Champagne Gift Guide 2014

In my opinion, the holidays demand champagne.  And while you're at it, you might as well make it a fabulous bottle of champagne! 

This year there were many wonderful releases - iconic mainstays, limited edition artist collaborations, and adorable little minis that come with a straw and a wristlet.  Seeing that it's 5pm on Christmas Eve, I'm already itching to start popping bottles, so let's get started!

Holiday Cocktails - A Perfect Evening According to Gastronomista

This time of year I receive numerous emails asking me what to serve for the holidays, so I figure I should write a post with all my boozy recommendations!

Drink Responsibly, Y'all

New Year's Day - Bloody Marys - More Than Just a Cocktail

The Bloody Mary is one of the most creative cocktails due to the basic fact that pretty much anything can go into a Bloody Mary.  Anything savory, that is.  I've always loved the epic DIY Bloody Mary Bars found in New Orleans with different tomato juice choices, countless bottles of exotic hot sauce, and an array of garnishes from the traditional celery to pickled vegetables to breakfast meats.  A good Bloody Mary does not follow rules, it is an impulse.  Adding, mixing, and adding more flavorful ingredients until the potation is just right.

You, after a rough night such as New Year's Eve need more than a drink, you need a meal damn it!

This year, I'm excited to make these wildly creative variations on the Bloody Mary created by Top Chef alum Dave Martin - jammed packed with spice, grilled veggies, and you know, a lobster claw or two.   After all, sometimes a perfect Bloody Mary needs an extra lobster claw and a few extra drops of hot sauce.  You know, for the electrolytes.

Captain Mary - Extra Lobster Claw Not Pictured

Captain Mary

Yields One 10 oz Highball Glass

2 oz Ultimat Vodka
4 oz of your Favorite Tomato Juice
2 oz Heirloom Tomatoes
½ tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
1 tsp Red Chili Sauce(sambal olek)
¼ tsp Fresh Horseradish
¼ tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/8 tsp Celery Seed
1/8 tsp Celery Salt
1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Tabasco Sauce

Garnish:  1 Marinated Artichoke Heart; 1 Peppedew Pepper; 1 roasted large shrimp or Lobster Claw

Other suggestions: 1 piece Marinated Bocconcini (stuff this into the center of the peppedew pepper), 1 Roasted Garlic Clove

Blend all ingredients along with ice in a shaker or pitcher and then pour over ice cubes into Highball glass. Serve with skewered garnish resting on glass and serve immediately.

Ultimat Heat - Additional Shrimp Optional

Ultimat Heat
Yields Four 2 oz Shot Glass

2 oz Ultimat Vodka
4 oz Clamato Juice
2 oz Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 Roasted Garlic Clove
½ tsp Fresh Lime Juice
1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper
½ tsp Agave

Garnish:  1 each- 5 inch Bamboo Skewer; 1 roasted Large Shrimp; 1 piece Lemon Rind and 1 piece asparagus

Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and pour into shot glass. Set garnish across the top of the glass and serve.

Gastronomista New Year's Guide: Champagne

As we finish up 2013, and get ready for 2014 I am craving champagne (and I'm sure you are too).  There's no better libation for celebration than champagne, and let's admit it, there's no better reason to celebrate than the New Year.  So break out the ice bucket, it's almost time to pop some bottles!

1.  Keep your champers chilly in a Vintage Pineapple Brass Ice Bucket - looks festive on your bar even when not in use.  $4,700

2.  Pop open a bottle of 2004 Perrier-Jouët Belle-Epoque Brut - and elegant champagne with flavors of candied lemon, white peach, juicy pear, light acidity, and a toasty finish.  $150  If you're not interested in a vintage, a wonderful selection is Perrier-Jouët Champagne Grand Brut, a dry champagne with flavors of honey, candied citrus, fresh pear, and a minerally finish.  $50 

3.  Another fantastic selection is Krug Brut Champagne Grande Cuvée - a blend of different vintages to capture the timeless style of the House of Krug.  Grand Cuvée is a complex champagne with flavors of baking sweet breads, coconut, candied citrus, with undertones of roasted coffee and toasted nuts.  $150

4.  Ring in the New Year with a pair of festive Kate Spade Pop Fizz Earrings $32

5.  Keep your treasures in style with the Kate Spade Champagne Coin Purse $68

6.  Double down on the bubbles with a pair of Effervescent Wanderluster Earrings $95

7.  Yes, you need a sword just for sabering champagne - Laguiole Champagne Saber $300

8.  In the rare occasion that there are bubbles left over, keep them in the bottle with a Gold Champagne Stopper $6

9.  Spoil yourself with Charbonnel et Walker Marc de Champagne Pink Chocolate Truffles $18

10.  Grown Up Gummies infused with Brut and Rosé Champagne $20

11.  If you're out and about this year, and looking for a extra special bottle to ring in the new year, spring for the Limited Edition Moet & Chandon Nectar Rosé Leopard Luxury Edition Methuselah (6L) bottle coated in 22-carat gold leaf etched with leopard spots.  Made in a limited edition of 60 bottles worldwide, this gorgeous bottle is sure to turn heads.  $6,200

12.  For those not interested in a gilded Methuselah, there's a 750 ml of Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial Rosé NV with the same flavors of sweet rose, bright cherry, ginger, and honey.  $65

13.  Forget the flutes, serve champagne in sophisticated LSA Champagne Saucers - an elevated version of the classic coupe.  $99 for 4

14.  Hang festive Vintage Champagne Posters over one's bar $70 and up

15.  Save Water Drink Champagne Totes $22

16.  2004 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, a tête de cuvée made from a highly selected blend of 69% Pinot Noir and 31% Chardonnay that pays homage to Madame Cliquot.  The Grande Dame is a rich and creamy champagne with flavors of crisp grapefruit, brioche, nougat, vanilla and sweet apricot balanced with light chalkiness found in extraordinary champagnes.  $170

Entertaining Guide - New Years Eve Fête

So you want to throw a New Year's Party?  Here's our best tips to make yours a festive and fun bash, from cocktails to nibbles, and recovery strategies on New Years day.  

1.  Send out festive invites in the mail to get people excited - we love these Pop Clink Fizz hand engraved stationary cards from Kate Spade.  $24

2.  It's New Years!  There's no better way to ring in the new year than with a Negroni.  They are one of the world's easiest drinks to make at home, and perfect for a cocktail party (ie. they will impress your friends, and they won't take too much work).  Make sure to grab one of Campari's limited edition holiday art bottles designed by Ugo Nespolo for extra style points.  

Negroni

1 oz Campari

1 oz Beefeater 24 Gin

1 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth

Build over rocks, swipe cut lemon around the rim of the glass, and garnish with a lemon peel.  (A traditional Negroni calls for Orange peel, but we like ours with lemon).  

3.  A handsome bar cart not only brings the room together, but it brings the bar to the party!  We love this vintage brass and perspex bar cart designed by Karl Springer.  

4.  Always serve your cocktails in beautiful glasses - we love these 14k gold triangle glasses that remind us of confetti! $63

5.  Holidays are a perfect time to bring out those amazing jewelry pieces - we're lusting after this vintage Cartier jaguar cuff with yellow gold and blackened silver.

6.  New Year's Eve is the night when all women want to wear sequins.  Go for it.  We suggest a classic black sequin number that you can wear for years to come, like the Sequin Lightbox dress from Madewell.  $158

7.  Gents, dress up.  Your lady looks nice, that means you should look nice too.  Invest in a pair of handsome specs like these Dita frames.  You will thank me when all the ladies swoon over your style!

8.  I learned this trick from Miss Daphne Duquesne - serve caviar on purple potato chips & creme fraiche.  It's easy, fancy, yet approachable.  Don't forget to have plenty of bottles of bubbly on hand to toast at midnight!

9.  I have never enjoyed watching the ball drop, for many reasons.  This year, have your own pinata party at midnight with Confetti System's gold pinatas, and fill it with all kinds of fun treats like candy, toys, and mini bottles of booze!  $140

10.  Sick of all the chit chat?  Play card games instead!  Poker, Gin, Slaps, whatever, but use chic playing cards like this set of gold cards!

11.  Ask your guests to bring bottles of bubbly, and keep them cold in an epic champagne cooler.  Nothing says party like a giant bowl filled with chilling champagne.

12.  Retro champagne coupes add extra flare to a New Years toast - we are smitten with these milk glass coupes from France.

13.  Finish off the evening with Champagne Truffles and Frangelico Truffles by MarieBelle.  $32

14.  So you're the guest to a fabulous fête?  Make sure to bring a memorable gift like this cast bronze bottle opener by Iacoli & McAllister.  $48

15.  Brutal New Year's Hangover?  Cure it with a little hair of the dog.  We always go for a trusty Bloody Mary, extra spicy, with lots of garnishes.  We love Hoosier Momma's Bloody Mary Maker, Absolut Vodka,  pickled okra, celery, lots of worcestershire sauce, a LOT of tobasco, and topped off with a Benny's Meat Straw.  Pre-order and be prepared.  No one wants to be poorly provisioned in the New Year!

Cheers to 2012, and welcome to 2013!!

xxG

An Apple a Day

Snapping into this morning's Granny Smith, we were reminded of the ingenious produce-consumption-documentation device and 2011 calendar by vik design, available for a cool $24 on Etsy. It really would look handsome hanging on the wall above your desk behind the MacBook Air, no? Available in letterpress in either black or white, snatch one now while you're still on top of your resolutions.