San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
15 affordable gifts for Bay Area foodies
From wine to accessories and chocolates to coffee, make the holidays jollier for $30 or less
Inflation will force many families to scale down spending for the holidays this year. Luckily, there are many wonderful food- and drink-related gifts that are also affordable. Yes, even in the Bay Area.
Here, the Chronicle Food + Wine team recommends 15 local gifts priced at $30 or less. This price point still gets you to special-occasion territory for home cooks, such as with an intensely fruity vinegar made by noted chefs or a fancy new salt created via an ancient process. For food lovers who don’t spend much time in the kitchen, consider cute baguette-shaped accessories by a local artist or a coloring book depicting restaurants in Oakland’s Chinatown. And there’s always wine, or more fittingly given recent trends, a nice bottle of sake.
Looking for more gift ideas? Also check out our picks for the year’s best cookbooks.
Hog Island Saltworks
Like its briny Tomales Bay oysters, Hog Island’s salt, a new product for the company, channels the waters it comes from. It’s created with an ancient process, using evaporation from sailcloths and finished over a wood-fired stove. These delicate, flaky crystals are for adding that perfect final sprinkle. — C.P.
$12. Sold at Hog Island restaurants in Tomales, San Francisco and Napa. hogislandoysters.com
Boonville Barn Collective’s Piment d’Ville Pepper
The smoky, tomato-like flavor of Espelette pepper is a hallmark of Basque cooking, and also of the flavors at the Boonville Hotel in Mendocino’s
Anderson Valley. But because imported Espelette was costly and less fresh, the restaurant’s former sous-chef, Krissy Scommegna, started growing and drying a version of the prized peppers in California. The result, Piment D’Ville, rivals the original, adding depth and brightness to everything it touches. Sold as a pack of two 1.2-ounce jars, you could split them up as two stocking stuffers, and there are options for spicy or smoky versions, too. — C.P.
$23.99 for two jars. boonvillebarn.com
Camino Red Wine Vinegar
The Bay Area food world was devastated when Oakland’s Camino, often heralded as one of the best restaurants in the region, closed in 2018. The owners also closed their casual restaurant, the Kebabery, last year. But there is one thing fans can still enjoy from chefs Russell Moore and Allison Hopelain: red wine vinegar ($25), barrel-aged for at least four months. The result is intensely fruity and complex, a joyous tool for any passionate home cook to brighten up their dishes. — J.B.
$25. Sold at Bay Area specialty food stores. caminovinegar.square.site
The Crown Jewel Tasting Collection
The Crown in Oakland is among the best of the best coffee shops in the Bay Area. Coffee nerds will appreciate the tasting collection, a sampling of three different singleorigin coffees from Ecuador, Kenya and Ethiopia. Each has its own style and characteristics. The Ecuador is bright and full of berry flavors; the Kenya delivers tropical fruit notes; and the Ethiopia, the most delicate of the bunch, tastes more floral and tealike. Each box comes with three tubes of whole coffee beans, with QR codes linking to more information about each one. — C.H.
$35. 2523 Broadway, Oakland. royalcoffee.com
Electric wine opener
Sommeliers, winemakers and oenophiles like to turn their noses up at this handy gadget. While a traditional corkscrew is certainly more romantic, it’s not foolproof. The electric version ensures that you pull the cork out clean every time and with minimal effort (typically the push of two buttons). There are plenty of solid options for $30 and under, but you can also find fancier versions for more. Make sure you purchase one with a foil cutter; your loved one will never again slice their fingers removing the sharp foil casing. — J.L.
$29.99. purchase Secura on Amazon
Sake from Den Sake Brewery
A tiny experimental operation in West Oakland, Den Sake Brewery has gotten semifinalist nods from the
James Beard awards twice since launching in 2018. With the Bay Area’s recent sake boom — seen on menus at hip restaurants like Daytrip and sharing space with wine at shops like Millay — now is the ideal time to share one of these special bottles with a loved one. Made with Sacramento Valley rice, these sakes are unusually high in acid, with notes of stone fruit and umami followed by a tart, clean finish. You can find bottles at True Sake in San Francisco and Umami Mart in Oakland, but you’ll get the best deal if you buy directly from Den Sake online and pick up your order at the brewery. — J.B.
$29. 2311 Magnolia St., Oakland. densakebrewery.com
Squid-shaped oroshigane from Bernal Cutlery
A grater that’s functional and adorable? This squidshaped oroshigane, made in Japan and sold at Bernal Cutlery in San Francisco, can be used to finely grate ingredients like daikon, ginger or garlic. Plus, it looks cute on the counter. Round out your gift with special goodies from the Mission District store’s incredible pantry section, like Taiwanese soy sauce that ferments for 180 days or a punchy pineapple-miso hot sauce. — E.K.
$12. 766 Valencia St., San Francisco. Bernalcutlery.com
Baguette hair clips from Black Jet Baking Co.
A gift for the person in
your life who wants to rep bread at all times: baguetteshaped hair clips. They’re made by Jenny Lemons, a San Francisco artist, and sold at San Francisco bakery Black Jet Baking Co. If baguettes don’t feel right, Jenny Lemons makes an abundance of foodthemed accessories, from a bright red mushroom-shaped hair claw to a pickle-embroidered hat. (This also provides a perfect excuse to grab a treat while you’re there). — E.K.
$25 for two. 833 Cortland Ave., San Francisco. blackjetbakery.com or jennylemons.com
McBride Sisters wine
The sisters behind the largest Black-owned and women-founded wine company in the U.S. have a compelling story. They grew up separately, not knowing of each other’s existence, reunited later in life and started their business together. They also make compelling wines, both in New Zealand and on the Central Coast, with a particular interest in sparkling and aromatic wines. Give your sister, sibling or other loved one the gift of bubbles with their Black Girl Magic California Sparkling Brut, a line they describe as bigger and more opulent in style. — C.P.
$25.99. www.mcbridesisters.com
Chocolate gift box from Casa de Chocolates
Skip the chocolate boxes with cashew brittle and sour quince logs this year. Berkeley’s Casa de Chocolates offers boxes of bonbons filled with more exciting flavors like passion fruit caramel, spicy mole, rose petals and smokysalty mezcal. Each piece, with shells decorated with patterns or bright colors, is made by hand with Mexican cacao. Build your own six-piece box from Casa de Chocolates’ over 25 flavors, or pick a pre-as
sorted box for a series of fun, bite-size surprises. — M.C.
$20. 2629 Ashby Ave., Berkeley. casadechocolates.com
Contimo Provisions Biscuit Kit
Most Napa Valley tourists understandably flock to Model Bakery for its famous English muffins, but locals have adopted a new cult favorite breakfast item: The buttermilk biscuit sandwiches at Contimo Provisions. Sold in a variety of combinations, like bacon and molasses or pimento cheese, Conitmo’s Biscuit Kit ($11) brings Napa’s best-kept breakfast secret to your loved one’s home. The kit makes 10-12 biscuits and only requires butter and buttermilk to complete the recipe. If you want to attempt to re-create Contimo’s signature
Ham & Jam biscuit, you can add the sliced molassesbrined ham (from $6) to your order, but you’ll have to pick out your own jam. — J.L.
$11. 950 Randolph St., Napa. ordercontimo.square.site
Oakland Chinatown coloring book from Felicia Liang
This coloring book, made by Bay Area artist Felicia Liang, is a charming ode to Oakland’s Chinatown. Get your friend a nice set of pencils or pens so they can pay homage to the neighborhood’s best restaurants — from Ruby King Bakery to Shan Dong and Peony Seafood Restaurant — by coloring in 16 scenes of steam baskets filled with plump dumplings, dangling noodles and egg tarts. — E.K.
$20. etsy.com/shop/byFeliciaLiang
Flour + Water dried pastas
Your friend who always seems to be on the waitlist for a table at Flour + Water should probably cook pasta at home more. Encourage them with a few boxes of Flour + Water’s own dried pastas, available at Flour + Water Pasta Shop in the Mission District, Whole Foods and other grocery stores. Launched last winter, the line of yellow boxes includes spaghetti, macaroni, penne and campanelle. (If you’re just gifting one box, make it the latter. It’s a short shape that feels fancy with its fluted edges.) They’re made with organic semolina and extruded through bronze dies for a rough, textured surface that grips to sauce better than your typical American-made pasta. — J.B.
$5.99 per box. 3000 20th St., San Francisco. https://flourandwaterfoods.com/
Winters Fruit Tree farm banana nut butter
The list of ingredients in this product, made by a century-old farm in Yolo County, reads like a riddle. Banana seasoning? Creme brulee? A spoonful of the stuff, which tastes, as advertised, like banana pie in a jar, might not resolve all your questions. But it will have you reaching for more. The texture is like Speculoos, or cookie butter, with a slight crunch from the caramelized sugar, and the mixture of almonds and walnuts is fluffy and luxurious. It’s the farm’s best-seller for a reason. You can buy it online or find jars at many Bay Area farmers’ markets. — C.P.
$13. wintersfruittree.com
You Guava Be Kidding Me from Far West Cider Co.
If getting into wine seems intimidating and getting into craft beer seems outdated at this point, there is always cider. For your cider-curious friend, Far West Cider Co.’s pink guava cider is a great choice. The Richmond company presses apples grown on a 100-year-old farm with pink guava. The end result is refreshing, neither too dry nor too sweet, with the guava adding tropical, flowery notes. It also pairs well with holiday leftovers. — M.C.
$28 per four-pack. 1325 Canal Blvd., Richmond. farwestcider.square.site
Reach the Food + Wine team: food@sfchronicle.com