole menu of sourdough toasts. During the work week, it’s great for to-go orders; we especially like the chicken grain bowl. If you’d prefer to sit on their sunny patio, try and go before 10 a.m. or after 2 p.m., otherwise it’s a zoo.

Say the name Jeremy Fox and we're there. This brilliant chef, author, and vegetable whisperer has been winning the hearts and palates of goop staffers, Angelenos, and tourists for more than a decade with his inventive, mostly-plant-based dishes at Rustic Canyon. Fox is known for hyperlocal and inventive food. But there's a bit of nostalgia to his cooking, which is what you get at his latest venture, Birdie G's. Named after his daughter (Birdie) and grandmother (Gladys), Birdie G's harks back to Fox's roots with a menu that nods to his heritage (comforting matzo ball soup, noodle kugel, artisan matzo with cultured butter) and to his home state (wood-grilled chicken from a local California ranch, Pacific sand dabs piccata). And because Birdie G's is expansive and light-filled with a stylish bar, it's a spot to come for drinks, dinner, or all of the above.

Owner Duc Pham, who was born in Vietnam but raised in Anaheim, obsesses over every detail in his restaurants, from the Scandinavian-inspired furniture to the wine list to the bread on his banh mi, which is baked fresh daily. At this Santa Monica location, the dining room is limited to one large communal table, which fills the entirety of the small, narrow space; when it’s warm out, there are a few small tables outside that you can snag, too. Anything on the menu with pork belly is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Taking up prime real estate on Abbot Kinney, this beloved NYC spot has finally made it out west. And it's not just East Coast transplants who have been lining up for a table in the beautifully turned-out dining room (there's also an indoor-outdoor terrace that's pretty perfect for people-watching) or a seat at one of two bars; everyone can appreciate the veggie-friendly menu (just brunch, breakfast, and lunch, for now), which includes standbys like avocado toast and breakfast burritos. The teeny but well-stocked retail space out front and the cold-pressed juice cooler are welcome little add-ons.

The pandemic completely upended the traditional restaurant industry, and yet there is something so optimistic and heartwarming about the entrepreneurial pivots we saw coming out of this period. Carla Cafe is one such example. Initially, former tech worker Avi Ahdoot assembled his now-famous chicken aioli sandwiches at home and took orders via Instagram DM. Then, suddenly, LA’s appetite for chicken aioli exploded. Ahdoot hired a small team that now operates Carla Cafe. In the early days, they operated out of the Bootsy Bellows kitchen in West Hollywood and made just one type of sandwich a day. Now, they have a handful of sandwich options and some good chopped salads, which you can grab from the Colony ghost kitchen in West LA.

Capo is a white-tablecloth spot, great for occasions that call for the supremely fancy: truffles, choice filets, and fine wine.

Cassia came on the scene in 2015 as the brainchild of two great culinary couples: Rustic Canyon’s Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb and Spice Table’s Bryant Ng and Kim Luu-Ng. With a great cocktail program, a somm-selected run of Rieslings, an airy dining room, a legitimately good patio, and buckets of natural light, it’s still one of most pleasant spaces in Santa Monica, especially south of Lincoln. But it’s the warm service and excellent food—an 80/20 blend of Chinese-Singaporean and Vietnamese, with French inflections—that will have you booking a return reservation before you’re out the door. We ordered a generous pile of green papaya salad, chickpea curry with clay oven bread (or lettuce cups, if you’re gluten-free), ultra-tender Hainan chicken confit, and a mushroom satay we’ll be thinking about for a long, long time.

The best part about Chulita isn’t the charming rattan chairs or the vibrant greenery cascading down the walls. Although the color-happy Californian-meets-Oaxacan décor is very easy on the eyes. Nor is it the Mexico City–style tacos done on hand-pressed purple corn tortillas. Though those are pretty epic, too. It’s the fact that it’s one of the few places tucked away on Rose Avenue—and in the greater Venice area, for that matter—where you can walk in, grab a couple stools at the bar, and order from an extensive list of top-shelf, artisanal tequilas. It’s a taco spot that moonlights as a damn good mezcal bar. And in Venice—the land of beer and wine—those liquor licenses are essentially a luxury currency. Our best advice: Snag a seat on the patio, order the serrano-infused mezcal, and don’t skip the coliflor fundido.

At Cobi’s, the plates and chairs are mismatched, the music is joyously loud, and the food is unbelievably good. Fill your table with papaya salad, pork dumplings, yellow split pea dal, and inventive crudo dishes. Or let it be a surprise and leave the menu in the hands of the chef.

Crimson is a great option for takeout lunch or a healthy, family-friendly weeknight dinner. We love their crowd-pleasing kabob plates, the kale salad (add salmon to beef it up), or a cup of lentil soup with some babaganoush and pita.

Crudo e Nudo is a tiny but exciting restaurant serving sustainable seafood and low-intervention wine. It’s almost entirely outdoor parklet seating, you open and close your tab at the counter, and the menu changes according to what the fisherman caught today. The teensy space also serves as a market and offers a monthly wine-and-tinned-fish membership.

There's something so comforting about a hot bowl of ramen on a cold day, and anytime there's even a hint of rain in Los Angeles, the lines at Little Tokyo's Daikokuya are out the door. What makes the ramen here stand out is the broth, which is cooked with pork bones for hours to achieve its thick, flavorful consistency. The portions are huge, so be prepared to take home leftovers. This location, on Sawtelle, has the same ramen with shorter lines.

Cozied up in an unassuming corner off the Venice Beach boardwalk within earshot of the surf lies the local hangout and unpretentious wine bar Dudley Market. On the menu: locally caught crudo, the freshest sashimi you’ve ever tasted, and shucked oysters so good, they actually do come with a disclaimer: Buy twelve rounds and the thirteenth’s free. The crowd spills onto the street; if you're here just for drinks and the waitlist is looking long, you can buy a bottle of wine inside, grab glasses, and linger at one of the high-tops outside.

This is as low-profile as it goes for strip mall sushi, which says a lot. It's always quiet (besides the elevator jazz in the background that lends a shred of ambiance) and there's never a wait to get a table. Whether you're ordering off the menu or opting for the set omakase at the bar, it's nicely affordable, too, which doesn't translate to lower grade fish. Photo: Benyeh2

Jeff Cerciello (former Thomas Keller culinary director) perfects the bakery-cum-larder-cum-restaurant concept in this sunny space with all-day dining at rustic communal tables, including a wonderful family-style dinner with a market-driven menu. Ingredients here are top-notch, and Cerciello knows what to do with them, keeping the food exciting and tasty without over-complicating. The Roast Jidori Chicken is a standout, along with any of the fresh seafood or excellent produce-based dishes. There's an attached mini-grocery store with an excellent cheese selection, pastries, and prepared salads and sandwiches.

Order the Office Burger, complete with bacon, caramelized onions, gruyere, and blue cheese (no substitutions allowed), with a side of sweet potato fries, and one of an encyclopedia's worth of craft beers. There's another location in Culver City.

Chef Evan Funke’s crispy-on-the-outside, pillowy-on-the-inside sfincione (Sicilian focaccia) is justifiably famous around town. And then there are the silky, saucy plates of pasta.

Giorgio's is like a culinary second home in Los Angeles, in no small part because this is still a family operation, and it shows. The service is warm and attentive, and the unfussy and fun vibe is the perfect backdrop for the incredible Northern Italian fare. Go for the octopus carpaccio with deep fried capers, penne langostine, sweet corn agnolotti with truffle butter, and sea bass—and stay for the white truffles, which are imported from Piedmont every fall. While it's not exactly casual, Giorgio's is never uptight, meaning children are always welcome at the table.

Sister bakery/deli/café to the much-adored restaurant Gjelina, Gjusta literally does a little bit of everything. They also smoke their own fish, which means the cured and smoked mackerel, salmon, and trout—served open-face on fresh-baked bread or bialy—taste amazing. At the other end of the spectrum is the chicken parm: light, cheesy, and addictive. Order at the counter for takeaway or to eat here; we love tucking into plates of fresher-than-fresh California bountry at the scattered outdoor tables.

The spot for late-night snacks like house-made flatbread and beetroot hummus, garlicky mushrooms and lamb kofta—Gran Blanco is the trendier (and aptly named) nighttime counterpart to owners Sam Trude and Sam Cooper’s Aussie-chic café Great White Australian for Gran Blanco) located directly across the street. Huddled under the Venice sign, the super vibe-y open-air space has a decidedly beach-lounge feel, with mood lighting, couches and wooden stumps for kicking back, an extensive vinyl collection curated by the owners, and the kind of stiff tiki-bar cocktails that’ll instantly tip you into vacation mode...if only for a night.

It’s been several years, but Gjelina—a restaurant that ushered in a new sort of veggie-centric California cuisine—is as mobbed as ever. The crowds make a lot of sense: Everything is always excellent, from the vegetable sides to the whisper-thin jalapeño and smoked mozzarella pizza. Come when it opens so you can snag a table on the patio out back. (If the lines are too long, grab something to go at GTA, its takeaway spot next door.)

Chilean chef Juan Ferreiro intuits exactly what we want to eat: California-style comfort food—healthy with a dash of indulgence.

Where East meets West. And by that we mean that its central location—right off the 405—makes it an excellent meeting point for friends from opposite sides of town. It’s also where sushi purists and California Roll enthusiasts can dine at the same table. There’s an extensive menu of cooked dishes, along with the whimsically-named rolls like Green Dragon.

At Jon & Vinny’s in Brentwood, the hysteria-level popularity is entirely justified, mainly because every dish is mind-blowingly wonderful. The pizza is chewy and blistered and cheesy. The handmade plates of pasta are luscious and hearty and addictive (the cavatelli with fennel sausage and the ricotta ravioli top our list). And those little cones of soft-serve are a dose of nostalgia impossible to pass up.

Le Great Outdoor’s story began with no kitchen, no supplies, and no investors. Which is what led them to grill everything—fish, chicken, seasonal veggies—over an open fire. (The charred branzino is unbelievable.) The menu changes according to what’s super-fresh right now; keep in mind that once a dish sells out for the day, it’s gone. Try for reservations earlier in the evening to get your first picks at dinner. Walk-ins are accepted for lunch, when the whole operation skews takeout-friendly.

Little Fatty is Taiwanese spot that shares space—and a drink menu—with Accomplice, the bar next door. Hard to beat: something with mezcal, followed by a dinner of cucumber salad, scallion pancakes, XO noodles, and shrimp and pork wontons. (We also love Little Fatty for takeout.)

The interior is light and airy, with an intimate outdoor porch and two big, long bars: one in front of the sky-high wine rack and the other in front of their blazing pizza oven. The American-style menu is filled with seasonal, California fare: Expect classic pizzas, straightforward pasta, and pared down meat dishes.

At Lunetta, the dining rooms are cozy, and the very Californian menu leans on seasonal ingredients. Settle in for brunch, lunch, or dinner—it’s a great place to hang a while with friends. There’s an option to order family-style, which we love.

It’s billed as a cross between France, Italy, and Morocco, which, granted, is hard to envision. Until you get there. It’s the only place we’ve ever seen bucatini amatriciana on a menu alongside ratatouille with Provençal roasted vegetables, which is next to baba ghanoush with pita and pomegranate. But somehow, impossibly, it all works. Exposed-brick walls, bistro tables, a lively atmosphere, and really flattering lighting obviously don’t hurt. But for the times that you just can’t stomach another avocado toast in this neighborhood, Massilia is just the place.

Luxe ingredients like lobster and caviar, made with a nod to traditional French technique, earned Melisse two Michelin stars. A tasting menu is basically mandatory at a place like this—if you're adventurous go for Chef Josiah Citrin's Carte Blanche menu. It's a great place for a white tablecloth-style event in one of their private rooms, too.

Many would argue that Milo + Olive has some of the best pizza on the West Side, if not all of LA. We have to agree. This is the third restaurant from culinary power couple Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan, and much like Huckleberry and Rustic Canyon, the menu is completely ingredient driven. Breakfast and weekend brunch is devoted to classic egg dishes (a totally decadent creamy polenta with poached eggs wins) and baked treats. For dinner, a pizza-salad-pasta combo is the ideal order for two. They take reservations—or, come early to snag a spot at the bar, which offers uninterrupted views of the open kitchen.

Chef Kris Yenbamroong learned how to cook in Bangkok and in the kitchen of his parents’ long-standing Thai mainstay Talésai. The Venice location is Yenbamroong's third (“sahm” means three in Thai) in LA and is aesthetically very similar to the tropical explosion that is the Silver Lake restaurant (with the addition of a massive fish tank). The communal tables are low-slung and crowded with plastic tablecloths—the perfect, slightly trippy setting to dig into some spicy, flavor-packed Thai street food. We’re partial to pad thai, grilled fatty pork collar, and crab fried rice. The wine list is all organic and biodynamic labels and the beer options vast.

We first fell in love with the food at Parakeet Café last spring, when they catered lunch for goop staff at our wellness summit in Carlsbad. (We were late to discovering them: If you live in San Diego, you already know them for their colorful, vegetable-forward toasts and juices.) Soon after—much to our delight—they opened this space in Brentwood, where they do an incredible brunch, among other things. Everything on the menu is free of seed oils; they use avocado oil, coconut oil, and EVOO. And they have an impressive selection of gluten-free and refined-sugar-free baked goods.

Chef Dave Beran’s upscale French bistro serves classic French dishes— tartare, mille-feuille, filets—worth planning a night around. Especially if you’re getting the duck, which is roasted whole and pressed tableside; it’s an entire meal, and an event, for people who really love duck. Or populate your table with gruyere gougères, beets and goat cheese in citrusy dressing, and any main that comes with potato purée, which is worth going out of your way for. Chef Beran let us in on what makes it so decadent and silky: It’s one part potato to one part butter, with just enough cream to hold it together. Pasjoli is now serving a tasting menu for a dozen guests a night on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Our standing order here? Ding’s Crispy Fried Chicken sandwich, which is delicious and huge and therefore, comes pre-sliced into four only slightly more manageable pieces. The space itself can get packed at night, but totally doable for lunch any day of the week.

The first thing to know about Scopa is that it’s massive. In addition to a sea of cafe tables there are shared banquettes, communal tables, and a stretch bar which is home to an extensive spirit offering (there’s a healthy wine list as well). They even have a private room upstairs, with a peek-a-boo window overlooking the main dining room. We suggest starting with one of the expertly curated Italian cold cut and cheeses plates before diving into the more substantial pastas and mains. The menu is packed with classic Italian dishes (lasagne, whole branzino) which Chef Antonia Lofaso (of Top Chef fame) executes flawlessly. This is also one of the few non-Italian bakery spots in town where you can get a decent cannoli. Plus, unlike many L.A. eateries, this one serves food until midnight on most evenings.

Sunny Blue is a choice spot for handcrafted omusubi, and it’s perfect before hitting the beach. Our favorite onigiri are the hijiki (a mix of seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, tofu, green peas, and carrots), shiso ume, and mentaiko (spicy cod roe).

This L.A. outpost of a popular Japanese restaurant is somewhat of a mecca for noodle snobs: Made all the more elusive because Tsujita only serves their artisanal ramens at lunch (come dinner, it’s traditional Japanese fare). Fortunately, they just opened an Annex on the opposite side of Sawtelle, where you can get bowls of Tsukemen-style ramen all day long.

Tucked away on Rose, Wallflower specializes in Southeast Asian and Vietnamese cuisine. Take a seat on the outdoor patio (disclaimer, the seating isn’t exactly comfortable but the ambiance is worth it), and order one of the insanely good craft cocktails.

Accomplice shares a space—and a food menu—with Little Fatty, one of our favorite Taiwanese spots. The bar is pretty packed with diners during dinner hours; if you're coming in for a drink, expect that seats won't start to open up until 9 p.m.

This spot used to be a local dive, and when El Chucho took over, they kept the parts that make a dive bar so cool: a pool table, sports on TV, beer. And then added an impressive shelf of natural wines and DJs spinning vinyl all night. It feels legitimately cool in a way a lot of LA bars don’t achieve.

Esters has long been a good hangout for a glass or two and a cheese board after work. The wine list runs a staggering twenty-eight pages long and is broken down not by region but by taste, which makes landing on a bottle so much easier.

Gin Rummy is not quite a tiki bar, but you can expect to drink something slushy, made with rum, and topped with a pineapple slice. If you need something to soak up the booze, there’s a smallish food menu with coconut shrimp and burgers and fries.

The Little Friend is one of the few spots on the west side where you can hit a good dance floor (its big sister, the Friend, is in Silver Lake).

The pasta at Market Venice is great, and you should book a dinner reservation to dig into a bowl of cheesy, peppery bucatini. But the main event comes after the tables are cleared: The place stays open late as one of the best bars in this part of Venice. Make the last dinner reservation of the night and stay for espresso martinis and people-watching.

Offhand is a chill spot for a glass of wine with a friend—an easy space to relax with a good natural wine list. (By day, the space serves as a coffee house under the name Please Enjoy.)

The back of the Hatchet Hall houses a second, separate bar deemed Old Man Bar—it looks as brooding as you'd expect, but it's also beautiful, and it serves up noteworthy serious cocktails.

Back when Venice Beach Wines popped up on Rose in 2006, it was barely more than a bodega. Now, it’s a built-out wine bar with solid brunch and dinner menus, a great happy hour, and both indoor and sidewalk seating. They also do takeaway charcuterie boards—grab one of those and a bottle of vino, and take off to the beach to catch sunset.

Winston House is the best spot in Venice to catch live music. They showcase emerging artists on Thursday nights (and they have a reputation for booking talent that hits it big later). Their house band plays on Friday nights and their DJs go late. If you snag the last dinner reservation of the night (order duck tacos and fries), you’ll skip the line that forms outside around 10—that’s when the dancing starts.

You asked for healthy takeout; we delivered. Our take on takeout is a menu of hearty bowls, vibrant salads, delicious handhelds, pizza, pasta, rotisserie, and more—all gluten-free and often finished with goop Certified Clean sauces, dressings, and marinades.

Being that it’s a butcher shop first and foremost, ACA is very serious about their meat-centric menu. The hot sandwiches—BBQ pulled pork, roasted turkey club, lemongrass flank steak banh mi with fried egg, and house-smoked pastrami—can be eaten at one of the few tables on-site or taken to-go. The Italian salumi travels particularly well.

Alana’s is one of our favorite coffee shops on the west side. The coffee is really good, and the comfortable back patio is great for chatting with friends on weekends and knocking out some work during the week. It does tend to get crowded mid-morning, but if you don’t mind sharing a picnic table with other guests, it’s not a big deal.

Alfred quickly took over LA's coffee scene a few years back. We like the Melrose Place location best.

This is one of the main lunch go-tos in Santa Monica, which means there's almost always a line. The Godmother sub is the order of choice for everyone, us included, though we like to swap the pepper salad for pepperoncini for a little extra heat. Also on point: their tuna salad, and the turkey pesto and eggplant parm. While you wait for the deli to call your number, browse the market—it's stocked with authentic, imported Italian goods; the pasta and sauce selections are particularly impressive.

With the original '80s logo intact more than 20 years later (there are even old-school pleather chairs and a matching neon sign), walking into The Bigg Chill sort of feels like a time warp. The frozen yogurt stacks up, too, with a wide assortment of flavors and endless toppings. The location is admittedly random, but as anyone who grew up here will gladly tell you, this is the kind of place that's worthy of a drive.

No matter if you're visiting and don't have a fridge to stock: Beyond the fruit and veggie stands, this neighborhood farmers' market offers all sorts of organic prepared foods, like gluten- and dairy-free treats from Coco Bakes, hummus from Mom's, and amazing fresh tamales. There's also a petting zoo for the kids.

Café Bolívar is our favorite establishment on this stretch of Ocean Park. It's been part of the neighborhood since 2002, and we like to think it has the power to transport you back to Santa Monica's erstwhile, laid-back early aughts vibe. Come for the arepas, which never disappoint. Their coffee is great, too—and always organic and fair-trade.

This place serves some of the best coffee on the West Side, including real Northern Italian style espresso, and delicious lattes and cappuccinos with what they call "milk foam art." It can be difficult to find a seat during rush hours, but if you do grab one, it's a lovely place to linger.

We like coming here for a latte and one of their (unreal) gruyere and thyme croissants, plus a sourdough loaf to-go. The heartier, eggy breakfasts and sandwiches are great, too.

This is a distinctly Californian one-stop-shop for fresh and local produce, delicious ready-made food, and all the organic products you could ask for. Plus as the name suggests, members are also owners, making it local and sustainable in every way.

It's easy to miss Deus when driving down Lincoln Boulevard as it looks like a garage—albeit a pretty slick one—rather than a sweet coffee shop. This is fitting, since you can buy a custom-made motorcycle, a leather jacket, and a latte in one fell swoop. Seating is limited, but the outdoor communal table and indoor charmingly lived-in couch, coupled with an awesome soundtrack, get the job done.

If all you’re looking for from Gjusta is a loaf of bread and some pantry goods, skip the line and come here instead. The shop has aisles of fresh bakery goods, cheese and charcuterie, prepared salads and soups, and sandwiches to go, plus a nice selection of beer and wine.

This is a good spot to drop in for good coffee and a decent pastry, including a handful gluten-free and vegan options. While you’re here, grab a bag of beans—they have some great ones, including single-origin and rare varieties.

You can learn everything you need to know about this place from the menu displayed when you walk in: There’s a section devoted entirely to avocado appetizers, another to a fairly extensive offering of bone broth elixirs, kombucha on tap, and adaptogens sprinkled throughout. The comfort food is of the mushroom panini variety—which, at the Hive, means not just sautéed portobello, but also reishi, cordyceps, and maitake with goat cheese, green onion, and white truffle oil (kale chips side optional). Order at the counter and take a seat indoors or outside, or grab and go.

This now-global Japanese chain offers absolutely nothing in the ambiance department—but no bother, as they serve incredible ramen.

With lines out the door by 10am, this is one of those spots where parents with early risers win: We go for the quinoa, veggie, and egg bowls, while our kiddos are bigger fans of the homemade doughnuts, scrambled eggs, mini English muffins, and grilled cheese. You can eat in (the tables turn over quickly) or take your turkey meatballs to go.

Intelligentsia is really the quintessential LA coffee shop. Tables and bar seats are usually available at all the well-designed locations, and there's a smattering of great baked goods, as well as some home goods for sale.

LA has a stellar ice cream scene, and Jeni’s is among the best. If you’re opting dairy-free, go for the lemon bar ice cream. Dairy-full? It’s all about the brown butter almond brittle and the gooey butter cake.

Lady & Larder makes stunning cheese and charcuterie boards, if you happen to have an event coming up. But they also have a fantastic walk-in situation, with a well-curated shop of pantry staples, flowers, and natural wines plus a tight menu of picnic-ready sandwiches, available from noon to 3 p.m. daily. It’s a great place to stop on the way to a dinner party for a hostess gift.

This spot in Santa Monica is always washed with daylight, thanks to wide, floor-to-ceiling windows. Menu-wise, the espresso drinks are excellent, and it's worth trying the lemonade iced coffee (weird concept, but really good). It's a great spot for work if you've got a puppy in tow—the entire space is dog-friendly, and the backyard offers plenty of room for them to stretch out under your table.

The Mar Vista farmers market has excellent produce, great prepared foods, and an especially good energy about it.

In a storefront no larger than a walk-in closet, you'll find tonics for every desire or malady. (We love the turmeric cup, with cayenne pepper, black pepper oil, and oil of oregano, to help us through a cold.) All this cold-pressed goodness doesn't come cheap—the green shake will set you back $14—but it's all delicious and effective. There is a second shop in Silver Lake.

What’s cool about this spot is that it’s set within an auto enthusiast club, so you can peep some neat classic cars as you sip your coffee. It’s also a great spot to get work done.

In a city of great farmers markets, the one in Palisades Village is a standout. There are two big sections for great produce and prepared foods, and it’s never too crowded.

Hands down, Primo Passo makes the best cup of coffee on Montana Avenue.

This natural foods store is old-school and low key in a way we really appreciate, and they have a great deli and a juice bar.

This is nothing more than a simple food stand in the Brentwood Country Mart, but it's insanely good (and for us, steeped in nostalgia). The moist, perfectly-seasoned rotisserie chicken basket comes with plenty of barbecue dipping sauce, and fries that are absolutely worth the shot to the arteries. We've never heard a kid complain about the chicken tender basket, either. Don't be deterred by the lines: They move fast.

We first discovered Rori’s ice cream years ago while exploring Santa Barbara and were understandably pretty psyched when an outpost opened right on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. Rori, the mastermind behind the ice cream, insists on using strictly organic, locally sourced ingredients from neighboring farmers and cream from the famed Strauss Family Creamery. The resulting ice cream is rich and flavorful and comes in seasonal options that range from chocolate coconut to wild-berry chocolate crisp to honey-lavender. Their three-bite mini cones are a brilliant choice if you’re looking to sample multiple flavors without going all out.

This beautiful farmers market practically overlooks the Pacific, offering the best of the area's fruits, veggies, and herbs in the process. The Wednesday market has more vendors than the weekend market, and the crowds are less overwhelming.

Santa Monica Seafood is our go-to fishmonger in LA. There's also a cute little café and bar where you can pull up a chair, have a glass a wine, and dig into some freshly shucked oysters.

The small-batch ice cream business, which cousins Kim and Tyler Malek launched out of a single neighborhood ice cream parlor in Portland, has grown into a family of shops, including several in L.A.—the original is in Larchmont. The focus at Salt & Straw is on inventive flavors: honey lavender, olive oil, pear and blue cheese. But the single-origin vanilla is the best we’ve ever had.

Prettily decorated cakes and baked goods are mainstays here, though we hear the best thing on the menu is actually the tuna fish sandwich. They make their own mayo, and serve it on freshly baked rosemary bread.

It used to be that you had to make a special day trip to Costa Mesa to get your hands on a Sidecar, but now that the new Santa Monica outpost is finally here, dropping by for one of their fried-fresh-on-the-hour doughnuts and a cup of famously smooth coffee has gotten almost dangerously easy. The flavors are broken up into classics (the huckleberry and vanilla twist are goop HQ favorites) and monthly specials like coconut cream pie, peanut butter & banana, and chocolate & rye. And keep an eye out for the gluten-free options, the butter & salt is worth trying even if gluten isn’t an issue.

Burrowed in a cozy nook of the Brentwood Country Mart, the 1,300-square-foot space was designed by the brilliant Roman and Williams who created our dream Brentwood bungalow. In this bungalow, you can shop everything: a gorgeous mudroom-meets-greenhouse; an enviable kitchen decked out with pretty pink mixing bowls, Staub French ovens, and glossy cookbooks; and the clean beauty apothecary, where you can nourish your face in oils and creams, spritz on fragrances, and try all the things on display in the towering vanity mirrors. There’s even a living room, with a dreamy daybed and plush pillows, a stocked bar cart, and a constantly rotating edit of pieces from goop-shop favorites like G. Label by goop, Staud, Victoria Beckham, Janessa Leone, Nancy Newberg, Eriness, and more. But the real MVPs? The staff—a team so warm and welcoming they will soon know you by name.

Though its just two-blocks from the Third Street Promenade, which sucks up a lot of the area's oxygen, this is inarguably one of the most special toy shops in the country. Everything here is made of wood, from the pint-sized grocery store stands (complete with farmers market fruits and veggies) to the rainbow-hued teethers.

This indie glasses designer makes sculptural-looking shades influenced as much by organic shapes as geometry and architecture. If you’re in the market for sunglasses or eyeglasses, AHLEM’s are among the coolest.

Great used bookstores are a rare breed these days, and this one is our favorite in LA. It doubles as a record shop, and it’s a good place to grab gifts, too.

This 1950s old-time country mart got a renovation and restoration about a decade ago. Besides being home to goop Brentwood, there are a spate of other great boutiques (Jenni Kayne, Turpan, Broken English, adorable kids store Poppy). It also wins huge points with little ones for its interior food court, where you'll find the world's best chicken (Reddi Chick), burgers (Barney's), and tacos (Frida). There's also an old-school candy shop (Edelweiss), an ice cream parlor (Sweet Rose Ice Cream), a bookstore (Diesel), a toy store (Toy Crazy), and a mini carousel. We, however are addicted to the delicious salads and seared salmon at Farmshop. Always buzzing at lunch, the space grows quiet in the early afternoon and is a hidden gem for for a relaxed glass of wine and, in the absence of a friend, your computer for company as you blast through a stuffed inbox.

This is one of those spots that will make you believe that having kids doesn't always require a cacophony of brightly-colored plastic toys: Airy, and sparely stocked, Caro Bambino offers everything you'd want for a clean-lined, modern nursery—and nothing more. There are well-designed cribs, a smattering of wooden toys, and neutral-hued onesies.

Ideally located in the Brentwood Country Mart, this bookstore is the perfect size. Manageable in scope, but packed with classics and must-reads, it's rare to leave with only one book in tow.

At 2,000 square feet, this mini department store is expansive but manageable, and the racks are filled with everyone from Rag & Bone to Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen. Don’t miss the shoe and bag selection, which includes the greatest hits from Louboutin and Lanvin.

This airy spot on Lincoln is the perfect trifecta: Part café (with donuts!), part home goods shop, and part florist. The taste level here is spot-on, as it's the sort of place where you might swing by for a latte and emerge with five hostess gifts and a stunning bouquet.

The Gjelina family of restaurants has grown in all directions, now encompassing a grocery store, home goods store, rentable apartment, and flower shop down the street from Gjusta. It’s a beautiful space to pick up arrangements for events, for hostess gifts, or for your kitchen counter.

While many stores on Abbot Kinney quickly come and go, Heist has become a long-standing staple, evolving and expanding with the ever-changing Venice. The large, modern boutique brims with labels both well-loved and still-unknown: You’ll find a huge range of Isabel Marant and Raquel Allegra, along with Newbark, Golden Goose, and Crippen.

This sliver of space on Abbot Kinney has a really healthy selection of all the Scandinavian home goods lines we've all come to love: Iittala glassware, Arne Jacobsen for Stelton water jugs, and Marimekko trays. There's also a small range of clothing, and some cute stuff for kids.

Jacques Marie Mage makes supremely cool sunglasses and eyeglasses, which are handmade in Japan.

Since 1995, Jill Roberts's mini-chainlet of boutiques have been holding strong, offering that specifically LA-buy: Plenty of denim and t-shirts, plus a few stand-out pieces from designers like Ulla Johnson, Agua by Agua Bendita, and Nili Lotan. There are two other LA locations: Beverly Hills and Studio City.

Lost & Found in Hollywood occupies a stretch of adjacent buildings on Yucca Street, which is tucked away above Hollywood Boulevard. It’s there that you'll find one of LA's best shopping destinations. While there are spaces for women and homes, we particularly love the kids' edit, which revolves around feathered headbands, papier-mâché masks, and T-shirts emblazoned with everything from motorcycles to birds. The new outposts in Santa Monica are huge, offering more floor space to men's and women's clothing, along with even more delights for little ones. (Plus, a great edit of home.)

Rick Caruso, the real estate mogul behind the Grove and the Americana, has built, in his signature classic California style, 2019’s answer to the mini mall. It’s contemporary, mostly outdoors (this is LA, after all), and frankly, too beautiful to be called a mall at all. Veronica Beard, Jennifer Meyer Jewelry, and Vince are just a sampling of the thirty-three stores on the property that manages to feel more like a quaint little village than a retail experience. The restaurants deliver, with Porta Via, Sweet Laurel Bakery, and the more casual Edo Little Bites leading the charge.

Situated in the Brentwood Country Mart, the racks at Poppy are exquisitely tasteful, from the mini striped shirts from Petit Bateau to t-shirts stamped with zebras. The pricetags match the taste level, which makes this better for gifts than wardrobe basics.

This brand-new, self-named "tiny toy shoppe" from the owners of nearby Thyme Café and Local Kitchen + Wine Bar is an undeniably adorable addition to Ocean Park. While it's not large, the selection is spot-on, with good birthday options for kids of all ages.

sun moon rain is here to help wash away your single-use plastic guilt, one refillable amber jug of lavender laundry soap at a time. Step into this zero-waste shop, lined with shelves of household goods and beauty products in gleaming glass jugs, and you wonder how you ever let a plastic spray bottle live under your sink. Visit for refills of everything from all-purpose kitchen cleaner to pet shampoo (bring your own containers or choose from a gorgeous selection), plus everyday tools to help reduce your daily consumption: reusable beauty pads and beeswax wraps, bamboo straws, cleaning brushes, reusable vessels galore. Plus, there’s an aromatherapy bar for adding essential oils to your product refills. With everything from vintage jewelry to handblown, one-of-a-kind glass bowls, this is also the place to go for a gift that won’t clutter the earth (or anyone’s home). The female founders behind the company—a pair of fashion industry vets—are continuously improving, making it easier and easier to transition to a low-waste lifestyle with products that smell and look fantastic. The shop also hosts in-store events for the eco-conscious, from candle refilling to Japanese denim mending.

Former lawyer Jeannie Lee opened Satine on Third Street when it was just getting established as a shopping destination—and her forward-thinking sensibility and buy was probably what ultimately pushed it over the edge to become one of the city's busiest drags. Not long after, she opened a smaller outpost on Abbot Kinney, with an edit that matches the neighborhood's clientele. You'll still find classics (Preen, Rochas) and progressives (Prism, The Odells) artfully mixed together.

Taku and Keiko Shinomoto, the owners and curators of this much-loved shop, urge customers to slow down (like the animal the store is named for) and enjoy life’s small pleasures. The focus here is on everyday items, made beautiful, whether it’s gardening shears, beautiful Tenugui cloth napkins, coffee grinders, or sake pitchers.

The limited edition sneaker world is a strange one (long, break of dawn lines, huge markups on eBay), but while Undefeated gets plenty of notable exclusives from brands like Nike, you don't feel like you've stepped into another world when you shop here. Most of the shoes are for men though there's a healthy selection of women's options and the kid collection is pretty adorable, too.

Florist Spencer Falls puts together gorgeous, unexpected arrangements—often leafy and prickly-looking, with uncommon varieties of flowers.

The Westside is proof positive that retailing duo Haro and Sari Sloane Keledjian know a thing or two about creating a store that women want to shop in. After selling the Intermix brand to the Gap back in 2013, they’ve dreamt up a new shopping concept that speaks to busy moms on the go. They’ve opened a series of boutiques, the Westside (for stylish moms) and Everafter (a children’s boutique) side byside in Tribeca, on the Upper East Side, and in Manhasset on Long Island. Their arrival in Brentwood should come as no surprise, located just across the street from the highly-trafficked Brentwood Country Mart. The mix for women is solid—denim by Re/Done, cashmere by Lingua Franca, and easy dresses by LoveShackFancy. Next door, there’s tons for your mini-me: Aviator Nation sweats, Zimmerman separates, and lots of great gifts like pool floats from Sunnylife and furry friends from Jellycat. Photos courtesy of Katie Gibbs.

Just off the Santa Monica pier, Boardwalk Bike Rentals offers rentals on cruisers and mountain bikes by the hour or for under $20 a day, providing a healthy way to see the coast and catch some rays at your own pace. They also rent out tandems and roller blades. Bring ID for your security deposit.

While it will cost you (a lot) to take a tour of the inside of Charles and Ray Eames’ house/studio, it’s pretty incredible to see how warmly this husband and wife team lived, as well as their iconic, modern furniture in situ. While indoor tours range from $275-$400 (depending on group size), it’s only $10 to walk the grounds and see its iconic, Mondrian-esque exterior. Reservations for both are required.

Offering some of the city’s best views, you can spend a good half-day picnicking on the lawn above the central gardens, or wandering around the Richard Meier-designed exterior (construction employed about 1,200,000 square feet of travertine) before you even head inside. The exhibitions are always varied and interesting, the permanent collection is important, and there are excellent hands-on activities for kids. You only pay for parking at the bottom; admittance is otherwise free.

Modeled after a first-century Roman country house, J. Paul Getty originally built the Getty Villa to house an art collection that was quickly outgrowing his house. Now, beyond touring the exquisite home and gardens, you can see his collection of 44,000 antiquities, with treasures that range from 6,500 B.C. to A.D. 400.

There’s always something excellent on display at this UCLA museum—it’s also nicely manageable, making it the perfect way to spend a few idle hours. The adjacent museum store is one of the best in the city: The bookstore is gigantic, and they have some great gifts from L.A.-based designers, but they win the biggest points for their kids room in the back, where you’ll find art and design-specific tomes for little ones, along with a handful of well-conceived toys.

If you’ve got little ones in tow or only an hour or so to stretch your legs, this hike is your ticket: It’s under two and a half miles, and it starts and ends in the stunning Will Rogers State Park (which is also perfect for a picnic).

This beautiful hike is between Santa Monica and Malibu, offering panoramic views of both ocean and city. The first part of the hike is the Los Liones Trail, which is lush, green and not too difficult. If you do the whole hike, which is about 7.3 miles, you'll end up in Topanga State Park. No dogs allowed. Photos: Hikespeak

Set on a cliff overlooking the water, this park spans from just north of San Vicente Boulevard to Colorado Avenue. It's a wonderful place for a light hike or a long walk or bike ride. When you get tired, the lush green grass is there for you to take a rest, underneath the swaying palm trees.

This five-mile round-trip hike offers epic views of the ocean—the trailhead is at Paseo Miramar just off Sunset, making it easy to get to, as well (just park on the street). Then end your trip with gluten-free pancakes at Café Vida.

The Skirball Cultural Center, a Jewish cultural institution that offers everything from exhibits to readings to recitals, is also home to architect Moshe Safdie's Arc, an incredible installation that occupies an 8,000 square foot gallery. Kids can climb aboard the wooden ship and interact with the animals, crafted with everything from rope, to recycled newspaper, to keyboards, and vegetable steamers. Make reservations well in advance.

There’s a seasonal waterfall on this 2.5 to 4.6 mile trail (we like to do the Skullrock extension to get in a bigger workout)—and there’s also stunning water views. It’s a dog-free trail, great for kids, and parking is simple (there’s a lot at the bottom that costs $10). Photos: Hikespeak

In the early 1900s, Abbot Kinney resolved to make a “Venice of America” and decided to turn modern-day Venice into a system of canals. While many of the waterways have been filled in during the intervening years, a small patch remains—though they had fallen into disrepair, they were restored in the ’90s and are now lined with some of Venice’s fanciest homes. It’s a totally random yet awesome enclave, and worth a stroll on a nice day.

Afternoons at the skate park are a thing, and no half-pipes are more iconic than the ones on Venice beach, the birthplace of LA skater culture. Kids are welcomed by the older, experienced crowd and the combination of the cooling breeze and the mesmerizingly good skating makes it appealing to every member of the family.

Nestled at the base of the Santa Monica mountains, this 186-acre state park boasts horse stables, a polo field, and a riding ring, along with a host of trails that feed into other state park systems. Whether you come for a riding lesson or a trail ride, or just want to throw down a blanket and have a picnic while a polo game unfolds, it’s a pretty idyllic place to spend the day. Tours of Will Rogers’ homestead are also available.

The space is an eco-haven, designed with renewable, sustainable flourishes (the walls are made of cork, seagrass, and recycled wood)—and the facials are healing, pampering, and just: beyond. The Custom Superfood Facial floods skin with nutrients from tamarind, acai, turmeric, and manuka honey, while the Light “Isun” facial features a miracle trifecta of microcurrent, LED light, and nurturing essential oil blend that thoroughly revives skin. The infrared saunas are each tucked into a cozy private room with a shower—and they aren’t hooked up to Bluetooth, which means the promise of a genuine digital detox, too.

Wagner, who also moonlights as a painter, is chill and wonderful, meaning that an hour spent with her skilled hands is kind of like hanging with a friend. A recovering tanning junkie herself, Wagner is nothing short of a magician when it comes to banishing sun spots and UV damage. Product-wise, the focus here is on holistic and organic ingredients–she uses her own skincare line made with a white turmeric and tiger grass stem cell complex.

Taryn Toomey and her definition-evading "class" have finally made it to Los Angeles. The experience is a self-titled cathartic experience, where you spend 75 minutes engaging in intense movement to “break open and activate ‘stagnant’ layers in the body.” In short you move, and scream, and shake, and yell as you release emotional energy–and get a pretty incredible workout in the process, care of burpees, planks, leg lifts, and squats. There's a fair bit of yoga worked in for good measure. It requires an open mind and a willing spirit.

Dayle Breault (aka The Goddess of Skin) has an obsession with natural skincare that was born out of her own struggles with acne. That said, acne is just one of many skin concerns she tackles: She (apparently) singlehandedly solved Cara Delevingne's issues with psoriasis and her three-part Epicuren mask visibly diminishes sun damage after a single session. Plus, her namesake product line offers the perfect balance between good-for-you ingredients and potency (the Bonafide scrub is a fan favorite). Call or email for an appointment, she sees clients in both NYC and LA.

This Abbot Kinney hideaway offers massages, cupping, muscle testing, ritual baths, and an especially great facial. You can grab a functional latte and light lunch here, too. But perhaps our favorite part is the private hot-cold circuit, where you and a partner can cycle between a cedar sauna and icy plunge pool.

Chiropractor Kevin So is talented at finding the root cause of what's going on with your body—strains, sprains, chronic aches, whatever—and guiding you through a complete treatment path, which usually involves hands-on soft tissue treatment in the office and physical therapy exercises you complete at home. We walk out of his office feeling so much better. And if you commit to the at-home stuff, his treatment plans really work. So is also a delight to chat with—an hour-long appointment flies by. (If you're interested in acupuncture, So's partner, acupuncturist Claudia Baettig, works out of the same space.)

Yoga terminology (Iyengar or hatha, yin or flow) rolls as easily off our tongues as the ABC’s these days, but the trauma-sensitive kind taught by Laura Mckellin was entirely new to us. Mckellin developed her style while working with patients at the Veterans Association in Denver after obtaining a master’s in somatic counseling psychology. Nowadays, in Los Angeles, Mckellin is available for one-on-one somatic healing sessions in the comfort of your own home, or you can join her class at Light on Lotus in Mar Vista.

We're big fans of this Montauk studio, so we were thrilled when it opened a second beach-town location—on the West Coast. Yoga directors Kyle Miller and Sian Gordon have converted their Lincoln Boulevard space into an airy paradise that smells more like white sage and Diptyque candles than a sweaty yoga studio. The aesthetic matches the beachy interiors of the Montauk space, with white walls, teal floors, and geometric neon wall murals by local artist Carly Margolis. While the studio interior has obvious appeal, the teaching is what really shines. The overall vibe is laid-back—no heat, no mirrors, and definitely no weights—with a meditation and healthy Savasana built into every class. And while clear direction and game-changing adjustments will make seventy-five minutes go by extraordinarily fast, there’s nothing about this that’s easy: Expect to sweat (a lot) and to feel it the next day.

Natasa Bose's philosophy is the same as ours: Overall health and beautiful skin go hand-in-hand. This means that her famous custom-blended facials—pH-balancing and toning massage, followed by an oatmeal-cranberry, carrot-ginger, or egg-honey mask—don't just nourish the skin, but aids in full-body well-being. As far as more inventive treatments go, there's lymphatic drainage, ultrasound, and microcurrent therapies that are immensely effective.

Open is best known for their digital mindfulness platform and roster of all-star teachers. But a visit to their Venice studio inspires a bit of real-life magic: Flow through a yoga class, sink into a sound bath, or blast off with breathwork.

It feels like a Venice Beach bungalow inside this Venice Beach bungalow: intimate, calm, airy, and cozy. And the treatments are on another level. They’re experts at gua sha (a sculpting, lifting, toning therapy in which an aesthetician smooths a stone tool over the face to stimulate tissue and ease tension); it feels cooling, relaxing, fantastic. You can always customize your facial, but there’s no improving upon the Deep Sea Age Defying treatment, an ultrapampering mash-up of LED light therapy, lymphatic drainage massage, and cranial therapy to support circulation and promote skin (and overall) balance. Whatever your skin needs, they have it here, and the glow you saunter out with is stunning.

Pause is where you go for a bit of physical and mental relief—they offer float tanks, hot-cold experiences, LED light therapy, lymphatic compression, and IV drips, including NAD+. Their infrared sauna setup is the best in town.

Allison Oswald wants to help women feel better. As a physical therapist, a board-certified women’s clinical specialist, and certified Pilates instructor, she’s uniquely equipped to take on that task. Many of her clients find their way to her bright, whitewashed studio with pelvic health issues, often during the postpartum period. She works with clients one-on-one and for as long as it takes to get them feeling confident and pain-free. Once they feel up to it, she—or one of Plumb Line’s excellent instructors—may suggest clients keep up their work with a Pilates regimen.

Whatever you go to acupuncturist Claudia Baettig for—maybe it’s everyday stress, something about your cycle, or a bigger health issue—she’ll lay out a bespoke treatment plan that’ll guide you toward your wellness goals. In addition to acupuncture, sessions might involve fire cupping (which feels so good), tuina, LED light therapy, and herbalism consultation. Baettig also offers cosmetic acupuncture and gua sha. But what keeps us coming back is Baettig herself: She explains every treatment so clearly. And she can even assuage fears of needles. (If you're interested in chiropractice, Baettig's partner, chiropractor Kevin So, works out of the same space.)

This spot is famous for its custom-made infrared saunas. In the personal pods, which look super futuristic, you lie on a bed of jade stones while your body is bathed in red infrared light. Your head is outside of the pod during the entire the forty-minute session, and the surrounding air is diffused with a custom blend of aromatherapeutic oils. The lymphatic compression massage and unique Magnesphere machine, which aims to improve your balance and sleep by way of deep relaxation, are so very worth exploring.

It’s been five years since Shin An relocated her thriving business from NYC to LA, and her famously precise dry-cuts are as in-demand as ever. Shin and her crew of incredibly skilled stylists and colorists work out of a discreet little bungalow on Montana Avenue and offer a range of services that goes beyond the expected cut-and-color. The purifying scalp treatment, for example, simultaneously soothes dryness and smoothes frizz. Don't worry if you can’t get in with Shin herself; her staff are all exceptional.

Sugaring, which at this studio is performed by trained specialists in a welcoming, light-filled space, calls on a paste made from organic sugar, lemon, and water to pull hair out in the natural direction of its growth. It's a process that translates to less pain, irritation, and ingrown hairs, especially when you do it routinely. SugaringLA does the best sugaring in town.

Surya Spa is no joke—in fact, it's one of only a handful of Panchakarma spots in the States (now, up and running at the beautiful Proper Hotel in Santa Monica). That said, it takes a pretty intense level of commitment that's a bit out of reach unless you have the vacation time and budget: It requires three to four hours a day, for three, five, or seven days (we recommend the full week, though it's tough, as you have to abide by the very ascetic menu that they prescribe). The house-made organic food and authentic Panchakarma treatments reach far beyond what you'll find in a traditional wellness spa (people come here for help with parasites, for instance). The results—which can range from better skin to weight loss—speak for themselves. Beyond being a wonderful detox resource, mothers, babies, and mothers-to-be are in for a treat with Surya Spa's special approach to pregnancy and babies' first six weeks.

This studio is made for that in-the-zone feeling: The instructors teach a few guided flows over the course of class and build in time for students to do their own thing. It’s dark, with loud music and no mirrors. And it’s hot as hell. (Relief comes in the form of a cold towel, dropped at your mat before savasana, and it feels like you’ve been blessed by God.) It’s great for athletic yogis with a regular practice. True beginners, however, may get lost or find it too intense.

Sadie Adams’s unique therapeutic approach is designed to help clients tease out energy and vitality from within. Her technique stems from her studies in anatomy at the School for Body-Mind Centering, and in Ayurveda and yoga therapy at the Ayurvedic Institute. After founding Take Care Face & Body in New York City, she has opened a second location, Take Care Center for Body Mind Regeneration, in Venice. Adams combines science, ancient wisdom, and intuitive awareness to support physical and spiritual healing. Her therapies include microcurrent facials, a restorative therapy that stimulates marma points in your face, promoting deep relaxation and healing throughout your entire body.

Tikkun is the next level when it comes to Korean spas, combining high-tech far-infrared heat with traditional Korean sauna therapies. So if you want to lie down in a Himalayan-salt-brick-tiled sauna or sit in a Hwangto clay room, you get the added benefit of far-infrared heat. And in addition to the sauna rooms, there's a long menu of massages and kick-ass body scrubs to complement the sauna time. We're burying the lede though, because the real golden ticket here is the Mugworth V-Steam: You sit on what is essentially a mini throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam treats you to an energetic release. If you're in LA, you just might have to try it...

Her laid-back personality and healing approach to skincare have made Vanessa Hernandez one of the most in-demand aestheticians in LA. The treatments range from customized facials and microdermabrasion to oxygen therapy and vitamin infusions, and are all fantastic.