This year, your holidays might involve a quick hello or dropping off presents at doorsteps.
We all know what a difficult year it’s been for restaurants, yet they continue to fight the good fight. During the holidays, restaurants are getting creative with take-home items ranging from gift-worthy specialty items to festive desserts.
With this in mind, why not give restaurants some love while sending a culinary gift that your foodie friends will love?
To get you started, here are some of the latest holiday-themed food and drink offerings we’ve spotted at local restaurants that we’re smitten about. Check in with your favorite restaurant too, as more and more such offerings that make for great gifts are expected to pop up in the coming weeks.
And keep in mind that during the pandemic, pre-orders are recommended, and sometimes required, so check with each place for the latest updates.
BETTY AND EARL’S SWEET COMFORT KIT
This new standout spot at Potluck in Rosedale Center offers not only biscuits, but other delicious items such as cream puffs, cakes, cookies, macaroons and pies. For a gift, consider the B&E Comfort Kit ($15) — choice of mini pie (Pecan-Bourbon, Pumpkin, Cranberry-Vanilla Swirl Cheesecake), chocolate chunk cookie, chocolate chunk butterscotch cookie and a Minne’sno’ta cookie. As if they hadn’t already thought of everything, the kit comes in a box tied with ribbon and a sharpie so you can write a special message. The kit just became available last week and will be offered “until the end of the pandemic.” A la carte holiday themed offerings are also available and include Gingerbread Cake, Gingerbread Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, coconut Macaroons, Mini Pie Trio and Eggnog Monster Cream Puff. Note that all Christmas orders need to be placed by Dec. 21 and picked up by 5 p.m. Dec. 24.
Betty and Earl’s at Potluck, Rosedale Center, 1595 Minnesota 36, Roseville; potluckmn.com; bettyandearls.com
COSSETTA’S PASTICCERIA HOLIDAY PANETTONE
Every year, this West Seventh Street spot goes all out for the holidays including churning out some festive, and often labor intensive, holiday desserts. One of our favorites is the panettone ($28, $35 in a commemorative box) — the Italian yeast-leavened bread with candied fruit traditionally eaten during the holidays. The ones made here are no small feat. Ingredients are brought in from Italy and the process takes a few days to make. Ingredients include an 100-year-old starter from Italy that owner Dave Cossetta said the crew brought back from when they learned to make it from one of the top pastry guys in Italy. Two varieties are offered: a traditional one and a chocolate concoction. Order a festive yule log cake ($43) while you’re at it.
Cossetta’s, 211 W. 7th St., St. Paul; 651-222-3476; cossettas.com
HOLA AREPA/HAI HAI KEEP IT SPICY KIT
When chef/owner Christina Nguyen made housemade salsas at Hola Arepa available for pickup at the start of the pandemic, the items sold out within days. Now, Nguyen is offering a twofer for the holidays by packaging a Nut & Seed Salsa Macha from Hola Arepa with another sought after item, the Coconut Chili Crisp from her Hai Hai restaurant. We love the Keep It Spicy Kit ($18) for gifts because these condiments are so versatile that you can add them to anything — eggs, veggies, broths, you name it. Or better yet, order takeout from one of the restaurants and add the sauces to those dishes. Do one even better and make it a threefer: add one of the above-par cocktail kits at Hola Arepa and Hai Hai to your order. Available for curbside pickup, takeout or delivery.
Hola Arepa (3501 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; 612-345-5583; holaarepa.com) and Hai Hai (2121 University Ave. NE, Minneapolis; 612-223-8640; haihaimpls.com)
MOJO MONKEY DONUTS HOLIDAY PASTRIES
So much goodness is happening for the holidays at this favorite spot! Mojo Monkey is cranking up the festivities in megawatt fashion. Every weekend in December through Dec. 20, specialty holiday donuts abound such as Spiked Eggnog Sour Cream Old Fashioned with Irish Cream Brandy glaze and Death by Chocolate with a signature dark chocolate cake, espresso ganache, chocolate mousse and truffle. And let’s not forget the Gingerbread, Chestnut Praline Creme Brulee and Peppermint Mocha Mousse bismarks. In addition to weekend specials, pre-orders can be made for Christmas Eve pick up of the 12 Days of Christmas box that has become a tradition for many families, in which Mojo pairs a donut to match each day of the song ($60). Also available for pre-order and Christmas Eve pick up is a decadent Donut Strata with a French toast made with Mojo’s famous raised dough, pecan and Swiss cheese. The strata can be ordered with nitrate-free sausage from Mississippi Market or without (7-10 servings; $26). A reminder that during the pandemic, hours have changed to weekends only (8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday). Items often sell out before noon, so pre-orders are highly recommended. Pickup as well as delivery options are available.
Mojo Monkey Donuts, 1169 W. Seventh St., St. Paul; 651-224-0142; mojomonkey.biz
PIZZERIA LOLA KIMCHI
Attention kimchi lovers out there — this may be one of the best things that’s happened in a jar, ever. I seriously rejoiced when I heard the news. James Beard-winning chef Ann Kim (Pizzeria Lola, Hello Pizza, Young Joni) is now selling her famous kimchi in jars to go. I’m about to grab another jar for myself, and then a few more for presents for my kimchi lovers out there. Order it for take-home ($12 a pint) and dollop it on top of any of the pizzas or other takeout items from your order. Or add it to anything you’re cooking at home (I especially love to pile it on top of a bowl of rice with a fried egg). The dining room at Pizzeria Lola is currently closed, but takeaway seven days a week is alive and well. Place an order online or by calling the restaurant beforehand. And by the way, we also spotted the kimchi available by the pint at Kim’s Young Joni restaurant in northeast Minneapolis.
Pizzeria Lola, 5557 Xerxes Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-424-8338; pizzerialola.com and Young Joni, 165 13th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis; 612-345-5719
ST. CROIX CHOCOLATE COMPANY CONFECTIONS
When it comes to the chocolate lover on your list, it’s always a treat to get something from here. After all, the St. Croix Valley spot’s many awards include another one as of late — Best Chocolatiers and Confectioners in America 2020. A holiday catalogue that can be found online features close to a dozen holiday packages (starting at $10) including assorted chocolates, peppermint bark and even a hand-decorated chocolate ornament. New to the line up are cocoa bombs in Classic Dark, Caramel, Peppermint, Raspberry Ripple, Snowball, Holiday Party (gingerbread-spiced) and Dark Vegan. Also new are small-batch caramel sauces made in-house. Flavors include Salted Butter Caramel, Orange & Cardamom, Jamaican Rum, Dark Roast Coffee, and Chili–peppered Passionfruit. St. Croix Chocolate Company’s store hours are from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, plus extended days and hours in December. Private shopping times are available, too. In addition to its shop on Marine on St. Croix, some of St. Croix Chocolate Company’s chocolates are also available at Golden Fig in St. Paul.
St. Croix Chocolate Company, 261 Parker St., Marine on St. Croix; order by phone at 651-433-1400 or online at stcroixchocolateco.com
THE BUTTERED TIN
This gem of a Lowertown bakery has risen to the occasion over and over. Owner/Pastry Chef Alicia Hinze has done it again this holiday season with Cookie Tins ($25), a pretty assortment that includes not only the bakery’s famous molasses cookies, but lemon cream, shortbread and Russian tea cake varieties as well. Other holiday promotions include a Holiday Gift Basket ($25) featuring a special blend B&W coffee beans, a Buttered Tin mug, housemade toffee and jam. Also, with every $50 gift card purchase, get a Buttered Tin mug during the holiday gift season.
The Buttered Tin, 237 E. 7th St., St. Paul; 651-224-2300; thebutteredtin.com
