The cheese sampler from Truckle Cheesemongers (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
1. Cheese Sampler
$75 to $140 at Truckle Cheesemongers
Standard boards of goat’s-milk Gouda and manchego serve six to eight and include dried fruit, nuts and bread. Larger boards serve 12 to 16 with four kinds of cheese, such as Bucheron or L’Amuse Brabander, with all the fixings.
2. Holiday Petit Fours Tray
$1.80 per petit four at Westhampton Pastry Shop
Unless it’s a Thursday or Friday in November and December, you must order these cute little chocolate or vanilla cake bundles in advance. Enrobed and decorated with turkeys in November and candy canes, evergreens and snowmen in December, they’re arranged on a tin tray from the bakery.
3. Beef Tenderloin Tray
$150 at Yellow Umbrella Provisions
Five-and-a-half pounds of trimmed, medium-rare tenderloin can be sliced into cocktail- or dinner-size cuts to feed 80 or 60, respectively. The tender, pink beef is arranged over curly kale dotted with fresh cranberries for a festive presentation.
4. Sushi Platter
$34 to $152 at Osaka Sushi & Steak
There are two options: the vegetarian platter, fanned with veggie, sweet potato, cucumber and avocado rolls, or the 108-piece volcano platter, overflowing with Osaka's power rolls; spicy salmon and yellowtail rolls; volcano, lobster and river rolls; and sockeye salmon rolls. Orders over $100 include delivery.
5. Charcuterie Board
$10 per person at Cardinal State Butchers
A truly custom board groaning with house-made, Virginia-raised meats such as capicola, mortadella, pastrami, smoked pepperoni, chicken liver mousse and country pâté, alongside brined and smoked deli ham. The butchers’ own “Cobra” pickles and pickled onions cut through the richness.
