Panettone al Limoncello is $45 at Kitchen Collage and makes a great gift for anyone who is politely declining your homemade sourdough for the third year in a row.
Writer: Michael Morain
Do you know anyone who cooks? Or, maybe, someone who eats?
If they’d like a holiday gift, you can find a good one at Kitchen Collage. For almost 20 years now, foodies have flocked to the East Village shop to find classic kitchen gear and newfangled gadgets. Owner Teresa Adams-Tomka sold me my favorite lemon juicer 18 years ago and recently offered a few gift ideas — starting with a new-and-improved juicer.
The Fluicer ($16)
With its simple hinge, this handheld tool lets you squeeze fruit with less force than a traditional tool. The real advantage: It folds flat to save space in a drawer. “Engineers are always trying to make our lives better,” Adams-Tomka said.
Grate Plate ($30)
This cute little glazed ceramic dish has rough bumps that can easily chew up a chunk of fresh ginger (which Adams-Tomka peels with a teaspoon). It comes with a little brush to collect the pulp, fresh and fragrant for soup, stir fry, salad dressing and so forth.
Bundt Quartet Pan ($50)
Nordic Ware makes a hefty pan that turns out four individual cakes, each with its own whimsical design. They’re perfect for not-so-big fat Greek weddings.
Ankarsrum Kitchen Machine ($749)
Yeah, this is a splurge, but this Swedish stand mixer can do pretty much anything except assemble a sandwich. It’s stronger, sturdier and quieter than its KitchenAid cousins, and since the power comes from below, there’s more space up top to toss ingredients in the roomy bowl, which can accommodate more than 4 pounds of flour. It stirs! It kneads! With special attachments, it grinds meat, makes ice cream and doubles as a food processor. “It will roll your oats,” Adams-Tomka said, “and I’m not kidding: They’re the best oats going.” The Swedes have been using the AKM since the 1940s, but it didn’t really catch on over here until everybody started baking during the pandemic.
Panettone al Limoncello ($45)
If you’d rather just buy your bread, try Chiostro di Saronno’s spongey, not-too-sweet loaf that, I swear, will transport you to a lemon grove on the Amalfi Coast. “The Italians were very excited when they called me: ‘They’re done! You want them now?’” Adams-Tomka said of the call back in September. She delayed the order, for the holidays, and gently sliced into a volleyball-sized loaf to sample. It’s studded with candied lemon peel and laced with limoncello cream and magic sunshine. If there’s a bigger size — like, a mattress? — I’d sleep on it.
