Goodies for the gourmand

Last-minute, Milwaukee-area Christmas gifts for food and drink lovers

Last-minute, Milwaukee-area Christmas gifts for food and drink lovers.

Maybe your Christmas gift game is well in hand. No? Then maybe you’re beginning to panic. Do the people on your list eat and drink? Yes? Maybe even cook or pour a drink? No problem, then. Milwaukee is filled with last-minute gifts for food and drink lovers. You can shop to boost the local economy with gifts like these and pick them up yourself, often curbside, without having to rely on stressed delivery systems. Some have the advantage of being gifts delivered or picked up in the new year, a gift to look forward to and nothing to wrap now, devoid of any last-minute-shipping turmoil.

Gift cards galore

Of course. An easy and welcome gift. The number of establishments that have them must surely outnumber the ones that don’t, so you have your pick. Choose a place that’s an old favorite of your recipients’, or a new one to check out for the first time; one that’s close to home, or a destination. Your options run in the hundreds (thousands?), but just a few examples: for comforting pasta and more, Ca’lucchenzo (6030 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa; (414) 312-8968; calucchenzo.com), Sorella (2535 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.; (414) 301-6255; sorellamke.com) and Brandywine (W61-N480 Washington Ave., Cedarburg; (262) 618-4683; brandywinecedarburg.com), where gift cards also can be used for Brandywine’s outdoor domes and greenhouse-for-two. La Dama, the modern Mexican restaurant that replaced Crazy Water in Walker’s Point (839 S. Second St.; (414) 645-2606; ladamamke.com) and Chucho’s Red Tacos (formerly Chuy’s Red Tacos), the food truck that’s all about beef birria (4511 S. Sixth St.; (414) 419-0000; facebook.com/chuchosredtacos). And don’t forget bars — pick a favorite or a new-tothem one, such as Corvina Wine Co., a wine bar and a bottle shop (6038 W. Lincoln Ave., West Allis; (414) 546-3407; corvinawinecompany.com). The shop also has a wine club starting at $25 a month (for other such clubs, keep reading).

Or consider stores selling kitchen and bar items and other home goods, like Olson House for Scandinavian design — glassware, candleholders and more. (4326 N. Oakland Ave., Shorewood; (414) 210-2892; olson-house.com).

And then remind the recipient to use the card soon; we want to keep our local businesses busy in what’s sure to be a rough winter.

Tabletop ‘fire pit’ for indoor s’mores

Not everyone has a fire pit in the yard; not everyone has a yard. But we have tables. Orange and Blue Co. (1809 N. Hubbard St., contactless pickup at Uncle Wolfie’s next door; shoporangeandblue.com), sells personal and household goods such as FLIKR Fire ($95), a handmade mini fire pit of sorts for indoors that runs on isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Your giftee can make s’mores in the comfort of their home, with the ambience of an open flame. When not actively s’morzing, FLIKR can cozy up a home this winter.

A cookbook, and provisions

The newest from Milwaukee cookbook author Alamelu Vairavan, also known for her cooking show on PBS Create, checks multiple boxes. “Vegetarian Flavors With Alamelu” would appeal to those trying to eat more vegetables; to cooks looking for inspiration in their pandemic kitchens; to travelers who’ve stayed put but miss the cuisines of the world, like the South Indian flavors in this book.

Recipes — each with a photo — often deploy vegetables found at winter farmers markets right now (like brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and baby kale) besides zucchini, asparagus and more. At last report, the book was still available at Boswell Books (2559 N. Downer Ave.; (414) 332-1181; boswellbooks.com). Pair it with ingredients, tucked into a basket, from any of the area’s South

Asian stores, such as India Groceries and Spices (10701 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa; (414) 771-3535): bags of black mustard seed, cinnamon sticks, unsweetened coconut and urad dal, for instance.

Handmade rolling pins, boards

Camino Workshop crafts handsome wooden objects that include items for food lovers: hand-turned, French-style rolling pins with which to perfect a pie crust (about $39), and downright elegant cutting boards and boards for cheeses and charcuterie (about $32 to $75, with large boards about $120).

Conveniently, Camino makes them in Milwaukee. So although it’s too late to have items shipped for Christmas, shoppers can check what’s in stock at Frannie’s Market (W61-N486 Washington Ave., Cedarburg; (262) 271-1848), Locally Inspired (126 E. Main St., Port Washington; (262) 235-4490), Greyhouse Creative Market (6228 W. State St., Wauwatosa; (414) 339-9996) and Legato Collective (735 N. Water St., Suite 728; (262) 509-0176). And Camino will have items for immediate pickup or local delivery; they’ll be posted at Camino’s Etsy shop and on Instagram in these last days before Christmas.

Ice cream at their door

Besides monthly or quarterly deliveries, these Milwaukee-area small-batch, craft ice cream makers offer gift cards, too.

Purple Door Ice Cream (205 S. Second St.; (414) 988-2521;

purpledooricecream.com; plus locations in Sherman Phoenix and Mequon Public Market) has a pint club that ships a changing lineup of four popular flavors four times a year. That’s a sweet 16 pints to take a gift recipient through 2021 ($240). It’s likely too late to confidently ship other gift options, like the Happy Hour four-pint pack ($35: whiskey, brandy Old Fashioned, beer and pretzels, and a vanilla chaser), but there’s always assembling the pack and personally delivering it.

Ruth Galley’s Craft Ice Cream, a small start-up based in Waukesha County, is for the local ice cream lover — delivery of the company’s uncommon flavors is on wheels, within 25 miles of Milwaukee. Order online

using GIFT2020 as the coupon code to save 10% and denote it as a present, and Ruth Galley’s will contact buyers by email to make arrangements. The Pint of the Month is $30 for three months or $60 for six months, with the recipient choosing one of three new flavors each month. (A second flavor can be added for $6.)

Bottles galore

A bottle of a special spirit or wine is a classic gift. But this year also brings distinctive bottled cocktails and new sources for wine, especially the popular natural, or minimal-intervention, wines, and craft beer collections, too. Some bottles to consider:

A liter of Brandyland Old Fashioned ($50) that’s aged in Central Waters Brewing barrels previously used for Black Gold Rye — just top with sweet or sour — from Burnhearts (2599 S. Logan Ave.; order in person 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m. Dec. 24). Also available as a package with a liter of Tito’s Milk Punch plus Burnhearts knit and trucker hats, tote bag and $20 gift certificate for $100.

At the Bittercube Bazaar & Bar (4828 W. Lisbon Ave.;

bittercubebazaar.com), bottled cocktails include the Quarantine Haircut, Amaro Montenegro, rye whiskey, grappa di Moscato, cherry bark vanilla maple syrup and Bittercube root beer bitters ($28, four servings). The bar’s Holiday Negroni is not the typical Negroni: gin, aquavit, plum brandy, scotch, Americano Bianco, arugula amaro and Bittercube’s chipotle-cacao bitters ($24, three servings).

Some new outlets for wine:

A bar that turned to retail during the pandemic, Voyager (422 E. Lincoln Ave.; (414) 239-8254; voyagermke.com) stocks its charming store with the sorts of things you’d eat with wine on a trip to Europe: stunning cheeses, Marcona almonds, cured meats. Browse and choose a bottle from the global selection, maybe add snacks. Or choose the “Christmas Snack Pack” ($75) that includes a bottle of cava, or buy a wine club subscription, with pickup at the store. Choose one month or longer: Gemini ($50), two bottles for the month; Apollo ($75), four bottles; and Voyager ($100), six bottles (a cheese pairing is $20). Voyager will contact the recipient to personalize the bottles.

The new retail space at the cafe Interval (1600 N. Jackson St.; linktr.ee/intervalmke), called the Corner Store, features wines and treats that include the cafe’s own sour rye and chocolate sourdough breads. Interval, owned by the founder of Pilcrow Coffee, roasts its own coffees, too, and those are available by subscription (starting at $20 a month).

For craft beer lovers:

Draft & Vessel‘s fledgling Wauwatosa location is launching six-month ($129) and 12-month ($249) beer-ofthe-month clubs. Each month brings a four-pack of old favorites or new beers across styles. Order before Dec. 24 for a bonus beer to put under the tree; membership includes a newsletter, Facebook-group access, first crack at limited-release beers at the Tosa bottle shop (newly opened for online sales) and 10% off on purchases there. Pickup starts in January (7479 Harwood Ave.). Order online; link can be found through Facebook. (Enter your own email and change it to the recipient’s later if the gift is a surprise.)

At Erv’s Mug, (130 W. Ryan Road, Oak Creek; (414) 762-5010; ervsmug.com), the annual Christmas flight this year is packaged as a mixed dozen holiday beers to take away for $40, including Boulevard Brewing’s Nutcracker, Raised Grain’s Santa’s Sack and Petrus Sour Beers’ nitro chocolate cherry.

A spot of tea (or tisane)

The eclectic Swoon (5422 W. Vliet St.; (414) 204-9579; swoonllc.com) sells everything from clothing to saucy oven mitts and socks to old-timey candies. The kitchen portion of the store holds local delights for drinkers of teas and tisanes: loose Rishi teas, tisanes from Tippecanoe Herbs ($10); jars of DragonFly Farms’ Honey From the ‘Hood (single origin, you could say; harvested from backyard hives in neighborhoods including Concordia, Bay View and Timmerman West, and communities including Elm Grove). Not made locally but so charming as to be necessary: a broad range of Fred tea infusers ($9.99) that hang from the side of a mug into hot water for steeping (the Mr. T is a fella with perforated swim trunks).

Hot cocoa bombs

They’re the “it” sweet this year across the country, and a perfect little stocking stuffer. If you haven’t tried it yet: The chocolate sphere melts in a mug when hot milk is poured over it, releasing the cocoa mix inside (and often mini marshmallows). Stores haven’t been able to keep them on the shelves, so you likely will have to check beyond your closest confectioner to track them down. Two to consider:

Tabal Chocolate (7515 Harwood

Ave., Wauwatosa; (414) 585-9996; tabalchocolate.com). The bean-to-bar maker sells classic, mocha and matcha flavors of bombs. Tabal makes its single-origin dark chocolate shells (the white chocolate ones come from another purveyor) and fills them with Tabal’s own hot cocoa mix from Peruvian cocoa, and marshmallows. Two sizes, $5 and $8; the shop keeps a waiting list, since the bombs sell so quickly.

At Sweet P’s Pantry (169 E. Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc; (262) 408-9831; sweetpspantry.com), the spheres are made from Belgian chocolate and filled with sipping-chocolate shavings, the confectioner’s own hot cocoa mix and mini marshmallows. (Owner Sharon Pavich notes that grownups can always add a shot of schnapps to theirs.) Each bomb is $5.75; order online for pickup. At some point, Pavich notes, the shop will reach its capacity of orders for Christmas, but she and other confectioners across the area will continue making the bombs long after the holidays. It’s a long winter, after all.

No luck with chocolate bombs? You can’t go wrong with boxes of chocolates, gift boxes (Tabal’s, for example, might have chocolate-nut butters, bars and bags of drinking chocolate) and nonchocolaty goodies (Sweet P’s also makes toffee, candied pecans and caramels in flavors like ginger molasses, New Glarus Spotted Cow beer and Wisconsin cherry).

Contact dining critic Carol Deptolla at carol.deptolla@jrn.com or (414) 2242841, or through the Journal Sentinel Food & Home page on Facebook. Follow her on Twitter at @mkediner or Instagram at @mke_diner.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY DANI CHERCHIO / USA TODAY NETWORK, GETTY IMAGES Clockwise from top: 1. Ruth Galley's Craft Ice Cream's Pint of the Month club. 2. Chocolate bombs. 3. FLIKR Fire, a mini tabletop fire pit.

COURTESY OF SWEET P'S PANTRY This year's food obsession is chocolate bombs, the chocolate spheres that melt in a mug when hot milk is poured over them, releasing a hot cocoa mix and marshmallows. Candy makers are having trouble keeping them in stock, but they'll be around post-holidays, too.

COURTESY OF RUTH GALLEY'S ICE CREAM Recipients choose one flavor from three for Ruth Galley's Craft Ice Cream's Pint of the Month club. In December, those flavors were charcoal buttermint, orange and clove, and gingerbread cookie dough.

COURTESY OF ORANGE AND BLUE CO. The FLIKR Fire, a mini tabletop “fire pit” of sorts for indoor use, available at Orange and Blue Co. in Brewers Hill.

COURTESY OF CAMINO WOODSHOP Camino Woodshop is a Milwaukee maker of French-style rolling pins and cheese and charcuterie boards (and, in the center of the photo, a baby rattle). They’re sold in some area shops and online through Etsy.

CAROL DEPTOLLA/MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL “Vegetarian Flavors With Alamelu” is the latest cookbook by Milwaukee author and PBS Create cooking show host Alamelu Vairavan.

In Bay View, Burnhearts bar is selling bottles of its Brandyland Old Fashioned, which was aged in a barrel that previously held bourbon and stout.

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL A gift of a tea infuser can be bundled with tea or tisane from Milwaukee companies and with honey harvested from area neighborhoods. All can be found at Swoon in Washington Heights.