Now more than ever, it's so important to us to support our fellow small businesses, so this holiday we're launching a Gift Guide series featuring some of our favorite brands! Not only have we tried and loved all of these products ourselves, but they are all five-star reviewed and most are currently run in the San Francisco and East Bay Areas.
First up: Maison Bouche!
Founded by trained pastry chef Diane Beaty in 2009, we have carried this artisanal chocolate brand in our very own shop since we opened our doors and haven't been able to keep it on shelves since! With an unrivaled Oxford Hall cult following, Diane's "dark and milk chocolates are the result of careful blending of the finest and smoothest fair trade chocolates, selected for both taste and texture." Many of the Maison Bouche bars also include homemade pastry ingredients using "only European style butter and unbleached flours which give our desserts both richness and fine texture." The result? The most covetable, delicious chocolates out there.
Maison Bouche chocolates currently available for pickup at viv&ingrid with curbside pickup!
Chuck Siegel is not only a dear friend of ours, but also the founder of San Francisco chocolate brand Charles Chocolates. Chuck believes "that chocolates are food--fresh food--and as such they should be made with only the finest ingredients." At Charles Chocolates, everything is made per order by and delivered "to you within a few days of their creation. This philosophy has resulted in an obsessive dedication to finding the best chocolates, the finest cream and butter, fresh herbs, fruits and nuts, and not including anything that doesn't belong (preservatives, artificial flavors, etc.)." Our viv&ingrid fan favorites have been their Peppermint Bark Bar and Caramelized Cocoa Nib Bar, both available now for purchase at viv&ingrid with curbside pickup!
Founded by a fierce mother/daughter duo, Pocket Latte bars "have a smooth caffeine buzz that keeps you sharp throughout the day, without the jitters or crash that come with other caffeinated products." A "product of motherly love", they are "powered by nature, the way it should be. Synthetic caffeine is created in labs with chemicals such as urea (a toxic compound that is also found in human urine—yuck) and chloroacetic acid (a corrosive chemical cited by the EPA)."
At viv&ingrid, we've always loved anything mini sized, and these little bars pack a lot of punch in a small package! Tuck them in your pocket (of course), handbag, glove compartment or backpack for an instant boost that you can feel good about.
Pocket Latte make great stocking stuffers and are also available for curbside pickup this holiday at viv&ingrid!
Happy Girl creates delicious, handmade granola by Happy Girl herself, a former pastry chef. The brand has always made as much as possible "from scratch, and granola was no exception. With limited flavor options and the hard, sticky consistency of the granola she found in stores, the Happy Girl set out to make granola with a lighter texture."
Happy Girl was founded and still resides in Michigan, and all the brand's crunchy treats are still "made by hand in small batches in her beloved home state of Michigan."
We are proud to carry Happy Girl granola, also available for curbside pickup at viv&ingrid!
Photo via Happy Girl Granola
It's no secret that packaging has always been of the utmost importance to us, and when we discovered NovelTea tins, we knew it was a match made in gift giving heaven. NovelTea brings together three of our very favorite things - fun, inspired packaging, loose leaf tea and classic literature! And who doesn't love a good pun? Bonus!
NovelTea's premium organic loose leaf teas are packaged in tins that "resemble great books with original moteaf artwork and uniquely blended teas inside, flavored to the theme of a classic novel. Accordingly, NovelTeas is building a carefully-designed collection of tastefully-decorated and punningly-worded tea tins. These gloriously structured tins reflect and arouse interest in certain classic masterpieces. And they also happen to contain magnificent organic teas."
NovelTea tins and individually bagged loose leaf teas are also available for curbside pickup at viv&ingrid!
