WOOD WORK FOR FOOD

Looking for the perfect gift for a kitchen connoisseur–or the aesthetically starved epicurean in you? Pete Yavner, a retiree from the computer field with a penchant for woodworking, makes beautiful rolling pins, peppermills and saltshakers, cutting boards, honey dippers, and coffee grinders–even spurtles (you know, those tapered sticks the Scots use to stir their porridge).

These unique pieces incorporate a variety of exotic woods, often South American and African exotics. Renowned chef Dean Fearing, James Wagner, executive pastry chef at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Jill Butler, a Plano-based pastry chef, and Kent Rathbun of Abacus and Jasper’s fame have one of his rolling pins. (See the maple and zebrawood one Rathbun chose just this week.) Of course, Yavner won’t guarantee that your food will turn out as good as that of the previously listed, but it doesn’t hurt to look the part. Get yours at Flavors From Afar and Culinary Connection.