10 Best Shopping in The Waterfront, San Francisco

Fantastic organic-milk cheeses—such as the mellow, triple-cream Mt. Tam and bocconcini (small balls of fresh mozzarella)—are produced at a creamery an hour's drive north of the city. These and other carefully chosen artisanal cheeses and dairy products, including a luscious, freshly made crème fraîche, round out the selection at the in-town store.

The partylike Saturday edition of the city's most upscale and expensive farmers' market places baked goods, gourmet cheeses, smoked fish, and fancy pots of jam alongside organic basil, specialty mushrooms, heirloom tomatoes, and juicy-ripe locally grown fruit. Smaller markets also take place on Tuesday and Thursday year-round, rain or shine—and the many passionate San Francisco home cooks who frequent them will come even in a rainstorm.

Windows at this modest-size bookstore frame close-up views of the docks and San Francisco Bay. Commuters snap up magazines by the front door as they rush off to their ferries, and kids browse the Kids' Corner while Ferry Building visitors thumb through the thorough selection of cooking and travel titles. Author events take place several times a month.

The educational gadgets sold here are so clever and engaging that kids won't know they're learning while playing. Space- and dinosaur-related games are popular, as are science videos and optical illusion gifts.

Arguably the city's best-dressed philanthropist, Joy Bianchi, along with other volunteers, runs this store to benefit the mentally disabled. A red Bill Blass cocktail dress, a Chanel suit, or a Schiaparelli hat are among the vintage masterpieces you might expect to find here—to see the good stuff, all you have to do is ask nicely. Don't miss a look at Bianchi's "mouse couture," a clever fund-raiser display in which designers like Armani and Carolina Herrera dress up 4-inch stuffed mice.

This is the only retail outpost of this Sonoma County ranch, a producer of outstanding organic, extra-virgin olive oil. If you stop by in fall or winter, don't miss the Olio Nuovo, the days-old green oil produced during the harvest.

Technical wear for serious outdoors enthusiasts is the specialty. Along with sportswear and casual clothing, the store carries active wear for backpacking, fly-fishing, kayaking, and other activities.

Michael and Jacky Recchiuti began making otherworldly chocolates in San Francisco in 1997, using traditional European techniques. Now considered among the best confectioners in the world, they stock their store here with their full chocolate line, including several unique items like dark chocolate truffles made with Napa Valley sparkling wine and a box of burnt caramel truffles decorated with images of San Francisco's iconic places.

Artful, functional home and garden accessories are the lure here, from woven baskets and teak salad bowls to beautifully illustrated books. Although there's only a small selection of actual gardening items, such as seeds, bulbs, and tools, there are plenty of bath and body items with which to pamper yourself after a day in the yard.

Architect William Stout began selling books out of his apartment, then opened a Jackson Square store in the mid-1980s, where it remains the definitive source for Bay Area professionals looking for serious-minded tomes on architecture, urban planning, and design.