Here are my best holiday gift picks for your friends and family who love food and drink.
• Foodies:
Keri Buhman of C’est la Vie has ready-made baskets priced from $45 to $100. You can also create custom baskets with items from Keri’s curated stock of wine, cheese, housemade goodies (spiced nuts, compound butters, dressings), and Vancouver Farmers Market favorites. Empty baskets and handmade greeting cards from Cards by Jessica are available. My favorite section of the store is the refrigerated case with cheese, housemade compound butter, housemade dressings, Olympic Provisions sausage, and pate. There you will find Humboldt Fog Haze Remix cheese from Cypress Grove — fennel pollen and lavender are substituted for the ash usually sandwiched in this rich goat cheese. There is also a triple cream blue cheese from New Zealand called Kikorangi that has the creaminess of a triple cream brie with the tanginess and strength of a blue cheese.
If you have a hot sauce lover on your list, locally made Silagy Sauce will make them discard that Rooster stuff in favor of this fresh hot sauce packed with smoked peppers, fresh herbs and citrus. You can order it online and have it shipped (www.silagysauce.com) or buy it at the places listed on their website.
• Coffee lovers:
For coffee lovers on your list, I recommend putting together a little Taste of Vancouver variety pack with a bag of beans from local coffee roasters Paper Tiger, Compass Coffee, and Relevant Coffee (who recently took 1st Place at the Cascadia Cup Roasting Competition in Portland). If you see a motorcycle parked by Paper Tiger that means that owner and roaster, Kenny Fletcher, is on the premises. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of coffee and can make sure you get the right beans for your loved one. Compass Coffee has a seasonal roast called Northern Lights which is a blend of beans from Colombia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. According to the barista I spoke to, there is a limited quantity of this blend and it will most likely be sold out by Christmas. The shot I tried had a chocolate-y flavor with a bit of cherry.
