Neighborhood: South of Market

Originated in 1898, the Ferry Building was a hotspot to thousands of travelers, serving as “the transportation focal point for anyone arriving by train from the East,” according to the building’s official website. In fact, until the 1930s, ferries were the only way that travelers and commuters could enter the city from the Peninsula. Surviving both the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes (and a bad renovation in 1950s), the Ferry Building stands today as one of the city’s most unique and popular landmarks. Though the Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the use of cars rendered the need for ferries as main transportation obsolete, the building continues to draw thousands of people.

The building currently houses the popular Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market, an old-fashioned open market with several stalls that serve some of the best organic and artisan foods in the state. Open daily, the marketplace draws both visitors and locals alike, and is a great place to spend a few hours (or the day, if possible) with children. Kids are automatically drawn to the bustle and details that the plethora of boutiques provide. Families with children will enjoy stopping for lunch at places such as Taylor’s Refresher (located at shop #6), where appetites of all ages and sizes can be satisfied with dishes such as fish and chips and ahi burgers. Enjoy for an afternoon gelato refreshment at Ciao Bella (shop #8). Parents can even stop off for their own more refined treat, if desired, at Imperial Tea Courts—and expect at least a few moments of sipping in peace as the kids crowd-watch.

San Francisco City Guides even offers regular walking tours of the building. The tours, starting at noon on Tuesdays and weekends, are free, and even include samples of fresh produce, plants, and herbs from local growers.

Located along the Embarcadero at Market Street, the marketplace can be accessed by MUNI, BART, and, well, ferry boat. The historic trolley cars (the F Market line) run directly to and from the very front of the Ferry Building. Public transportation allows for a more colorful and historic experience, and gives kids (and parents) a chance to rest and snack on their purchased fresh market food on the ride back.

Does this paint the right picture: you love museums, you want your kids to love museums, your kids could care less at their age about Rubens? Teach them to love museums by taking them to Zeum (Ze-um), a non-profit multimedia arts and technology museum. Their main mission being to foster innovation and creativity, this unusual museum invites people of all backgrounds and ages to “combine hands-on use of animation, digital technology, electronic media, traditional and non-traditional materials, and the power of their imaginations to create high quality stories, movies, performances, music, art and more.” Zeum’s curriculum focuses on project-based learning, constructivist theory, and media literacy—a growing need in this age of technology.

Opened atop the Yerba Buena Gardens as a part of a radical 87-acre urban renovation project in San Francisco’s Market area, Zeum boasts a 34,000 square-foot building designed by the talented Adele Santos. The facility includes technology studios, interactive activity stations, exhibit galleries, community exhibit space, and a theater.

For beginners and experts alike, this crazy awesome museum offers exhibits that focus on five arts and media subjects: Animation, Video Production, Sound Production, Performance, and Visual Arts. Patrons to the museum can play around with clay animation, compose a soundtrack, make a rockin music video, or do digital art. Make up a story, choose your own karaoke tune (from over 2,000 songs!), choose a costume, create clay characters, choose stage sets, work with camera angles, film scenes, work on stop-motion animation, and even act. You can even your finished project home with you!

Such an educational experience requires a stellar staff. Zeum employs a staff that includes events council, an advisory council, programs and experience council, educators, employees and volunteers. And of course this cool museum offers extras such as fieldtrip options like Clay Animation, where students design their own characters and product a short claymation film, News Broadcast, and Music Video. Zeum is also available for birthday party rentals, including themed parties like Pick a Dress-up Party, Mad Hatters Party, and Zeum Scavenger Hunt.

Such an educational experience requires a stellar staff. Zeum employs a staff that includes events council, an advisory council, programs and experience council, educators, employees and volunteers. And of course this cool museum offers extras such as fieldtrip options like Clay Animation, where students design their own characters and product a short claymation film, News Broadcast, and Music Video. Zeum is also available for birthday party rentals, including themed parties like Pick a Dress-up Party, Mad Hatters Party, and Zeum Scavenger Hunt.

Mama’s little baby loves shortening bread. Cooking and baking are skills that have been passed down since the beginning of time, from coq au vin in a fine French kitchen, to roasted meat in a caveman’s den. If cooking alludes you, or you simply want some outside culinary enrichment, visit Apron Strings with your children.

Apron Strings was founded in 2001 by a CIA graduate-turned-restaurant-chef-turned-private-chef who wanted to combine her love for cooking with her love for teaching. The professed mission of Apron Strings is to “provide fun, creative and challenging culinary programs to children and adults.” Embracing the philosophy that cooking is a lifelong skill “that can ignite everyone’s creativity and creative memories that will last forever,” these simultaneously informative and low-key cooking classes teach through demonstrations and hand-son construction. Students will learn fundamental cooking techniques, baking and pastry skills, nutritious eating habits, and etiquette.

Apron Strings offers a buffet of children classes, as well as adult classes for singles and couples. Such upcoming classes include Japanese cooking for children, pies and tarts for adults, and Gluten Free Easy Snacks and Treats for both children and adults. Because cooking is a universal language, these cooking classes can be a wonderful way to bring your family together by successfully creating something you all can enjoy. Children will benefit from watching their parents sit and learn and follow directions like accessible, real human beings—even (maybe especially) if their dish doesn’t turn out exactly as planned. For a large family, or family event, private cooking classes can be geared to the family’s individual preference.

Apron Strings also offers such programs as Culinary Camp. Students will learn basic cooking skills and methods. With each day reflecting a theme (such as Japanese, Greek, Indian, Italian, ballpark, comfort), students will learn a wide array of menus including soup, salad, bread, entrée, and dessert. Because the class is open to children over 10 years old, the students will get to interact in a true tangible learning experience. Very tangible: students get to eat what they cook in the class. The fee is $65 per week per child ($75 for adults), a very modest amount since it includes cost for equipment and food.

The venue is even open for birthday events—a great way for kids to have fun with their friends. Parties are available for children as young as four years old. The party runs around two hours and costs $350 for 10 children or less (with a cost of $20 per additional person, the party being able to accommodate up to 20 children). Try out Apron Strings as a family. Who knows what fun you’ll cook up—and maybe you’ll be asking your children what’s for dinner, for a change.

Being the hedonist that my partner is, particularly when it comes to food, it's a rare occasion when I introduce something she's never had before. Not long after arriving in San Francisco in January, I had the opportunity, and I relished the fact that I'd found them before her as much as the delicious discovery itself.

One afternoon, a colleague arrived at work with a yellow cardboard box and a giant smile on his face. "Beard Papas!" he exclaimed. "What? Beer poppers?" I had no idea what he was talking about. He set down the box and opened it to reveal six wax paper wrapped pastries dusted with confectioners' sugar. Cream puff style pastries, from what I could tell. Well that's cool, I thought; I've never met a cream puff I didn't like, so sure, I'll try one.

One wasn't enough. The three of us at work that day made it through the entire six before we headed home. Every bite was punctuated with a wide-eyed exclamation or a guttural moan of delight. Full to bursting with a unique blend of vanilla bean custard and whipped cream, each pastry was light and crispy on the outside but slightly doughy on the inside, containing the filling with the perfect blend of consistencies.

The Beard Papa story is told on their website in a cute animated short. It all began in Osaka, Japan, with a small bakery where a man the people of Osaka called "Beard Papa", because of his fluffy white beard. After being asked to create a new sweet, Beard Papa was prompted by this nickname-inspiring feature to create the world's most perfect cream puff. Beard Papa now has locations throughout Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore and the US, serving the "World's Best Cream Puffs" in a variety of flavors as well as éclairs, cheesecake sticks, and fondue au chocolat. Always available for Beard Papa fillings are chocolate and the original vanilla bean, and on a rotating weekly schedule are green tea, strawberry, caramel, tiramisu, and pumpkin. Each puff is filled when you order it, ensuring that the pastry itself is still crisp and light.

You can find Beard Papa in the Westfield Center, or at the nearby storefront on Yerba Buena Lane between 3rd and 4th streets. Try just one, if you think it'll do the trick, but I'd suggest having a cup of coffee and eating it nearby – there's a good chance you'll end up going back for a yellow cardboard box full for you and yours.

Whether you’re a belly dancer, a makeup artist, a burlesque performer or just a glamorous girl in need of something sparkly and new, the best place to find an array of festive fripperies is MultiKulti on Valencia.

A few months ago, I had a group of girlfriends visiting, some from as far away as Maine, some who live as close as the Castro. We were having a Girls’ High Holiday, and one of the lovelies brought gifts of glitter and false eyelashes for everyone – courtesy of MultiKulti. I hadn’t yet been, and she went on to rave about the fabulous things you could find in cubbies and corners of this magical store. I made her promise to take me to this wonderland of accessories the next time we hung out in the City, and she was more than happy to oblige.

Though the store hours are listed as 12-7 daily, I’ve been there twice when it was closer to 8:00 p.m. than to 7, and the store has still been bustling with customers. Even at the late hour, the owner has a kind smile for everyone, and is happy to help you find something that is perfect for your mood, be it grumpy or goofy. From the colorfully painted rice bowls in the front display to the sterling silver jewelry in glass cases, the glitter-laden hairpieces to the astounding array of fishnets and tights, there is absolutely something here for every girly girl around. Did I mention that they carry NYX cosmetics? It’s a small selection, but perhaps the only place I know in SF that does, so make sure you add it to your list of makeup musts.

But wait; don’t think for one minute that this means there’s nothing for the less feminine among us! Also to be discovered if one looks just a bit more carefully are argyle suspenders and lanyards covered in Jolly Rogers. They’ve got cigarette and business card cases bearing face cards in spades and luggage locks with skulls for keys. It’s the home of any number of motley curios, ranging from the slightly strange to the truly bizarre.

MultiKulti is a great place to while away half an hour or so while you wait for your table at one of the nearby restaurants, or the perfect spot to get the inspiration or finishing touches for your costume for that upcoming party. Don’t be shy – get the glitter, go for the giant earrings, and find those false lashes – you’re entitled to an all-out glam-out, and this shop will not only make it possible, but make it a whole lot of fun.

Finally, there's a place in San Francisco that caters to the need of those of us who have come of age in the era of serious multi-tasking – Brainwash Café and Laundromat.

This may not seem to be a novel idea to you at first, but that could be because you haven't experienced it for yourself. Sure, there are Laundromat combo places everywhere – laundry and fast food, laundry and video games, laundry and…tanning? But you can't usually find really excellent food, cheap beer, and even live entertainment alongside your triple loader. That's where Brainwash comes into play.

I first learned about Brainwash through my fax machine at work. Every afternoon, we get their daily specials via fax, and while there are days where it arrives a little later than most people have lunch, it's usually sitting on the machine well before I've started thinking about my afternoon meal. And this list isn't your standard café fare – we're talking about homemade soups (corn chowder every day, with a second rotating soup), an eclectic mix of green salads, and a variety of burgers, available cooked to order, that get my vote every time. If you're an early riser, they also serve breakfast from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and I've heard a rumor that, before ten o'clock, they serve up a breakfast burrito the size of your forearm for just a few bucks. The entire menu is similarly priced, with excellent ingredients and plenty of variety with no single meal costing more than $9.00.

Now for the entertainment portion of the show – the Brainwash calendar of events is jam packed with musicians, comedians, open mic nights, and more. Many of the events are recurring, so if one strikes your fancy, you can count on that to keep you going while you do your weekly wash. If you're there earlier in the day and either need to work while your duds are tumbling, or you want to check out the latest PlanJam blog, there's free WiFi and plenty of table space and seating between the laundry side and the café.

Finally, if doing laundry just isn't your thing no matter how many appealing reasons there are to hang out at Brainwash, their wash and fold service is only $0.99 a pound with a ten pound minimum. Just make sure you grab a meal to go – even if they didn't do your laundry for you, the food would be worth stopping by.

If you have a love for contemporary art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is an absolute must. Just the building in which the museum is housed is a sight to behold. Built by famed Swiss architect Mario Botta, this is one of the most remarkable of the attractions in San Francisco. Whether you meander down the corridors by yourself or take your family, there is going to be a piece that catches your eye and your heart.

The museum is comprised of more than 25,000 works of art ranging from paintings to sculptures, architecture and design, as well as media arts. There are standard exhibits as well as moving exhibits that come through the museum for a few months and then move on to other popular art museums in the world. They want everyone to experience the works of artists such as Matisse, photographers such as Munkacsi, and architects such as Felix Schramm. Whatever medium makes your heart soar you can find at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

The artistic program at the museum remains true to the founder’s original vision and is devoted to the exhibition of works that truly showcase the range of modern art. There are oils, canvas, and acrylics just to name a few. The names of the artists may sometimes be unknown but the paintings and art that you see are unmistakable.

Since the conception of the museum in 1935, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has been exhibiting photographs as a true art form. They embrace a wide range of subjects and give you a view of the world in a much different way then what you would read in history books. The photographs are collected from all over the world and embrace it as we have never seen before.

The architecture and design collections show the modernism of how buildings, appliances, and even furniture have developed over time. They not only include designs themselves but drawings, models, photographs, sculpture, and video to give a factual account how the world has evolved. They are one of the only modern art museums that emphasize experimental work in range of design mediums.

Admission:

Adults: $12.50
Seniors: $8
Students: $7
Children (12 and under): Free