Ela Carte’s Christmas food and wine guide
Ela has compiled some gift ideas for people who love their food and wine ?
HIGH TEA VOUCHERS
- Impala and Peacock, Tea Atelier, Brunswick: For a vegetarian/non-alcoholic High Tea or Tea Tasting experience
- Hopetoun Tea Rooms: Iconic high tea in the city, gift vouchers start from as little as $50.
- Christmas gift cards from The Hotel Windsor: The Hotel Windsor is selling an array of Christmas gift cards just in time for the festive season, including afternoon tea for two priced at $138 on weekdays and $178 on weekends, as well as a romantic three-course dinner for two including a bottle of sparkling wine for $175.
- Food and beverage vouchers for The Langham Hotel: For differing amounts, and when you buy one for something else, you generally get a kicker for yourself. For the little foodies: Shout them to a Sesame Street High Tea happening at the hotel through January!
COOKING CLASSES:
Most of the cooking schools around Melbourne sell vouchers to be used at any of their classes and workshops, and they can usually be paid for on the phone or online so they’re a great last minute idea, these include:
- The NEFF Market Kitchen at Sth Melbourne Market;
- La Cucina di Sandra, Italian cooking classes in Richmond.
- Masterclasses with Adrian Li from Saigon Sally at The Pantry in Brighton
- Urban Kitchen, big new cooking school in South Melbourne
- Craft & Co in Collingwood – a brand new ‘immersive’ cafe where you can get a voucher to be used across their eatery & bottle store, or get someone a place on one of their workshops on appreciating or making things like beer, wine, cheese, or salumi.
- Home Make it – stock a wide range of kits to let you home brew, make wine, salamis, passata, pasta and cheese at home, and they run DIY workshops through the year.
There’s 20% discount if you order online between now and Christmas – www.homemakeit.com.au
COOKBOOKS:
As always, there are plenty of great cookbooks out in time for Christmas, including:
- Spice Temple by Neil Perry,
- The Big Book of Fabulous Food, by Jane Kennedy
- Venice to Istanbul, by new Rick Stein,
- Food Safari Fire, by Maeve O’Meara
- The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better, by Matt Preston
- The Huxtaburger book
- ‘A Cook’s Story’ by Scott Pickett.
FOR THE BOOZE HOUNDS:
- Gin Masterclass – Bass and Flinders, Red Hill: A great immersive experience that lets you design your very own bottle of gin!
- Distillery tour at Four Pillars: Brand new location for this Yarra Valley gin maker in Healesville, pay for the tour and you’ll get a bottle of gin to take away with you.
- Whisky & Alement Whisky classes ? masterclasses at this CBD bar for the whisky buff.
- Pisco ? Could it be the next ‘it’ drink? The Peruvians and Chileans fight over it’s provenance, but you should just taste it. Grab a bottle of pisco and some good cocktail recipes from Get someone a bottle of Pisco for Christmas, with lots of delicious summer cocktail recipes to experiment with its the go-to spirit for the season.
QUIRKY:
The ‘Dishes 2016’ Calendar, 12 hot chefs, one little wall calendar – http://dishes.com.au
EVENTS:
This year for the first time, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is offering gift cards for their fabulous calendar of events in March 2016. It really is one of my favourite events of the year, and there are a myriad of lunches, dinners, parties and classes to choose from.
The MFWF is offering four gift card options for the 2016 Festival l running 4-13 March. These cards offer recipients unforgettable experiences and will be available for purchase in four categories: $75; $150; $250; or select your own amount/ event.