The $1500 pizza oven and other blowout gifts the Good Food team is dreaming about
Let’s pretend we’ve been really, really good this year and that Santa isn’t feeling the pinch in these days of rising prices and cozzie livs pressures. Here’s what the gifts under the tree would look like for the Good Food team if the sleigh had taken flight from the North Pole with a cargo of money’s-no-object gifts on board.
Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven, $1499
This is the definition of blowout. But since reading Dani Valent’s pizza oven road test earlier this year, I’ve been pining for this portable oven, which runs on charcoal, wood and gas. Santa, I don’t mind if there are no other gifts under the tree this year. I’ll be too busy working on my home-made pizza, focaccia and naan, and dabbling with recipes involving spatchcocked chicken, mussels or home-grown tomatoes this summer. Roslyn Grundy
au.ooni.com
Oyster forks and cocktail sticks by Cydra, $70-$145
If you’re looking to splurge on drink and snack accoutrements, the ones handmade by Cydra Joyce Cornall in her studio in Newtown, in Sydney’s inner west, are damn fine. Take your martini to the next level by skewering an olive with a sterling silver pick topped with either chicken feet-shaped cultured pearl or vintage abalone beads ($70), or guide a freshly shucked oyster into your mouth with an elegant oyster fork ($145). When not making these and jewellery, Cornall is an assistant distiller at Marrickville distillery Ester Spirits. Sarah Norris
instagram.com/___cydra___/
Handwoven Merienda Placemat by Tarta Gelatina, $100 for a set of four
I imagine these cotton placemats brightening my dining table on a lazy Sunday morning, alongside stacks of pillowy buttermilk pancakes, a pitcher of freshly brewed coffee and a vase of blooming zinnias. They’re hand-woven and hand-dyed, designed in Barcelona, and could be worth the splurge for friends who find joy in maximalist, colourful interiors. Find them at Hands (hands.com.au) in Sydney and Pinky’s in Melbourne(pinkysstore.com). Bianca Hrovat
IXL Pit n Grill – Deluxe Kit, $439.20
Fire pit in winter, barbecue party in summer, this deluxe kit from Geelong’s IXL Appliances has me plotting backyard gatherings all times of year. With an open-flame fire, rotisserie and barbecue all in one, it’s perfect for using with dry, seasoned hardwood or cooking with heat beads or charcoal. Removable steel legs make it easy to store and (relatively) portable. Load up the hot plates with lamb kofta, marinated chicken, seafood or old-school steaks and sausages for beautiful charry flavours that will beat your old gas barbecue any day. Megan Johnston
ixlappliances.com.au
Schizzato Splatter Platter from Alex and Trahanas, $280
I am besotted with all the bright handmade and handpainted ceramics and table linen from Alex and Trahanas. Splashed with vibrant yellows, blues and greens that evoke fantasies of sun-drenched Italian seaside feasts, they can’t help but make you smile. Literally everything is highly covetable, but the scalloped splatter platter made by Puglian artisans has me dreaming of antipasti even more than usual. This really is amore. Andrea McGinniss
alexandtrahanas.com
A year’s worth of Swill magazine, $172
What defines luxury? For me, it’s something made with blood, sweat, tears and love; something uncompromising in its purpose; or something that celebrates traditional qualities such as craftsmanship and knowledge in a nontraditional way. Bingo, along comes Swill magazine, with all of the above spilling out of 196 big, thick, heavy pages. Launched as a quarterly publication in 2022 by the Swillhouse Group (Restaurant Hubert et al.) and edited by former Good Food Guide editor Myffy Rigby, Swill is a shrewd, knowing view of restaurant culture and its soft ticklish subcultures. The fact that it exists at all is highly improbable and very delicious. Jill Dupleix
shop.swillhouse.com
Atelier Perceval 9.47 table knife, from $165 a pair
Designed by French chef Yves Charles almost two decades ago, the 9.47 might be the best table knife to hold, cut with, and just plain look at. The factory semi-regularly releases new colours and handles, taking a leaf from the book of Le Creuset marketing, and while I’m terribly partial to the pistachio green, I will gladly receive any. Not cheap, though. Callan Boys
couteau.com
Our Place Always Pan, $275
Our Place pans launched in the US in 2019 to a blitz of media coverage, including being dubbed the “kitchen magician” by Oprah Winfrey and a “pan for just about anything” by The New York Times. They’ve supposedly sold out 30 times over. I just like the pans because they are pretty, and I want one on my stove top at all times like some kind of food-lover’s installation. The fact the pans are non-toxic, non-stick and come in a rainbow of colours with a steamer basket, and a wooden spatula you can attach are mere bonuses. Oh, and they recently became available in Australia, making it easy for you, Santa. Ardyn Bernoth
fromourplace.com
By Farr Tout Pres Pinot Noir 2021, $160
I wish I had a bottle of this subtle, spiced, structured wine to have with my Christmas dinner. “I wish I had more of it, too,” laughs winemaker Nick Farr. Stocks of this most Burgundian pinot noir, from the winery founded by patriarch Gary Farr in the Moorabool Valley near Geelong in 1994, are so low that purchases are limited to one bottle per customer. Maybe if I employ all those aliases I use to book restaurant reviews? Terry Durack
byfarr.com.au