Holiday Gift Clueless? Fifi Offers Last-Minute Thoughts

Here’s my tidbit on last-minute holiday gifts.

Personally, Patrick and I enjoy the crowds and the shopping during this cheery season, but I also like to have an idea of what I’m getting for each person on my list.

Patrick has patience galore. All he requests on long shopping days is to have a nice lunch somewhere midday and a relaxing dinner in another restaurant after we’ve wrapped up a pretty long day. When I finish a day of shopping, I often peruse my lists once again, take my own advice and finish up with some of the gift ideas.

There are two books that I am giving to friends who are interested in wine.

I adore the way Oz Clarke writes about wine and I love even more the way he organizes his third and newest edition of “Oz Clarke’s New Essential Wine Book.” It is my favorite book. This is an indispensable guide for the novice or the connoisseur of wines and the wine regions of the world, accompanied by gorgeous photography and maps.

It makes reading about Bordeaux and its wines so much more enjoyable when there are pictures of legendary ch & #226;teaus. Be sure you buy the third edition of this book. Clarke has others with somewhat similar titles, but not the depth or updated information that’s in this version.

This has become what I call a “teddy bear” book for me. I often take it along in my suitcase when traveling or with me in the car while Patrick’s driving so I can brush up on my international wine knowledge.

The book’s 320 pages (it’s a softcover) feature complete coverage of all wine regions of the world, outlining what makes each wine work, what it tastes like and why it is different from its neighbors’ wines.

The half page of consumer information at the end of each chapter is tremendously helpful. It tells you what you get for your money when buying wine from the just-discussed region and it tells of availability, good vintage years and gives some definitive tasting notes.

The other wine book that I use a lot: “Anthony Dias Blue’s Pocket Guide to Wine 2006.” This is a straightforward, softcover book with alphabetical listings of wineries for each wine region of the world. No photography and no pretense. With each winery’s name is a listing of their most popular wines and a short sentence or two on the history of the winery and/or the wines. For someone who is always tracking down the latest tidbits on newer wineries, this is a good resource.

Anthony Dias Blue is the highly respected wine editor of Bon App & #233;tit magazine. Since he has access to the broad scope of global wines, there’s not much he missed. Because it’s so easy to use, my book is dog-eared but happy from frequent use.

For anyone even vaguely interested in food,cooking, dining out or discussing it,there’s no better food bible than the “Food Lover’s Companion, The (Barron’s Cooking Guide) 3rd Edition” by Sharon Tyler Herbst. It’s one of those fat little books made up of 772 pages of indispensable food terminology.

I use my book so often that it’s rarely put back on the bookshelf, more likely to be sitting here ready and right in front of me. Whenever you see some new food descriptor on a menu, want to know about an ingredient or are curious about a dish’s cooking techniques, this alphabetical go-to book has in-depth descriptions covering all bases.

My “Food Lover’s Companion” was a gift from a friend. Every time I use it, I remember our friendship,an added bonus.

I’m finding it easy this year to buy sports lovers tickets to games. Almost anyone appreciates a gift certificate for a spa treatment. For gals, charm bracelets are making a big comeback. For that someone special, select a nice link bracelet and add the first few mementos in the form of meaningful charms. It will make some of your gift-giving easy from now on because you can always present her with more significant charms to add to her nostalgic bracelet.

This has been my year to work to relaxing music,background music that doesn’t distract but mellows out the work environment. You can always start by gifting someone with CDs of nature (winds wafting through trees and birds chirping, ocean waves, etc.).

There are many CDs geared totally to relaxation. If you know someone who practices yoga, Pilates, tai chi or other forms of slow-moving, concentrated exercise, they’ll love having some new background sounds to enhance the calming-down factor.

Of course, we still buy wine for certain friends. I know of no better place to buy interesting, sometimes unknown wines than at Rolf’s Wine Shop in Newport Beach. Owner Rick Webster and his staff are gems at helping us choose the unusual, the interesting and the always worthwhile wines at great prices.

Rather than buy wines that everybody knows about, we love getting feedback about the unique wines that our recipients seem to appreciate. It keeps life from being stuck in the same old rut of doing the same things and drinking the same wines. Rolf’s is at 950 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (949) 631-1212.

And then there’s always gift certificates to restaurants. Many offer you a bonus certificate with when you buy gift certificates of a certain amount. That’s great, but I find myself trying to give certificates to the restaurants my friends may have missed,ones I feel will add a new dimension to their dining experiences.

Two that come to mind are in San Clemente: Village Mediterranean Rim at 123 Avenida Del Mar, (949) 361-8970 and Vine Wine Country Cuisine at 211 N. El Camino Real, (949) 361-2079.

Village Mediterranean is the work of owner/chef Nour Tillo. He designed the little restaurant reminiscent of an exotic hideaway (using his architectural training) that just oozes charm and down-to-earth friendliness. He cooks food that is remarkable in its taste, cleverly conceived in the structure of the dish and that has international touches we just can’t find anywhere else. If ever there was food cooked with passion, this is it. The wine list is just the right size and perfectly matches the food. It’s such a special place. I take my most intensive food and wine friends there because, in the end, it makes me look so knowledgeable.

Vine is the epitome of what we look for in a restaurant when we are in wine country. Small, unpretentious wine barrels are part of the decor. The restaurant features an open kitchen from which great aromas fill the space and wine bottles on every table.

Here the food ranges from unpretentious home-style specialties to dishes designed to match particular wines. Before you even get to the table, you’re enthralled reading the nightly specials listed on a blackboard over the counter fronting the kitchen. It transports us to wine country without the time or expense of actually making the trip.

I think gift certificates to either of these two restaurants will be very much appreciated. The books are all available in bookstores or online.

Cooking Demo

While you’re out and about doing some holiday shopping, relax a bit on either Dec. 16 or 17 at Williams-Sonoma on the upper level of South Coast Plaza.

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on those days, Diego Velasco, chef and founding partner of the Memphis restaurants,in Costa Mesa at 2920 Bristol Ave. and in Santa Ana at Santora Artists Complex, 201 N. Broadway,will be creating pumpkin cr & #269;me br & #369;l & #233;e during a two hour cooking demonstration.

Call Williams-Sonoma ahead to make a reservation. Phone (714) 751-1166. And just think of all the gifts you can pick up at the culinary dream store while you’re there.

Third Child

Rick Reiff, executive editor here at the Business Journal, broke the news last week in his Insider column about a new restaurant called Kimera that will open in early 2007.

Bistango in Irvine and Bayside in Newport Beach are two ultra popular restaurants belonging to the Ghoukassian family and this will be their third venture.

It’s all about location, so the saying goes. Kimera has really locked in on prime space. The restaurant is under construction at Jamboree Road and Fairchild Road at Impac Center. The restaurant will be smack dab between Google’s headquarters and the Equinox gym.

Founder of the restaurants, John Ghoukassian and his son Marc, are allowing this one to have its own personality, just as they’ve done with their other two dining establishments.

The cuisine will be a combination of Japanese and Italian, under the leadership of famed chef Katsuo Nagasawa who is busily working on his menus right now.

“Naga’s” food has thrilled us in Los Angeles so many times and I’ve sent him a long line of customers during the years. In fact, he is no stranger to the Ghoukassians,he was the opening chef for Bistango in the mid-1980s.

I think I’m about ready to buy my own hard hat as they seem to come in handy lately. We donned them for the recent walk-through of the new Ren & #233;e and Henry Segerstrom Hall, and I took a mid-construction stroll with Marc through Kimera.

I can tell you that while will be a convenient spot for employees at the Impac Center, Kimera also will be unique and beautiful enough to be a sought out destination restaurant as well.

Think they’re taking reservations yet? Nah, but I’ll keep you informed so you’ll know when to dial their number.