IN A YEAR when festive events are dropping off the calendar left and right—from the office holiday party to your annual drinks date with old friends and even family dinners—sending a gift of food or drink is more meaningful than ever. This season’s edible and drinkable gift recommendations are equal parts practical and pure pleasure. When the novelty of cooking or even mixing a cocktail at home has worn perilously thin, these gifts will deliver a satisfying serving of joy to the people you care about. Each one is a celebration waiting to happen.
A Classic Champagne to Toast the End of 2020
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne is sourced from premier cru sites and produced by one of the oldest, most prestigious Champagne houses. With its creamy texture and subtle aromas of pear and lemon, bottled in an old-fashioned flagon, this 100% Chardonnay sparkling wine exudes elegance. And while certainly a special-occasion bottle, it’s made for drinking now; your giftee needn’t feel compelled to hide it away in a cellar for the next 25 years. $70, bassins.com
Substantial Salted Caramels for Grown-Up Appetites
Already a celebrated source of buttery shortbread, mail-order bakery Café Warshafsky has a new caramel sampler ideal for anyone who likes sweets with a salty edge. All three flavors—sea salt, coffee and raspberry—get a generous seasoning of salt crystals that linger on the tongue after the caramel melts away. Each piece yields three big bites, so you could have a nibble and save the rest for later. Not that you’d want to. $20 for 12 caramels, cafewarshafsky.com
Technically Advanced (and Totally Delicious) Chocolate Chips
Some things are hard to improve. Chocolate chip cookies, for instance. But Bay Area bean-to-bar outfit Dandelion Chocolate has done just that with its mega-size single-origin chocolate chips. The claim to fame: a Tesla product designer conceived their unique faceted square shape. But what’s truly extraordinary is their rich flavor, full of fruity complexity and mouth-watering acidity. At 3.5 grams each, they’re as good for snacking as they are for baking. $30 for 500 grams, dandelionchocolate.com
Toys for ‘Top Chef’ Contestants of the Future
If you have a nascent chef in your midst, nothing less than these play food sets from Milton & Goose will do. Produced by hand from natural, non-toxic materials, these trompe l’oeil toys are beautiful objets as well as opportunities for imaginative play. What feasts might a child dream up with a gorgeous onion shaped from glossy wood, a fistful of felt pasta ribbons and a very convincing log of herb-flecked felt goat cheese? From $48 per set, miltonandgoose.com
