A locavore by definition is a person who makes an effort to buy locally produced goods and services.
A locavore by definition is a person who makes an effort to buy locally produced goods and services.
It’s not a bad mantra to adopt for the holidays – or a New Year’s resolution.
The “buy local” movement is a sweeping awareness spreading in practice and trend; a fresh concept that transforms shopping from a chore, to a leisurely treasure-hunting experience.
It’s sustainable and eco-conscious, supports niche businesses that offer artisan treasures distinct from big-box corporate merchandise and puts money back into the local economy.
The locavore practice encourages consumers to ditch the massive, crowded parking lots, meander out to the pastoral nooks, meet the entrepreneur who crafted the product and invest in the attributes that define a city’s profile. For South County, practicing such a lifestyle is ripe for the picking with an abundance of farms, wineries and specialty shops.
The Dispatch visited a handful of venues in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin and Hollister. Enjoy our list of local picks.
Local gift guide
The Garlic Shoppe
842-5649, garlicdude.com
Look for…
– Spicy Pickled Garlic: Larson said it outsells the other pickled flavors 10 to 1 ($5.98)
– Garlic Dude Dust: Sprinkle on French Fries, eggs, popcorn, sauteed asparagus and grilled chicken ($5.98)
– Garlic Blue Cheese Butter: Need we say more? A top 10 best seller; spread it on grilled steak or French bread ($9.98)
– Pumpkin Butter: Add a dollop of joy to your toast ($5.98)
Everything is fair game when it comes to garlic seasoning…
The garlic craze is nothing new to anyone who’s lived here for more than a week, but cooking with it, eating it and giving it never goes out of style.
Stop into the Garlic Shoppe Outlet and say hello to Gilroy-for-lifers Alex and Charlie Larson, a pair of brothers who create and sell gourmet novelties such as specialty spreads, spices and sauces out of their two retail locations, which are more or less city icons.
Alex is a multitasker extraordinaire who can engage in colorful conversation with patrons in person or on the phone, while simultaneously tying ribbons around a gourmet holiday gift basket.
Visit the outlet location now until the day before Christmas, where a table scattered with scissors, colored paper and raffia is a ready workspace for custom-created gift medleys to be decorated and sealed.
The San Ysidro location isn’t far from the other outlets, either, which makes it a convenient holiday shop stop – ask about the garlic ice cream.
More than half of the inventory in the store is grown and packaged locally. Larson pointed out anything with “Mama Rapp’s,” “The Garlic Dude” or “Sandrinos” is a family-owned brand and was produced entirely in Gilroy.
B&R Farms
(831) 637-9168, brfarms.com
Look for…
– Apricot Red Pepper Topping ($7.50): A signature item, which also comes in a flavor without the pepper and is heavenly paired with B&R’s Very Vanilla Pancake Mix ($7.50)
– Dried Blenheim Apricot Chili Preserves: ($7.50)
– Gift packages: Visit the B&R website to browse a bright selection of gift medleys, such as “JiMari’s Sunrise,” which includes Apricot Scone Mix, Apricot Preserves and Apricot Cinnamon Spread ($24.25). There are also a number of Christmas-themed box sets and additional year-round gift baskets.
– Chocolate Treasures: A must. Chocolate-covered Royal Medallion dried apricots covered in milk, dark and white ($24.75)
Apricots abound…
Take a deep breath and soak in the scenery on the short trip out to B&R Farms, an 81-year-old operation owned by the Rossi family since 1929. It’s situated on lush Hollister flatlands amidst orchards of changing colors in a quaint locale of San Benito County.
This specialty operation, which grows, packs and ships its own products, is all things apricot – so much so, the color orange likely runs in the Rossi family’s veins.
“Apricots are my favorite fruit,” said Mary Rossi. “Little did I know, I would marry a farmer. Now, I’m around them 24/7.”
She extends her arms as she stands inside a cheery display set up especially for the holidays. It’s accented by large drying trays propped up against a wall, which bear hundreds of small, circular imprints stained into the wood.
Rossi encourages visitors to visit during December, when B&R sets up their “Cozy Christmas” open house. Their small storefront is open weekly.
Emilio Guglielmo Winery
guglielmowinery.com, 779-2145.
Look for…
– Specialty Themed Gift Baskets: There’s something for every taste. “Heart Healthy,” ($54.95) with red wine, salmon, roasted garlic dip mix, mushroom barley soup and dark chocolate; “Survival Kit” ($27.95), “Port & Cigars” ($39.95); “Taste of Italy” ($119.95); and more.
– 2007 Estate-bottled, Private Reserve Zinfandel: ($22)
– 2009 Private Reserve Rosatello: ($16)
– 2007 Guglielmo Private Reserve Petite Sirah, Estate Grown: ($25)
“Gift basket” is an understatement…
Wine tasting and Christmas shopping under the same roof. It doesn’t get more convenient than that. The Guglielmo winery’s showroom, which is festive and beckoning on the inside with a cellarlike aura that opens into an adjacent display room and barn loft, is as fun to visit as it is to shop.
There are cheeses, cigars, gifts galore and an amicable staff ready to chat over a taste of their award-winning estate-grown Zinfandel.
“This is a people business,” said Gene Guglielmo, who’s great-grandfather founded the winery now surrounded by vines in 1925 before prohibition ended in 1933.
He suggested three of his favorites for holiday giving, including a 2007 Petite Sirah and 2007 Zinfandel – estate grown; “both food-friendly, all-over wines,” he said, picking them out by hand – and a 2009 Italian Rose, or “Rosatello.”
For the wine aficionado, visit the workspace of gift-basket creator extraordinaire Kathleen Tozier, who builds sinfully indulgent creations based on a theme, or to a customer’s specific wishes.
Andy’s Orchard
782-7600, andysorchard.com
Look for…
– Sugar Plums: Teeth sinking dried plums stuffed with a gooey fruit filling, a hint of rum, nuts and honey. Individual ($2.25), stocking stuffer ($7.75) or wooden gift box ($15 and up).
– Chocolate covered peach doughnuts ($1.25)
– Apricot Amaretto Sandwiches ($1.25)
– Andy’s Artisanal Jams: Check out flavors such as Back Tartarian, Flavor King Pluot/Raspberry, Snow Queen White Nectarine, Golden Transparent Gage Plum and more ($10)
– Butter Toffee Almonds ($3.50)
– Angel Kisses: Divinity and caramel filling coated with dark chocolate and topped with a pecan half ($2.50)
– Nostalgic Blenheim Apricot wooden gift boxes, Fiesta Bark gift box or California Sampler gift box (prices vary)
Sugar plums: More than fiction…
Andy Mariani’s treat-filled oasis is a magical country niche off the beaten path.
A long driveway lined with persimmon trees leads up to a homestead storefront with rustic wood walls, an aging tractor out front and a magical trove of every dried fruit, nut and chocolate goody a creative confection connoisseur could peddle.
His onsite retail wonderland exudes a bucolic, general store feel with an old screen door, shelves of artisan preserves and nostalgic signage decorating the interior.
He carries sugar plums – “The Night Before Christmas” wasn’t making anything up – which do, apparently, exist outside the realm of children’s holiday books.
“Try this,” he said, plucking one from a gift box with an antique lithograph print on the top. He peeled away a corner of the golden wrapper and set the palm-sized delight on the counter to try. “There’s no refined sugar.”
One bite revealed soft layers of dried plum, a gooey fruit filling, a hint of rum flavor, nuts and honey.
Mariani, noted fruit expert for the California Rare Fruit Growers organization, runs and owns the 1957 farm. He keeps a stand of samples near the cash register, so be warned: Trying the coconut kiwi tangos, almond brittle or mint chip malt balls may lead to copious amounts of buying.
Clos LaChance Winery
(800) 487-9463, closlachance.com
Look for…
– 3-liter or magnum bottle of 2009 Biagini Pinot Noir, ($85 and $177; savings of $25 and $100)
– Specialty themed gift sets for $35 or less: “Chocolate Lover” with a Zinfandel Port and several bars of dark chocolate, $35; “Wine Taster” with bottle of red or white, gift certificate and VIP Tour & Tasting for up to four people – normal VIP tours cost $25 per person
– 2006 Estate Late Harvest Semillon: A delicious dessert wine paired wonderfully with hard cheeses, pumpkin pie or creme brulet ($4; it’s normally $14)
Magnum wine bottles: The source from which goodness flows…
Nothing says “thank you for inviting me to your Christmas sweater party” like a 3-liter bottle of Pinot Noir with a big red bow on it.
The pastoral drive out to the Clos LaChance tasting room follows winding Watsonville Road, which is nestled in the folds of the Santa Cruz foothills and runs past long rows of gnarled grape vines growing in the sun.
This family-owned an operated winery happened by chance when owners Bill and Brenda Murphy planted some Chardonnay grapes in their small back yard for landscaping purposes back in 1987. They eventually began selling to the public in the early ’90s.
Their daughter Cheryl Murphy, runs sales and marketing for the winery.
She indicates the large format bottles of their 2009 Biagini Pinot Noir, which come in a magnum (two bottles worth) or 3-liter (four bottles worth), are available for the holidays and “make a big impression on someone.”
LJB Farms
842-9755, ljbfarms.com
Look for…
– Stacey’s Jalapeño Jellies: Crafted in Morgan Hill with locally grown fruit, in flavors ranging from blueberry jalapeño, raspberry jalapeño to pineapple habanero. Comes in small ($8), or large ($13).
– Garlic braids: Decorated or undecorated; sizes range from small to large ($7-$26).
– Honey: Sage honey, made in Salinas ($7).
– Pomegranate Jelly: Made in Los Banos ($8)
– Timptations fresh vegetable boxes: Visit timptations.com or call 683-4170
Jelly with attitude…
Everything at LJB Farms is sold out of an old barn that was operated almost a century ago by Brent Bonino’s great-grandfather, who moved to San Martin in 1917. His grandmother moved to Gilroy in 1918.
Agriculture is his family’s legacy, said Bonino, as he glanced around the quaint produce grocery store, which had long braids of garlic hanging on the walls.
His family has cultivated the San Martin land for 93 years. “I was born and raised in this house,” said Bonino, nodding over to the right where his childhood home stood decorated with Christmas lights and seasonal flair.
Bonino carries a cute-as-a-button line of preserves called Stacey’s Jalapeño Jellies, which are crafted in small batches from locally grown fruit and made by a family friend.
Each is parceled the old-fashioned way in glass mason jars with little squares of colored cloth beneath the lid, available in playful flavors such as Raspberry Jalapeño, Blueberry Jalapeño, Pineapple Habanera and more. Bonino said any of the jellies are delicious over cream cheese with crackers, as a glaze for meats or seafood, drizzled over cheesecake or adding pizzazz to the ordinary peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
For a gift that keeps on giving, Bonino’s business partner Tim Chiala runs a business called Timptations, a weekly vegetable box program that prepares a rotating variety of fresh, local produce once a week for its members – it’s also cheaper, compared to grocery store produce.
As a useful and eclectic Christmas gift, Bonino suggests purchasing an online membership for a spouse or friend.
