A black gift box tied with a gold ribbon and a handwritten card on a counter facing snowy mountains

Gifts by Person: The Ambrosian Pantry Gift Guide

Published 14 Apr 20269 min read

This guide from The Ambrosian Pantry, at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, matches gifts to the people receiving them. It works through seven kinds of recipient, from the chocolate lover to the person who has everything, and for each one names and links a starting gift and says what its maker says it is.

For the Chocolate Lover

Fossa, from Singapore, was co-founded by Yilina, Jay and Charis and makes its bars in small batches, with flavors drawn from Asian teas, spices and desserts. Its Pistachio Meltaway Knafeh (shop Fossa Pistachio Meltaway Knafeh) is a filled bar: a malty Ecuadorian dark chocolate shell around creamy pistachio, tahini and crisp brown butter kataifi pastry. Venchi, from Italy, dates itself to 1878. Silviano Venchi began making chocolate in a small Turin workshop at just 20. The Murrine Gift Box (shop Venchi Murrine Gift Box) holds twelve pieces of Cremino, Venchi's layered squares, among them the Cremino 1878, which sets a layer of white chocolate with almond paste between two layers of milk gianduja.

Dick Taylor was founded in Eureka, in Northern California, in 2010 by Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor, who came to chocolate from woodworking and boat building. Their Black Fig bar (shop Dick Taylor Black Fig) is a 72 percent dark bar made from three organic ingredients: cacao from Kokoa Kamili in Tanzania's Kilombero Valley, cane sugar and California Black Mission figs.

For someone who has already tasted widely, try Naive from Lithuania or Mirzam from Dubai. Naive was founded in 2010 by Domantas Uzpalis in a small village near Vilnius, and its bars include a 62 percent Porcini dark milk chocolate (shop Naive Porcini). Mirzam makes its chocolate from the bean in Dubai. Its 62 percent dark with dates and fennel (shop Mirzam Dates and Fennel) pairs the caramel-like sweetness of dates with the aromatic, slightly savory note of fennel. The craft chocolate complete guide covers more makers, and the guide to why chocolate turns white explains how to keep a gift bar at its best until it is handed over.

For the Home Cook

Burlap & Barrel was founded in 2016 by Ethan Frisch and Ori Zohar and buys its single-origin spices directly from partner farms rather than through commodity traders. Start with Royal Cinnamon (shop Royal Cinnamon), a Vietnamese cinnamon from the Quang Nam mountains with notes of brown butter and orange peel, and Silk Chili (shop Silk Chili), a Marash pepper from Kahramanmaraş in Turkey with mild heat and a tomato-like depth. Pair them with Jacobsen Salt Co. finishing salt from Netarts Bay, Oregon, where Ben Jacobsen founded the company in 2011. The slide tin collection (shop Jacobsen slide tin collection) holds Pure Flake salt beside five infused salts. Graza Drizzle (shop Graza Drizzle) is an early-harvest Picual olive oil from Jaén in Spain, picked in the first two weeks of October while the olives are small and green, and meant for finishing.

Then add a bottle of Giuseppe Giusti balsamic. The Modena house dates its history to 1605, when Giuseppe and Francesco Maria Giusti were entered in the Duke of Modena's register of local businesses. Its 8-year aged balsamic with two gold medals (shop Giusti 8-year balsamic), which Giusti calls il classico, balances sweet and sour with notes of ripe fruit, licorice and black pepper, and the house suggests it with fish, white meat and cheese. The Burlap & Barrel producer guide and the Giuseppe Giusti producer guide tell both houses' stories.

For the Cocktail Enthusiast

The Cocktail Kingdom Leopold jigger (shop Leopold jigger) is 18/8 stainless steel, one ounce over two, with 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 1/2 ounce marks inside, and its shape takes after vintage jiggers of the 1930s. Add a bottle of Angostura aromatic bitters (shop Angostura bitters) and a bottle of Bacanha syrup. Bacanha was created in 2013 and makes its syrups in its workshop near Paris. Its elderflower syrup (shop Bacanha elderflower syrup) is made with organic cane sugar for cocktails, mocktails, sparkling water and coffee. The Angostura bitters guide and the Bacanha syrup guide cover how to use both.

For the Tea Lover

Mariage Frères, from Paris, dates its founding to 1854 and describes its approach as the French Art of Tea. The Grand Coffret Henri (shop Grand Coffret Henri) is a presentation case of 18 individual tins of Mariage Frères teas, 302 grams of tea in all, and the Grand Coffret Henri guide goes through what is inside. For a smaller gift, Marco Polo (shop Marco Polo) is the house's best-known scented black tea, fruity and floral with a velvety character. Mariage Frères suggests 2.5 grams of leaf to 200 ml of water at 95°C for five minutes, and the Marco Polo tea guide covers the rest. For tea lovers sorted by how they brew, from black tea with milk to matcha, see gifts for tea lovers.

For the Pen & Paper Person

Pair a Kaweco Sport fountain pen or a Lamy Safari with a LEUCHTTURM1917 notebook. The steel Sport (shop Kaweco Steel Sport) is 10.5 cm long capped and 13 cm with the cap posted, and its weight lets it rest on the paper as it writes. The Lamy Safari (shop Lamy Safari) dates from the 1980s and is recognizable by its self-sprung clip. The LEUCHTTURM1917 medium A5 notebook (shop LEUCHTTURM1917 A5 notebook) has 251 numbered pages, a blank table of contents and a thread binding that opens flat. For someone who still writes by hand, add Blackwing pencils (shop Blackwing 602 gift box). For a first fountain pen, the guide to how to use a fountain pen covers cartridges, converters and care.

For the Tinned Fish Curious

A tinned fish board takes three or four tins from José Gourmet, Fishwife and Gueyu Mar, with Rustic Bakery flatbread and Jacobsen Salt Co. flake salt. José Gourmet is a Portuguese house that began during the economic crisis of 2008, and each of its packages is designed by a different artist invited by co-founder Luís Mendonça. Its sardines in extra virgin olive oil (shop José Gourmet sardines) are the straightforward place to begin. Fishwife's sardines with hot pepper (shop Fishwife sardines with hot pepper) bring heat, and Gueyu Mar's bonito albacore (shop Gueyu Mar bonito) is chargrilled before it is packed in extra virgin olive oil. Rustic Bakery makes its sourdough flatbreads by hand, and the sel gris (shop Rustic Bakery sel gris flatbread) goes on the board beside the fish. Include a José Gourmet ceramic serving dish (shop José Gourmet ceramic dish) to serve the fish in. The guide to hosting a tinned fish tasting covers how to turn the board into an evening.

For the Person Who Has Everything

Les Anis de Flavigny dates its candies to 1591, and they are made today inside the old abbey at Flavigny in Burgundy. Each one starts as a single anise seed, wrapped layer by layer over days in fine coats of flavored syrup until it becomes a white sweet. The rose pastilles come in an oval tin (shop Anis de Flavigny rose pastilles), and the Les Anis de Flavigny producer guide tells the abbey's story.

Canned Gifts seals its plush animals in cans. Hoot the Owl (shop Hoot the Owl) is a plush of about five inches sealed in a can with a tab pop top, with owl jokes and a fact printed on the can. Others in the line include Inky the Octopus (shop Inky the Octopus) and Monarch the Grizzly Bear (shop Monarch the Grizzly Bear). Opening the can is part of the gift.

The Guide at a Glance

For	Start with	What it is	Pair with
The chocolate lover	Fossa Pistachio Meltaway Knafeh	Ecuadorian dark chocolate shell around pistachio, tahini and kataifi	Dick Taylor Black Fig or a Venchi Murrine Gift Box
The well-tasted chocolate eater	Naive Porcini 62 percent	Dark milk chocolate with porcini, from Lithuania	Mirzam dates and fennel, from Dubai
The home cook	Burlap & Barrel Royal Cinnamon and Silk Chili	Single-origin spices bought directly from partner farms	Jacobsen salt, Graza Drizzle, Giusti 8-year balsamic
The cocktail enthusiast	Cocktail Kingdom Leopold jigger	18/8 steel, one ounce over two, with interior marks	Angostura bitters and a Bacanha syrup
The tea lover	Mariage Frères Grand Coffret Henri	18 tins of tea, 302 grams in all	Marco Polo for a smaller gift
The pen and paper person	Kaweco Sport or Lamy Safari	A 10.5 cm steel fountain pen or a pen introduced in the 1980s	LEUCHTTURM1917 A5 and Blackwing pencils
The tinned fish curious	Three or four tins	José Gourmet, Fishwife and Gueyu Mar	Rustic Bakery flatbread, flake salt, a ceramic dish
The person who has everything	Les Anis de Flavigny	Anise candies from an old abbey, dated by their maker to 1591	A Canned Gifts plush

Putting a Gift Together

The simplest gift box takes one piece from each of two rows of the table, such as a chocolate bar and a tin of tea. For a host rather than a friend, the pantry host gift guide matches gifts to the kind of host. For gifts that have to ship and then wait under the tree, Christmas food gifts that travel well sorts foods by how well they keep.

Visit Us

The Ambrosian Pantry is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver. Visitors can ask staff questions in the shop, and products ship across the continental U.S. from theambrosianpantry.com. The Cherry Creek district guide covers the neighborhood around the shop.

See also: the corporate and client gifting guide.

See also: edible gifts for men, sorted by habit, and journal gift ideas for her, a notebook and pen matched to how she writes.

See also: Christmas gifts for her, by what she already reaches for, and holiday gifts for friends, by budget.

See also: edible birthday gifts, matched to a sweet, savory or drinks person, and holiday gifts for family, one box for the whole household.