San Francisco Niche Perfume and Food

I was born and raised in San Francisco, and I never get tired of it! The other day was a special day as a fellow perfume worshiper came down from Portland to visit. It was a day of food and fumes like I'd never had! Why? Because I don't know a soul other than him who worships perfume quite as much as I do.

Dolores Street in the Mission

Overlooking Dolores Park, city skyline in the background

First stop: Tigerlily Perfumery in the Mission. Naturally we wanted to check out the perfume shop immediately.

Tigerlily is awesome! They feature local perfumers such as Cognoscenti and En Voyage. This was also my first encounter with San Francisco perfume house Mikmoi. From what I smelled, Mikmoi seems to make perfumes with crisp notes, clean edges, and expert blending. More sampling in the future is a must! I was very intrigued by Mikmoi's line of hair perfumes as well, although I didn't try them on this visit. Well--I have a reason to head back. I love the simple, smooth look of the bottles and the soft, muted colors.

I had been curious about Kerosene for a long time, and I was very pleased to see that Tigerlily carried several perfumes from the house. Unknown Pleasures was love at first sniff of the nozzle. I bought it on the spot. It was a creamy, gourmand, lemon that was simply irresistible. It was quite a contrast with Fields of Rubus (Rubus is the genus name for the raspberry plant. A little botanical wisdom for ya that makes it easy to remember the name), a raspberry fragrance loaded with patchouli. So it certainly smells like raspberry fields--dirt and raspberries! You can read my review of Unknown Pleasures and Fields of Rubus here.

Posing with my new Unknown Pleasures

After having a mini sniffapalooza at Tigerlily, it was definitely time for some tasty grub. We headed over to Pizzeria Delfina for a pie, and I can't resist their citrusy tri-colore salad. Next I grabbed a banana cream tart (to go) at the infamous Tartine. Last, we headed over to Dandelion Chocolate for a little something sweet. Michael had a super-rich brownie, and he was kind enough to treat me to Dandelion's chocolate flight. All of it was delicious!

Tartine's banana cream tart

Chocolate flight at Dandelion Chocolate

San Francisco rocks! If you have never had the pleasure of visiting, make it your next destination, and be sure to make time for perfume and good eats. Hail, Perfume!