Gift giving. Hopefully, for you, it’s a moment filled with delight, picking out that special something for someone. Many times though it’s a fraught process – scanning the aisles online and offline, increasingly frantically, looking for something with a je ne sais quoi than say, yet more socks. This is where I find a store like Pirate O’s Gourmet Market in Draper extra handy. If you can’t find a distinctively different pick here, it doesn’t exist.
The endless shelves host a collection that’s delightfully idiosyncratic, eclectic, and thoughtful. I could happily spend paragraph after paragraph detailing the lineup, but part of Pirate O’s fun is ambling from aisle to aisle, unearthing a new treasure on each visit.
Inside the store, Glaswegian accents mingle with Münchnerisch, as a diverse clientele seeks out flavor memories from home. British bangers for your mash. Aussie Tim Tams for your tea. Whole sections of the shop are given over to distinctive deep dives; there’s nowhere like it in the city. A twenty-foot wall of hot sauces is bewilderingly comprehensive, an entire room is dedicated to pasta, while another section unfurls with a sprawling array of unique soda. And of course, there’s the chocolate and candy, a huge driver of foot traffic, especially in Winter months when the store enjoys its briskest trade. Multiple aisles replete with European names you might fondly recall from a vacation past. Ever tried a Crunchie? Turkish delight? German Milka chocolate?
From the Pirate O’s inventory, you can arrange a gift selection for even the most difficult “I’m sure they already have it” type. The lineup serves as a flexible one-stop for a variety of occasions too. Whether it’s a few Euro candy bars as a stocking stuffer or a grand charcuterie basket for that foodie in your life. I lean on Pirate O’s for hostess and neighbor gifts (if they’ve been nice this year that is).
If the prospect of marching up and down the collection is adding to your Christmas shopping stress – don’t worry. Pirate O’s also offers a wide range of pre-made gift baskets, that line the shelves around the store. They come in all shapes and sizes and start at just $40.00. They include creatively themed arrangements, and of course, the team is more than happy to help you customize your very own extra special collection too.
Crucially the Pirate O’s collection is one of a kind in the state. A unique gift basket from here – especially one hand-picked – will live long in the memory. Long after the decorations have been put back in their box for another year. A gift will be the diametric opposite of one picked from that glossy mag ad that you just received in the mail from one of the big box names.
If you’re looking to scoop up something special this holiday season, you can stop by the store to talk to the team – or simply call (801) 572-0956 to order. As we wrote about previously, the holidays are one of the busiest times of the year for the store, so plan accordingly.
A final note, as I wrote about last year, Pirate O’s is resplendently stocked for those quintessential Christmas musts. Christmas crackers, mince pies, Christmas pudding, rich shortcake – the list goes on. In case those items are drawing plenty of “huh, what, eh?” right now, check out that story from last year. It also includes our very own recipe for trifle – a most British of dishes, going back to the Elizabethan era.
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Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV. Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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