6 California-Made Gifts for the Wannabe West Coaster in Your Life
Emily Fiffer and Heather Sperling are two editors-turned-restaurant-owners in L.A. We'll catch up with Emily and Heather regularly for stories, recipes, and dispatches from the front lines of Botanica, their women-led, vegetable-first kitchen.
Having a market front-and-center at Botanica was always a given. Before we were restaurant owners, we were artisan-obsessed editors who loved curating objects and experiences for our readers. Still, one of our greatest joys is still finding people who are creating beautiful, inspiring things and sharing them with anyone who will listen (and taste).
The market at Botanica is an extension of what we’re doing in the kitchen, an expression of the respect we have for the people making the incredible products we work with daily and a way to push our most beloved discoveries on our guests the moment they walk through the door, be it farm eggs, spices, local natural wine, zines, or tea. In a way, it’s like smuggling French honey home in a tube sock...but it’s legal, and there’s more to go around!
Seriously, though: We’d be nothing without the incredible group of local artists and creators who’ve contributed their wares to our shelves. As longtime, fierce appreciators of small businesses (with a special place in our hearts for those that are female-owned), we love seeking out people in our own backyards who are doing or making things differently. It takes a village to make things beautiful, memorable and delicious, and we are SO GRATEFUL for ours.
Below are but a few of our California-made favorites; they’re in heavy rotation at the restaurant and our homes, and we think they should be in yours, too.
All products featured on Healthyish are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo by Alex Lau1/6Future Gin
A four-lady LA power crew is behind this beautifully bottled spirit with Cali at its core. It’s a lushly floral, herbaceous gin that’s as versatile as it is distinctive. We use it in our house Gin and Tonic (along with Fever Tree tonic and orange flower & rose waters), and it makes a mean Martini with a twist. In addition to upping the aesthetics of any bar cart (those colors!), we’re jazzed about the fact that Future is the first 100% female-distilled, -distributed and -owned gin.
Buy it: Future Gin, available at select stores here.
Photo by Alex Lau2/6D Ceramics
After months of passing by Denise Lopez’s open garage on our runs around Los Feliz and wondering what she was up to, we finally stopped to ask. A graphic designer by day, Denise started making ceramics as a hobby, throwing pots, plates, vases, palo santo burners and more in her tiny garage-cum-studio. We fell hard for her soft SoCal color palette (dusty pink, mauve, sand and stone) juxtaposed against raw, unglazed edges, and are proud to have been the recipient of her very first wholesale order. Food looks gorgeous in the Sedona bowl; flowers stand a little prouder in the sandy rose bud vase. Denise throws everything by hand, so each piece varies slightly, an effect we love. See something you love or want but isn’t for sale? Email Denise—she’s been known to make bespoke pieces on request.
Buy it: Sedona Bowl, $48; Joshua Tree Round Bud Vase, $55; Sandy Rose Bud Vase Trio, $45; Palo Santo Incense Holder, $65 at D Ceramics.
Photo by Alex Lau3/6Coffee Manufactory
Our Coffee Manufactory love affair has been hot and heavy since day one, when we met Matt Jung-Quillen, Director of Business Development, at a catering event. We quickly recognized a kindred spirit in the passion, dedication and enthusiasm that pervades Manufactory’s operations. Operated by San Francisco’s Tartine, Coffee Manufactory roasts out of Oakland and, in a few short months, downtown Los Angeles, where Tartine’s second Manufactory is set to open. We exclusively use their beans at the restaurant, and sell out of retail bags in the market each week. CM has developed close relationships with its growers, who farm from Ethiopia to Rwanda to Colombia to El Salvador and beyond, and is dedicated to providing livelihoods through their partnerships. For a gateway bag, we suggest the 02 Filter, a smooth African-South American blend that’s all chocolate and lemon.
Buy it: Coffee Manufactory 02 Filter, $18 at Coffee Manufactory.
Photo by Alex Lau4/6Populis / Les Lunes
Natural wine is essential to our identity as a restaurant (and as wine drinkers). We carry bottles from around the globe, but we’re particularly excited about local makers going au naturel. A small but growing handful are paving delicious, non-interventionist paths, and Populis / Les Lunes is one of them. An ambitious young team is behind these two sister labels, and they’re among the brightest stars in the California natural wine-making constellation. Populis and Les Lunes differ in style and objective, but they share essential common ground: old vines, organically farmed grapes, zero additives or intervention, and only a minimal amount of sulfur. We’re loyal drinkers of everything they turn out, but Les Lunes’ Barra Vineyard Chardonnay is everything we want from new world Chard: mineral-rich, golden elegance.
Buy it: Les Lunes’ Barra Vineyard Chardonnay, $30 at Les Lunes Wine
Photo by Alex Lau5/6Noto
Our roster of regulars can look like a who’s who of LA, from musicians and film stars to authors and designers. But only one regular smells good enough to turn heads: Gloria Noto of Noto Botanics. Is it weird to say we love smelling Gloria? Who cares—we love smelling Gloria! And we adore her products not just because they work, but because they’re completely natural AND affordable. Her deeply nourishing blends won’t make you break out: Try the Deep Serum for hydration, Rooted Oil (often the secret behind Gloria’s scent trail) to smell like the most grounded, just-returned-from-a-spirit-quest version of yourself, and Basil Yarrow Mist to simultaneously awaken your senses and tone. Noto does makeup, too (her background is makeup artistry); her Gold Glow Stick is a magical, shimmery highlighter.
Buy it: Noto Rooted Oil, $55 at Need Supply and Noto Deep Serum, $50 at Free People.
Photo by Alex Lau6/64th & Heart Ghee
We can talk about ghee for days. Ghee is butter that’s been gently heated to separate its milk solids from its liquid fats, leaving behind a dense, richly flavored cooking fat. It’s been used in Ayurvedic cooking forever, and has been recently adopted by the wellness community for its many good qualities (it’s rich in digestive acids and has a high smoke point, for starters). We make our own at Botanica, but our home cupboards are stocked with 4th and Heart’s. Female-owned 4th uses butter from grass-fed, pasture-raised New Zealand cows to make its ghee, which tastes of the purest butter imaginable (the sea salt version is our favorite). We use it to scramble and fry everything from eggs to socca, and to toast bread (both savory and sweet). The best part: Ghee is shelf-stable, so it’ll last overnight in a Christmas stocking and up to a year after that.
Buy it: 4th and Heart Original Ghee, $12 at Thrive Market.
You know what would make a pretty great holiday gift? Our magazine! And a cool tote bag, plus some great baking tools for holiday cookies. More details here.
