The Ultimate Food Lover's Gift Guide
Have a family member or friend who is always talking about restaurant exploits, food fantasy meals, or the next amazing dishes and culinary experiences they're seeking out? Looking to really make a statement with a food-related gift this year? Maybe you're not as food-obsessed and you're unsure exactly what to give or perhaps you're just as much of a food lover, but you're drawing a blank. Never fear.
Click here for The Ultimate Food Lover's Gift Guide Slideshow
Whatever holiday you're gifting for, whoever you're gifting to, there's an ultimate culinary experience, food-related gift, or amazing restaurant escapade. Part of giving a great food-related gift is obviously knowing your giftee's tastes.
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Are they more inclined to get a kick out of something they can use all year, such as great artisanal products they can keep in the pantry? Perhaps they'd be better served with a special treat they might not have gotten for themselves, but that they can eat and enjoy all at once. Or maybe you're the kind of person that likes to give gifts that keep giving all year, something that arrives once a month. Is the person you're buying the gift for more inclined toward experiences, someone who'd prefer the gift of a special event? Or dinner somewhere they can't afford and wouldn't have splurged on, but you know they'd really like to go?
From caviar to culatello and from food festivals to dinner at one of America's most exciting restaurants, these are the ultimate gifts. And while some aren't exactly cheap, there are enough less expensive alternatives to feed your loved ones' hunger for eating big. Check out the slideshow for The Ultimate Food Lover's Gift Guide.
Gift a Restaurant Experience
For the ultimate, cutting-edge restaurant experience, you could give a dinner at Next, but the way the ticketing system works, you'd most likely have to get the reservation and take your giftee with you. Alternately, you could purchase gift certificates for two seven-course tastings at The Aviary, chef Grant Achatz's restaurant and cocktail bar experience in Chicago. Can't swing it, but looking for something similarly exclusive? Try reservations at minibar ($150 per person, not including wine, tax, and tip). Feeling generous? For $450 per person you could gift one of New York's premier sushi experiences: Masa. (Hey, it could happen. One of last year's guide wish items, flautas from Chico's Tacos, was gifted to a Daily Meal editor in 2011.)
Obviously, you can call almost any good restaurant across the country to have a gift certificate sent to a loved one. Or you could use the new gift restaurant web site Treatful.com to find restaurant experiences in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.
Murray's Cheese/Meat Pairing of the Month Club ($175 - $775)
Having recently expanded, and been featured prominently in The New York Times for their cheese caves below Bleecker Street in New York City, Murray's only seems poised for more success. Have their Murray's signature cheeses; charcuterie; or cheese, chocolate, and chutney pairings sent to your favorite turophile in installments of four, six, or 12 months.
Check out the cheese of the month clubs at Murray's Cheese.
"Big Jug" of Pure Organic Maple Syrup ($68)
Have a loved one with a sweet tooth? This New Hampshire-based, family-owned business harvests their syrup using renewable energy, biodiesel, and sustainably harvested firewood. This certified organic medium amber maple syrup was made exclusively for Best Made.
Visit Best Made's online store.
1001 Foods You Must Taste Before You Die ($24.30)
From single press extra-virgin olive oils and artisanal cheeses to more exotic fare such as zebra jerky, this compilation is a cornucopia of culinary delicacies from every cuisine around the globe.
Buy 1001 Foods You Must Taste Before You Die from Amazon.com.
Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co.'s Lobster Rolls & Whoopie Pies ($94.95)
Who doesn't love a lobster roll? And anyone worth their salt knows the best ones come from Maine. With this gift, lobster rolls are presented with a pound of fresh Maine lobster salad (lobster, mayo, salt, and pepper) and six New England split-top rolls. They toss in six freshly made Maine whoopie pies for dessert, too.
Buy Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co.'s lobster rolls.
The Ghost Pepper ($12 and up)
Have friends or family members who love spicy food, or the challenge of eating hot peppers? Send them Bhut Jolokia, the ghost pepper, which in 2007, was certified as the hottest chile pepper on the planet in the Guinness Book of World Records. Or gift them a variety of candies, powders, and other ghost pepper-related products.
- Arthur Bovino, The Daily Meal
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