When it comes to thoughtful gifts, this year’s GT x Sorry Thanks I Love You Christmas boutique has them in spades. Among the items selected by our Restaurant Award winners (natural wine! Hand-forged knives! Natural wine!) and the small-batch chocolate, honey, olive oil, salt and other delicious trimmings there are some tough choices to make. Take inspiration from what team GT will be stashing under the tree.
Lead photo by Rowan Jackson.
Ferment by Holly Davis
Ferment by Holly Davis
I’ve gift-wrapped Holly Davis’s Ferment for my home cook, a man whose new-found enthusiasm for fermented cabbage has earned him the title Dr Kimchi in the neighbourhood. Once he masters the Korean dark arts, it’ll be a natural progression to starters and booches and other cultured alchemies I may live to regret.
Helen Anderson, travel editor
GT X DRNKS Barossa wine pack
GT X DRNKS Barossa wine pack
DRNKS put together a special Barossa Valley pack of five natural wines for the pop-up, with a few favourites nominated by GT‘s Restaurant of the Year chef, Jock Zonfrillo. Yetti and the Kokonut, Smallfry, Tom Shobbrook, Sigurd – it’s perfect party juice. I’ll be wrapping this up for my brother, Tom, and hoping he’ll get the hint to invite me over for dinner.
Maggie Scardifield, news editor
$160; sorrythanksiloveyou.com/drnks
Photo by Andy Braithwaite.
Bruny Island Beer and Cheese pack
Bruny Island Beer and Cheese pack
These won’t be the beers we leave out for Santa. I’m going to generously buy this beer and cheese pack for my husband on the condition that he generously shares it all with me. On our deck, as the sun sets, they’ll make a very fine way to close Christmas Day.
Sarah Oakes, editor
$90; sorrythanksiloveyou.com/food/cheese/bruny-island-beer-and-cheese
Zalto Champagne glasses
Zalto Champagne glasses
Have you ever seen a prettier Champagne glass? This Christmas I’ll be carefully wrapping up a pair of these elegant Zalto flutes for a friend who has just bought a new place. They were nominated for the pop-up by Caitlyn Rees, the sommelier at Fred’s in Sydney. I think they’re the perfect Christmas and house-warming gift combined.
Brooke Donaldson, art director
Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin
Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin
My husband and I tried this beautiful craft gin while on holiday in Melbourne and have been obsessed with it ever since. Four Pillars recommends it in a summery concoction called The Bloody Jasmine – made with Campari, dry Curacao, fresh lemon juice and orange bitters. It’s insanely pretty and, more importantly, insanely delicious.
Liz Elton, creative director
Adelaide Hills Distillery Australian Green Ant Gin
Adelaide Hills Distillery Australian Green Ant Gin
My best friend’s father is quite the gin connoisseur, so what better way to welcome him out of the depths of a Swedish winter and into his first Australian Christmas than with a boutique gin laced with Australian green ants? The native finger lime and strawberry gum are no slouches, either. G&Ts all round.
Harriet Davidson, editorial coordinator
Ciccone & Sons chocolate shell
Ciccone & Sons chocolate shell
Who doesn’t remember the childhood thrill of watching rivers of chocolate sauce set on your ice-cream? This Christmas I’ll be passing that moment on to my niece with a bottle of Ciccone & Sons’ all-natural chocolate sauce, made with dark chocolate and coconut oil.
Emma Breheny, digital writer
Table 181 white sesame oil
Table 181 white sesame oil
Paul and Idylle Lee’s new showroom for their top-shelf kitchen goodies imported from Korea is one of Sydney’s best-kept culinary secrets. If you can’t make the trip to Banksmeadow before Christmas to have a look around, get your taste from our pop-up – this single-origin white sesame oil is good enough for the Sorry, the Thanks and the I Love You all at once, so I’ll be buying it for everyone I know.
Pat Nourse, managing editor
Josh Niland’s fish weight
Josh Niland’s fish weight
My mum practically lives off fish and is a big fan of Saint Peter in Sydney, so with this custom weight, designed by Josh Niland to help cook fish evenly and achieve a crisp skin, she can enjoy better fish, and have some Saint Peter savvy at home, too. No more weighing down snapper fillets with dirty old saucepans, plus it’s a win-win whenever I pay her a visit.
David Matthews, subeditor
