#Support NYC restaurants and shops with these edible gifts

Gifts of love are the best gifts. And nothing says love better than holiday-season food and drink to savor at home. Lucky recipients will cherish them more than a lumpy sweater or another iTunes gift certificate.

There are certainly plenty of delicious options to choose from at local restaurants, markets and other struggling small businesses. Whether we part with peanuts or a small fortune, the dough’s a lifeline not only for embattled owners, but for employees who are our city’s backbone and who’ve suffered more from the pandemic than white-collar workers. Cooks, countermen, cashiers and cleaning crews can’t work from home.

Here are The Post’s picks for gifts that will please the palate and raise spirits this holiday season. Ranging from festive loaves of bread to luxury items such as caviar, they help support and keep alive the city’s many modern specialty markets, old-time New York culinary landmarks and tiny neighborhood bakeries.

La Guli Pastry Shop gingerbread houses

Many bakeries get their gingerbread houses from commercial plants. But not La Guli, an 83-year-old, family-owned spot that envelops you in the sweet scents of Italy the moment you walk in. Owner and chief baker Maria Notaro makes the houses from scratch with royal icing that crackles like candy.

$65 at 29-15 Ditmars Blvd. Astoria, Queens; 718-728-5612

Rose & Joe’s Santa dough

Traditional Italian bread suavely shaped like the big guy himself is a tradition at Rose & Joe’s bakery in Astoria. Made on the premises, they’re $15.15 each and must be ordered a day in advance.

22-40 31^st St., Astoria, Queens; 718-721-9422

Caviar Russe indulgences

The romantic Michelin-starred restaurant is closed due to the indoor-dining shutdown, but its ground-floor retail shop offers samplers of its luscious sturgeon roe varieties. Harvested at the company’s artisanal farm in Germany, the “Indulgent Collection” ($230 at CaviarRusse.com) includes a choice of malossol (lightly cured and salted) caviars, foie gras, smoked salmon, blinis, creme fraiche and utensils.

538 Madison Ave.; 212-980-5908

Katz’s Deli subscriptions

Satisfy your loved ones’ pickle-barrel cravings year-round with classic subscription packages from Katz’s Deli. Each monthly home delivery includes sliced, hand-carved pastrami and corned beef, a half loaf of deli rye, knishes, condiments, chocolate babka and a quart of sour pickles. They’re available in three-month increments starting at $450 for three months. 

Order online or pick up at 205 E. Houston St.; 212-254-2246, KatzsDelicatessen.com.

Joe’s Italian Deli baskets

Joe’s Italian Deli has been part of the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue neighborhood scene for more than 40 years. Its gift baskets hold a tempting bounty of imported cheese, dry sausage, oils and vinegars, pastas, chocolate and olive oil, as well as house-made mozzarella. Gift boxes for delivery start at $150 while in-store baskets are priced for every budget. And they’re as full as they look, noting, “We do not use dull fillers to make the basket look bigger.”

685 E. 187^th St.; 718-367-7979

Empire State of Wine gift box

At Empire State of Wine, owner Eddy Le Garrec offers a remarkably generous holiday-season package deal. A mere $100 buys three bottles from the shop’s far-ranging collection of American, French, Italian, South American and Australian wines. They come with a four-pack of “no-spill” drinking tumblers decorated with Statue of Liberty images, reflecting French-born Garrec’s love for New York City.

111 W. 20^th St.; 212-888-2297

Citarella ‘Gourmet Collection’

Century-old Big Apple minichain Citarella’s “Gourmet Collection” ($49.99) has everything your friends will need for cold Netflix nights: Citarella’s own Genoa salami, mustard, cornichons, pita chips, milk chocolate and almond bars, plus a box of Carr’s crackers. 

1313 Third Ave.; 2135 Broadway and 424 Sixth Ave.; call 212-874-0383 for availability.

Le Bernardin beans

Le Bernardin is temporarily closed, but you can buy the brew that’s been served at the great restaurant for the past year. Sourced from Central and South America, Stone Street Signature x Eric Ripert ($13.99 for 12 ounces) is roasted in Brooklyn to a mocha-tinted smoothness.

Order at StoneStreetCoffee.com; pick up available at 129 Ninth St., Gowanus, Brooklyn; 347-335-0751.

Mo’s Comforting Sweets

Bed-Stuy baker Monique Fisher got her start serving her cakes at church functions years ago. After the pastor gave her “great reviews” at the altar, she began fielding requests from parishioners and pals. The goods were so popular that she decided to bake full-time after retiring from her job as a high school math teacher and dean in 2019. Street fairs were her main bread and butter, but without them this year, she’s focusing on selling slices at Brooklyn spots including Mac Shack on Fulton Street and Espinal Deli on Nostrand Avenue — and filling custom orders for the holidays.

It’s a family affair. “My husband, Daniel, is my manager and hype man, I couldn’t do it without him,” Fisher, 56, said. “And my daughters pack the boxes and help with delivery.” Fisher now offers more than a dozen different kinds of cakes that start at $35 for local pickup and delivery, including Southern Pineapple Coconut, “the one that started it all,” plus various cookie options. — Catherine Kast

E-mail [email protected] or find her order form on Instagram @MoComfortingSweets.

Russ & Daughters delights

Along with your bagel and schmear, consider grabbing this vintage-style tote ($45) inspired by the shop’s paper bags from the 1960s, or a maple wood serving board made by American Heirloom that’s laser engraved with an illustration of the 106-year-old Lower East Side storefront ($50). — C.K.

Pick up at 127 Orchard St., Manhattan, or 141 Flushing Ave., building 77, Brooklyn; available for citywide delivery when ordered online at RussAndDaughters.com.

Mercado Little Spain sweatshirt

José Andrés’ Hudson Yards spot is stacked with present-worthy Spanish pantry items, meats and cheese, as well as customized gift baskets. But they’ve got cheeky merch, too. This fab Churro-lover sweatshirt ($40) also comes in a baby onesie. — C.K.

Order at Shop.ThinkFoodGroup.com; pick up in select colors available at 10 Hudson Yards; 646-495-1242.

Xi’an Famous Foods noodles

Got a pal who misses Midtown lunch takeout from the Chinese spot? Let them try their hand at hand-pulling the “biang biang” noodles themselves with X’ian’s noodle kits, which are able to be shipped nationwide and come with their signature tingly sauces. —C.K.

Starting at $37.95 at XianKits.com or $79 on Goldbelly.

Fort Defiance cocktails

The quaint Red Hook restaurant has converted into a general store during the pandemic, and you can score curated local sundries (including gift baskets that ship nationwide) and handmade bottled cocktails. Try the Marconi Wireless, a twist on the Manhattan made with apple brandy, Italian vermouth and bitters, and the classic Negroni. — C.K.

From $12.99 at 365 Van Brunt St., Brooklyn; 347-453-6672. Order for curbside pickup at FortDefianceBrooklyn.com.

Rhodora provisions

The sustainable wine bar now sells provisions from small brands perfect for gifting, including the Red Hook-made Tart vinegars and shrubs (starting at $24), and harissa and preserves from New York Shuk (starting at $12.95). After you peruse (just three customers are allowed in at a time), grab a glass of wine to sip outside while people-watching on this charming brownstone-lined corner near Fort Greene Park. They also offer curbside pickup and select delivery options at RhodoraBk.com and Caviar.com. —C.K.

197 Adelphi St., Brooklyn; 718-233-9134