Grub Guides

11 Last-Minute Valentine’s Gifts for NYC Food-Lovers

How about some pét-nat?
How about some pét-nat?

If you’re still thinking about a gift for Valentine’s Day (which is this weekend), it’s time to act quickly. Luckily, New York is full of excellent edible and drinkable options that are far better than a standard box of chocolates.

Something for a candy fiend.
Go to the Chelsea Market for Brooklyn candy-maker Liddabit Sweets’ special Vally Tallys, made of red-velvet cookies layered with raspberry marshmallow and dipped in white chocolate.

Splurge on halva.
Speaking of Chelsea Market, stop by the new Seed + Mill and rediscover halva, the dense sesame confection. Try it out in flavors like coffee and ginger, to bring home for snacking while watching your favorite old movies.

Celebrate with pét-nat.
Skip Champagne, which feels a little obvious, and surprise your partner with some of-the-moment pétillant naturel instead. Places specializing in natural and biodynamic wines — Chambers Street Wine, Fort Greene’s Thirst, Uva in Williamsburg — are good places to track some down.

To go with it: American charcuterie.
Spoil your other half with some of the country’s most impressive domestic meats: Smoking Goose, producers of both traditional meats like cotechino and nouveau ones like “gin and juice” salame, is available at the Greene Grape in Fort Greene, Milk & Hops in Greenwich Village, and other stores around the city.

Go real comfy with high-end frozen pizza.
What you really need for a night in (besides a nice bottle of wine) is some pizza you can just pop in the oven. Make a meal out of Roberta’s frozen pizzas, available at places like Brooklyn Kitchen and Greene Grape.

Have the restaurant come to you.
Grub remains committed to the advice that you shouldn’t go out to a restaurant on Valentine’s Day, but there are always new delivery options like Caviar that will be able to deliver a nice meal to you. Just light some candles and you’re set.

Eat a whole loaf of excellent babka.
Head to Sadelle’s in Soho and get something special from Melissa Weller’s pastry counter.

Or try some amazing Danish pastries.
Noma co-founder Claus Meyer has a weekend-only Danish bakery, so you can grab something nice on Saturday. Trek over to Driggs Avenue to get some poppy-seed Danishes or twisted cinnamon buns for Sunday.

Head to the West Village for a very sophisticated tart.
At oolong-tea destination Té Company, owner Elena Liao is serving a special cranberry-jam-and-kanzuri tart this weekend. It’s a lot more elegant than other options around town.

Special doughnuts from Dough.
Not that you need an excuse to eat Dough’s doughnuts, but Fany Gerson is rolling out specials like chocolate-raspberry doughnuts with almond praline or a red-velvet variety this weekend.

And if you still want to do the chocolate thing …
Why not get a box of the rose truffles that Lower East Side chocolate shop Roni-Sue rolls out annually, or a bar from one of the country’s top chocolatiers — say Ritual’s Madagascar 75 percent?

Last-Minute Valentine’s Gifts