18
November 2012
CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET
HOLIDAYS
Holiday Gift Guide
We invited CATALYST advertisers to suggest gift ideas for the holidays BY JANE LAIRD
CATALYST readers are an exceptional group when it comes to holiday gift giving (good for you). They avoid big-box, big-mall, blackFriday shopping experiences. They enjoy selecting gifts that are authentic, exotic, creative, healthy, conscious and educational. They prefer to spend their dollars and time, whenever possible, on local products and businesses. This year, we canvassed the CATALYST community to get some experts’ best ideas for gifts that readers would appreciate giving and getting this season. They came up with interesting, artistic and unique suggestions in a range of prices and practicalities.
Drink Well Have you or someone on your gift list ever wanted to become premium winemaker? The Beer Nut believes the best presents are homemade. The nice folks there are taking pre-order deposits through Dec. 5 for Winexpert’s Limited Edition Wine Making Kits. The kits feature vari-
loving friends, a present for every day of the year. They explain that even the most extraordinary Ibis coffee will taste flat if ground and brewed in poor equipment, so Caffe Ibis is now stocking both non-electric (manual) and electric, “artisanal approach” coffee grinders and coffee brewers to ensure the perfect cup. Check out the handsome, functionally designed Chemex and Hario brands for instance. The perfect cup can be piping hot and all-day perfect with the popular Caffe Ibis Thermos/Nissan Travel Cups. Super insulated with triple-wall stainless steel, they are spill- and drip-proof, and will last a lifetime. Select models include a belt/bike/backpack carabiner clip for foot/skipowered commutes. Find locations at CAFFEIBIS.COM
Eat Well
etals from world-renowned wine-growing regions such as Argentina, Italy and Portugal. Give a kit to someone close at hand, and reap the benefits! Kits start at $146. (BEERNUT.COM)
For your beef lovers, try local. Canyon Meadows Ranch raises natural Utah grass-fed beef using sound land stewardship practices. You can order 10-, 20- and 30-pound variety boxes of tasty, healthy, local Canyon Meadows beef, or design your own box. Canyon Meadows’ grassfed beef jerky in Teriyaki, Sweet Pepper and Original flavors are popular, too.
The experts at Caffe Ibis suggest artisanal coffee equipment for your coffee
How about an exotic dining experience? A gift certificate to Takashi invites your
recipient to savor awardwinning chef Takashi Gibo’s tantalizing sushi, sashimi, small plates and hot dishes in his nationally known restaurant at 18 W. Market Street in downtown Salt Lake. Stop by to enjoy the modern Asian ambiance, gawk at the amazing menu and get enough gift certificates for your best friends —and hope they invite you! Liberty Heights Fresh has elegant gift food baskets of some of Salt Lake’s finest provisions—guaranteed to impress—for the budding chef, the lover of fine chocolates, the global gourmand, the connoisseur bartender and more. For your holiday hostess, or any lover of fine cheese, it designs custom cheese platters from local artisanal cheeses and world-class international selections. Give the gift of good health and fine food with a gift subscription to Liberty Heights’ weekly basket of organic fruits and vegetables. Your grateful recipient will enjoy a bounty of fresh-from-the-farm local and regional produce each week; choose six or 13 weeks of sumptuous edibles. See LIBERTYHEIGHTSFRESH.COM for information on delivery, costs and options. Combine eating and drinking
well with suggestions from Scott Evans of popular Pago and new Finca farmto-table restaurants. Book a unique experience for the person who thinks he’s seen everything. You can schedule the Craft Cocktail Dinner at Finca: Three-course Dinner paired with three craft cocktails personally selected/ served by Finca’s bar manager Scott Gardner at $50 per person. Or, the Sommelier Dinner at Pago: Three-course Dinner paired with three natural wines personally selected/served by Pago’s sommelier Evan Lewandowski at $65 per person. Email INFO@FINCASLC.COM to book one or both of these personally crafted dining and beverage experiences.
Be Well Gift certificates for a relaxing massage are always welcome. Knead a Massage, located in Salt Lake and Park City, offers a variety of affordable session lengths, starting at 30 minutes, every day of the week (KNEADAMASSAGE.COM). Healing Mountain Massage School Day Spa in Salt Lake suggests the gift of its popular 30-minute Eucalyptus Steam Bath and 50-minute Swedish Massage Spa Package to help lung congestion and to relax aches and pains away (HEALINGMOUNTAIN.ORG). Both of these options start at under $50. Healing Mountain Massage Day Spa and crystal store also