Fourteen Best Food Gifts for Chefs, Cooks and Amateur Foodies
These gifts will satisfy even the choosiest food lover.
(Bloomberg) -- The worldwide culinary revolution has had many advantages. Among them is the fact that many gifts that might have once been greeted with disdain—a coffee maker, let’s say—now have major culinary cachet. Still, some presents are always going to be better than others. Here are 14 of the best.
A DIY Coffee Roaster
With the Behmor 1600 Plus you can start your own coffee line, or at least break up with your heartless local barista. This countertop roaster has five roast settings, speed control, and an interior light so you can watch the process. Oh, and smoke suppression technology, just in case. $369; sweetmarias.com
Cereal for Christmas Morning
What better day than Christmas to eat a luxe cereal that might as well be dessert? Primo-chocolate-covered puffed rice with caramelized hazelnuts and mini meringues is the breakfast of choice from star pastry chef Dominique Ansel. $15; dominiqueansel.com
Endless Oysters
Well, not totally endless. But you can guarantee your friends 12 parties a year from Island Creek Oysters, one of the premier purveyors of bivalves in the country. Each month the company will send you a box of 50 curated oysters; you, and your wrist muscles, take it from there. $1,000/12 months. islandcreekoysters.com
A Gravity Defying Decanter
From the first family of wine glassware, Riedel’s Ayam crystal dangles from the table but doesn’t spill wine or fall down. Not only does it act as an artful container for alcohol; it’s also convenient and a conversation starter. (It works; we tested it.) $425; riedelusa.net
The Best Beef
From Idaho’s Snake River Farms, primo meat purveyors, the greatest hits of bone-in cuts: two American Wagyu bone-in New York strips; two American Wagyu bone-in filet mignon; and two American Wagyu bone-in T-bones. Wondering why bone in? It tends to stay juicier. $350; snakeriverfarms.com
Vintage Coffee
From one of the founders of the coffee-as-lifestyle movement (George Howell founded Coffee Connection in Boston in 1994, which was purchased by a little company called Starbucks), here is the ne plus ultra of coffee fetishism. The Mamuto Box contains three vintages of one of Howell’s ultra popular Kenyan coffee. $65; georgehowellcoffee.com
A Personalized Spice Blend
If you’ve always known that the right spice blend is out there for you, but you just haven’t found it, La Boîte’s Lior Lev Sercarz can help. Known as the "spice therapist," Sercarz collaborates with you to create a custom blend with products from around the world. He’ll even cook a meal with you to show you the best uses (and he's a professionally trained chef). $5,000;laboiteny.com
The Hot Cookbook
What makes Red Rooster Harlem such an amazing cookbook isn’t just Marcus Samuelsson’s recipes, though they do include the delightful Just Fry the Damn Bird fried chicken and Brown Butter Biscuits. There’s also amazing coffee-table-style photos that bring the high-style New York neighborhood to life. $37; indiebound.com
Olive Oil From Your Own Tree
Sponsor an olive tree in an idyllic grove in Italy, and your initial reward is modest—a certificate of adoption. Just wait a few months, when a trio of oils, made from your tree’s harvested olives arrives at your door. Added bonus: You’re investing in artisanal farming techniques. $225; bambeco.com
First Flush Tea
For the tea snob in your life, select the fragrant, floral Darjeeling, some of the world’s most prized and priciest leaves, which can sell for more than $1,500 per pound. Pursuit of Tea sourced three of the best spring-picked teas from Himalayan estates and put them in one package. $72; inpursuitoftea.com
Tequila-Infused Chocolate
How do you obtain $1,000 chocolates? Esteemed chef Gabriel Kreuther will tell you. First you source the finest beans to create your confection. Next you add Patrón tequila, including the $7,500-a-bottle Patrón en Lalique. Then you decide whether you want to share your box of 24 chocolates. $1,000; kreutherchocolate.com.
Next Level Salad Bowls
Not your average salad bowl: Treestump fills in the cracks with turquoise.
For anyone who wants to upgrade her wooden salad bowls: Treestump’s are made from mesquite wood with vibrant turquoise imbedded in the cracks. But they’re not too pretty to use. $475; barneys.com
A Stylish Hangover Aid
Because you have to stay hydrated this holiday season—hand-blown carafes in elegant pastel colors, and the tops double as cups. $210; commingsoonnyc.com
An Art Deco Cocktail Tray
When you take cocktail service seriously: the L'Objet's Art Deco tray.
This classically styled tray from L’Objet with inlaid shell tiles of black, white, and gray is perfect for Manhattans and Old Fashioneds and every other Mad Men-era drink you can think of. $1,250; l-objet.com
To contact the author of this story: Kate Krader in New York at kkrader@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at crovzar@bloomberg.net.