Some eminent names in Atlantic City’s culinary field share ideas for gifts this holiday season.
The "Big Green Egg"
If you’ve got an inveterate food fanatic on your holiday shopping list, someone who truly appreciates all things gastronomic, this column is for you.
We’ve asked some of the region’s finest chefs to share their tips for holiday gift giving, both items they would enjoy receiving, or ones they might likely offer up to others.
Sammy Demarco, Sammy D’s, Harrahs — I would love any rare cigars, gins or scotch … and I’ll send you my address. Give the gift of knowledge and pair it with taste — a cookbook and a bag of tea. Gift cards to chef tastings or events such as ‘B.R. Guest.’ We also do a lot of cooking classes, chef demonstrations, wine tastings that you can get a gift card for. Cool stocking stuffers might be flavored salts, vinegars, oils and the like.
Jose Garces, Revel — Garces Trading Company Chocolate Bars. Our chocolate bars are a great gift. The fun and unusual flavors set them apart from other artisanal chocolates, and I think they’re a wonderful showcase for some of our unusual ingredients and also for how versatile high-quality chocolate can be. Available in four varieties — Marcona almond with pimenton de la vera, porcini and thyme, mole Amarillo, and Café con leche — the bars combine artisanal chef selected ingredients such as mushrooms, smoked paprika and sesame seeds, with top-notch chocolate to create one-of-a-kind sweets perfect for giving as gifts.
Jamie Quintana, Teplitzky’s in The Chelsea hotel — A great holiday gift is a knife sharpener. It’s an essential tool for anyone who likes to create amazing meals whether it’s at the restaurant or at home. A great gift for me to receive would be for the NHL lockout to be over so I can enjoy watching the Flyers play on my days off. A great gift that I will be giving this year is Teplitzky’s house-made granola. Not only is it delicious but it’s healthy. You can eat it by the bag full without having to worry about beginning a gym membership on January first.
Ed Daggers, Atlantic City Country Club — I like to give people gifts with some thought behind it. If it’s someone close to me I find out what they really like and enjoy, a hobby item or if they like chocolate I might for example make them a chocolate torte or buy a good gourmet product. Vermont has all kinds of artisan gourmet products or maybe nice a piece of pottery serving platter. I paint so I might paint a picture of their home and give to them. One of my new favorite cakes to make is a tres leches cake (three milk cake). This is different and outstanding.
Jose Garces’ Distrito Cantina brings his Philly-based Guapos Tacos food truck concept to Revel
Professional kitchens are typically male-dominated environments with higher levels of testosterone than most NFL locker rooms. As a result, we’re always gratified seeing more “X” chromosomes involved.
Though Atlantic City’s first lady tried to save the best for last, it was difficult — at 7’1” — to keep the “Shaquo-Claus,” as she referred to Shaquille O'Neal, a secret while the children enjoyed their afternoon.
With the holidays swiftly approaching, there’s shopping to be done, whether it be selecting gifts for the family, purchasing new trimmings for the tree, or picking up the fixings for your holiday meal. Luckily, if you live in Atlantic or Cape May County, you don’t have to go far to cash in on some deals. There are great shopping venues from Smithville to Cape May where you can find everything you need to make your holiday special, and you can do it without breaking your budget. Finding the perfect gift for that special someone on your list can be a hassle, but don’t let holiday gift giving stress you out. Use our store suggestions to find one-of-a kind treasures for your loved ones. Shops at Historic Smithville — If you are looking for something unique for that hard–to-please person, the shops at Historic Smithville is the place to go. With 71 shops on site, there is much to choose from. A few of our favorites: The Christmas Shoppe is the perfect place if you need an ornament for the annual ornament exchange. With thousands...
From local goodies and stocking stuffers to charitable ideas and more!
Plus the Running of the Santas at the Tropicana, the album of the week (Greg brown) and the Drew Toonz weekly comic
The Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority offers the following suggestions to "DO AC Free For The Holidays."
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1. Jerome said... on Dec 21, 2012 at 04:38PM
“Hey - this is for any chefs reading this article. What culinary item would make a good gift for a chef who has "everything"????”