About
I pick them. Then I use them.
Benjamin Draffin
I live in NoPa, a few blocks from the shop, and I am settled in San Francisco. Friends already ask which sunscreen, which shaker, which mouse. I do the research, I use the thing, and I tell them what I would buy.
Ben's Best is that habit, six days a week, with the answer in your hands. I spent years in software and security in this city. The recommendations started because I pay attention to the things I use every day. This is my first store.
The walls are for painters and sculptors working here, a rotating set from the scene I know through Decentered Arts, where I chair the board.
How a thing earns the table
- 01
The question comes first
Someone asks which one to buy. When that question keeps coming up, the category belongs in the shop.
- 02
Live with the finalists
A spec sheet is the start. The decision is the weight in the hand, the night it runs, the morning you still want it.
- 03
Keep one
The shelf holds the answer I would give a friend. One in the category, where you can see it.
- 04
You get to handle it
In the shop you check the pour, the weight, and the packed size with your own hands before you buy.
- 05
It can leave
When something better shows up, the old one comes off the table. The standard stays.