If you are looking for perfect Portland presents – gifts that are perfect for holiday giving or any event giving be it birthday, anniversary, “thinking of you”, putting a welcome package for a visitor or to send a taste of Portland to those farther away, this is your list. Here are my top recommendations of gifts that are from local creators and are excellent representations of the Portland spirit.
Only Child Chocolate
Only Child Chocolate is a local woman owned business with tasty creative chocolate creations. Yana Yakhnes has her regular bars which are available year round, with my favorites like The Sun and the Sea is a equal parts dark chocolate and sunflower seeds and then topped with sea salt, Pita the Great is a dark chocolate with pita chips, hazelnuts and dukkah (cumin, coriander, fennel, sesame seeds, salt and pepper), or the Rosemary and Ginger Walk Into a Bar is a Milk Chocolate with rosemary and candied ginger, or if you are a white chocolate lover the Hedgehog in the Fog, a white chocolate with bergamot and black pepper. The name of this chocolate bar comes from a Russian cartoon from Yana’s childhood, and as a nod to the cartoon the flavor of bergamot references the tea the hedgehog wants to have with his bear friend. Indeed, look at how cute her packaging and the names of her chocolates are!
She has lots of fun concepts that stand out as well. At Halloween she offered a oracle board of chocolate, and for Valentine’s a chocolate heart that came with a little hammer to smash. One fun concept currently on offer is a Dino Dig with “dinosaur bones” made out of caramelized white chocolate and crunchy cocoa nibs then buried them in rich cocoa powder blended with cinnamon, cloves, and cane sugar that you can excavate them from. A jar of Sun and Sea Confetti puts together bits of chocolate, bits of sunflower seeds, and flakes of salt are here to top on anything you desire be it ice cream, granola, toast, or whatever you can think of.
