The 21 Gifts (and Trips and Meals)
Topping Our Lists

In partnership with our friends at

Editors spend their days looking for the newest, most desirable, most unexpected things to buy, wear, eat, and do. In other words, it’s an editor’s job to have the greatest gift-giving lists at their fingertips. We asked a few of our own to really go for it and give us their ultimate wish lists. From a hideaway in Luang Prabang to a very specific halo of diamonds, these are the gifts that will impress, well, pretty much anyone.

• 

  JOHN WOGAN

  travel features editor

• “When I travel, I want to keep things streamlined and light, so this small leather wallet is ideal when I’m on the road. It holds all the essentials (cash, credit cards, train ticket), and I can slip it in my pocket and barely notice it’s there.”

• MUST DE
  CARTIER WALLET Cartier, $225
• ARTERIORS mirror Arteriors Home, $2,835

• “My apartment is on the smaller side, so I like using as many mirrors as I can to give the illusion of more space—without it looking like a carnival fun house. I like this one (designed by Windsor Smith for Arteriors) because of the unusual shape and the gold-brass finish, which gives it a vaguely antique feeling.”

• 

  Photo courtesy of Aman

  Amantaka hotel rooms from $610 per night

• “Traveling to Luang Prabang in northern Laos has been a goal of mine for years. It’s a mountainous, jungle-covered town with a fascinating architectural mix of sixteenth-century Buddhist temples and preserved French colonial buildings. Maybe in 2019 it’ll finally happen. The dream would be a stay at Amantaka, which has only twenty-four beautifully minimalist guest suites and is a five-minute walk from the Mekong River and the city’s famous night market.”

• N/NAKA 13-course meal from $225 per person

• “The ultimate special-occasion meal for me would be a kaiseki dinner (plus wine pairing) at Culver City’s n/naka. Chef Niki Nakayama creates thirteen courses, presented like works of art, using ingredients from the restaurant’s own organic farm. It’s a unique, totally modern Japanese culinary experience. We’re lucky to have it in LA.”

• 

  Ali Pew

  fashion director

• “Nothing is chicer than a croc strap. Except for a croc strap on a Cartier watch. This shape feels a little airy with diamonds but still grounded thanks to the substantial texture of the strap. It’s been on my wish list for years.”

• BALLON BLEU
  DE CARTIER WATCH Cartier, $22,200
• PRADA booties Prada, $790

• “They’re made for rain or snow, but they’d look just as cool with a dress.”

• ANDRIANNA SHAMARIS chair The Line, $2,600

• “The chair I need in my new LA life. It’s made from reclaimed teak and has this great indoor/outdoor vibe.”

• BEVERLY HILLS hotel rooms from $845 per night

• “The Beverly Hills Hotel is my go-to for a weekend staycation. The palm-leaf wallpaper, breakfast at the Fountain Coffee Room, lunch by the pool—it’s all so classically LA.”

• 

  Roxanne Marie

  senior buyer, fashion

• “This ring is perfect in every way. It’s actually three rings in one—it’s substantial enough to make a statement, but in eighteen-karat white gold, it’s wearable enough for every day.”

• etincelle
  de cartier ring Cartier, $9,350
• CLAIRE OSWALT as told
  to eliza II Johanssen Gallery, $1,137

• “I had the good fortune of befriending Claire Oswalt years ago, before she left town to set up her studio in Austin. She’s since gathered a cult following for her serene watercolor collages, which practically beg to be taken to their forever home.”

• HARMON guest house rooms from $349 per night

• “A quick one-hour flight from LA (or a seven-hour drive—it’s up to you), Healdsburg is an idyllic town smack in the middle of wine country. It’s also the perfect weekend getaway, with so much ground to cover between all the top-notch restaurants and wineries. We decamp to Harmon Guest House, which is small—just thirty-nine rooms—and has views of the Sonoma Hills and downtown. Don’t miss dinner, which is served on the rooftop.”

• OSTERIA FRANCESCANA restaurant Modena, Italy

• “My husband and I discovered Osteria Francescana after bingeing on Master of None, when Aziz Ansari’s character is brought to the king of all Italian restaurants for his birthday. Ever since, we can’t shake the fantasy of a pilgrimage to Modena to indulge. That is, if we were lucky enough to snag a reservation. The waiting list is years long—really. But what’s ten years and a few thousand miles of travel to dine at one of the best restaurants in the world?”

• 

  Jacqueline
  Schulze Weitzen

  director, communications

• “The only pair of special-occasion earrings you’d ever need.”

• etincelle
  de cartier earrrings Cartier, $20,400
• ROMAN AND WILLIAMS GUILD
  bar cart Roman and Williams Guild, price upon request

• “I know I don’t need this, but I want it, and I have this fantasy that if I get it, I’ll entertain all the time. Every time I walk through Roman and Williams Guild in New York, I think about how that space is seriously the living room of my dreams.”

• WE CARE SPA 3-day tune up We Care Spa, from $1,018

• “I’ve been dying for a weekend away at We Care in Palm Springs for a few years now. The combination of the desert heat, pool lounging, and spa treatments plus a full-body detox makes for the perfect reset in the new year. My husband would never go for it, so I would happily go solo or bring a few girlfriends.”

• THE TEST KITCHEN restaurant Cape Town, South Africa

• “For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to go to Africa. This Thanksgiving, my husband and I are going to South Africa for our honeymoon. While we’re in Cape Town, we’re dying for a reservation at the Test Kitchen. Chef Luke Dale-Roberts’s menu has plenty of South African twists—and two dining rooms: one dark and moody and the other light and bright.”

• 

  Nandita Khanna

  editorial projects director

• “One look at this Cartier ear cuff and it skyrocketed to the top of my wish list—it’s a little edgy, a little glamorous, and just perfect. It’s hard not to crib from your work wife’s style. And while our fashion director Ali Pew and I couldn’t have more opposite styles of dress (she’s always polished in head-to-toe navy or black, and I’ve never met a printed midi dress I didn’t like), she always wears the chicest, most elegant jewelry. This ear cuff would no doubt would have Ali’s stamp of approval.”

• etincelle
  de cartier earring Cartier, $22,400
• 

  Photo: wichmann+bendtsen
  Styling: Helle Walsted

  APPARATUS Censer goop, $820

• “I have been anxiously waiting for New York designers Gabriel Hendifar and Jeremy Anderson to open the West Coast outpost of Apparatus. And wow, it did not disappoint. In a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in the Hollywood Design District, the space is downright dreamy—punctuated by beautiful archways, artfully plastered soft grey walls, and of course, all the Apparatus light fixtures, objets, and furniture you could dream of. While I already have my eye on a piece of furniture, I’ll reel it in and start small with one of the iconic brass censers. It’s really more like a beautiful decorative object, but the fact you can burn Cinnamon Projects incense from it makes it all the more—um—practical.”

• MOUNTAIN COLLECTIVE pass Mountain Collective, $469

• “I start counting down the days till ski season in May. The Mountain Collective Pass covers all the good mountains: Alta, Aspen, Banff, Jackson Hole, Big Sky, and more. The pass, which includes two ski days in each destination, gives me the flexibility to plan a couple quickie weekends in my favorite ski towns.”

• 

  Photo: Esteban Schimpf

  MAK CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE
  apprentice membership Mak Center for Art and Architecture, $150 per year

• “I recently went to the Mak Center for Art and Architecture’s first director’s dinner at the Schindler House in West Hollywood. It was magical: We had free rein to run around the candlelit Schindler House, New York chef Ignacio Mattos (of Estela) was cooking up ribs, and Yola Mezcal was pouring cocktails. Also incredible was Lykke Li, whom I’d never seen perform live, singing a capella beneath a jacaranda tree. The plan is to make this a recurring thing, pairing chefs with performance artists in different culturally significant homes across the city. No doubt I’ll be a regular.”

• 

  Images courtesy of Fäviken by Magnus Nilsson (Phaidon)

  FÄVIKEN 32-course dinner Fäviken, $334 per person

• “I’ve been totally enamored with Magnus Nilsson of Fäviken since the first season of Chef’s Table. I recently met him at a cookbook signing at Now/Serving, one of my favorite little bookshops downtown, and the experience was a reminder that a meal at Fäviken remains at the tip-top of my bucket list. Here’s how it works: In the far reaches of Sweden (as in, fly into Stockholm, connect to Östersund, and then it’s a seventy-five-minute drive to Järpen), sixteen diners a night are treated to a thirty-two-course feast. The experience sounds absolutely unreal, and Nilsson is something of a Renaissance man, foraging and hunting in the remote countryside and surrounding areas to supply the restaurant with meat, produce, and seafood for its nightly menu. The next round of reservations opens up April 1, 2019. Consider my calendar marked.”