Gift Guide #9: Food with Wow Factor

Let the law firm send the pears.

You may not want to read this guide if you’re hungry. But if you just ate and are looking for gift ideas for the person loves to cook, is a pro at entertaining, or might be hard to shop for, read on! All of the items on this list are made for shipping, so this list will work for loved ones living far, far away and as client gifts.

Not to throw shade at pears wrapped in foil, but the food-as-a-gift idea can skew a bit, ahem, stale. When I think of giving someone a gift of food, I try to prioritize the element of surprise if I’m able. A sandwich kit by mail? You betchya! Ice cream at my doorstep? Why not!

I also put a lot of thought into what the recipient usually prefers to eat. It’s sounds obvious but so many gifted food items during the holidays fall into the Desserts or Alcohol category, and both of those are no-fly-zones for many people these days. Then there’s the challenge of navigating food allergies! If you are gifting food to a crowd, consider including items that can appeal to a range of eating habits.

So how do you gift a gift of food that wows and won’t end up in the bin? Follow me, dear reader, and let’s see if one of these ideas will do the trick for you.

While I realize I just said special care should be taken for those who are saying no to sweet treats, the holidays can serve as a reason to indulge. Let’s be daring and serve dessert first.

Shall we dig in?

When it comes to a cookie with heft, few can compete with New York City’s most famous cookie from Levain Bakery. I once gave a box of these cookies as a hostess gift, and they were mistaken for scones because they are that massive. Personally, I love the chocolate chip walnut, but the dark-chocolate chocolate chip comes in at a close second. The bakery offers special gift sets that mix their massive cookies with coffee or tea towels or a special-edition candle. Cookies arrive in a sturdy blue box adorned with beautiful graphics, so this also makes for a wonderful client gift.

Also in the New-York-City-Has-Incredible-Desserts category is Milk Bar. My first experience with Milk Bar was about ten years ago when a friend dragged me to a tiny outpost in Midtown so that we could get “compost cookies,” and I’ve been a fan ever since. Milk Bar doesn’t mess around when it comes to gifting. They’ll send a cake that will arrive beautifully, cookies individually wrapped and stacked in a whimsical metal tin, or cake truffles that will give your kids saucer eyes. And their corporate gift offerings will be the talk of the office. They offer gluten-free options.

Magnolia Bakery feels a little corporate what with its tourist draw and their counters at airports and train stations (love you, MB, before a long train ride!), but that popularity does not make their cake any less irresistible. The banana pudding ships surprisingly well, and their cupcakes and cakes make for a classic treat – especially for those with birthdays that collide with the holidays (looking at you, mom!).

Cheese, cheese, glorious cheese! Unless you’re allergic, and then you should promptly skip this section. One Christmas, my mom gifted my dad and me a small cheese baking set complete with a baker, wheel of Camembert, fig spread, and crackers. It.was.divine. Murray’s will ship most any type of cheese to you, packaged perfectly. Bonus points for Stanley Tucci’s towering cheese cakes(!!).

There are few sandwiches more memorable than a Zingerman’s sandwich straight from the counter in their Ann Arbor deli. I’m told by alum of some big public university with a football team in the city that this is one of the things they miss most from their college days. Lucky for them and for us, Zingerman’s sells (and ships!) pastrami Reuben sandwich kits along with a host of other food goodies.

Sometimes the holiday traditions you start when you’re a grown up are more fun than the ones you enjoyed as a kid. I count giving my dad a big white box adorned with illustrations of Santa’s elves from Usinger’s Famous Sausage as a new favorite tradition. As any proper host would, he welcomes my husband, me, and our one-eyed cat home for Christmas with a feast of an appetizer -- a charcuterie board overflowing with Usinger meats and cheeses. This is maybe the third year he’s done this, but somehow it feels like we’ve been doing this forever.

Honorable mention: Boarderie for their very cute, pre-packaged charcuterie boards.

Big Night is a new one for me, but Domino magazine said shopping with them was like “walking into the best pantry ever,” so I’m all in. Color me intrigued by their so-called “latest chili crisp obsession. Onino is made in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, with a very special ingredient: Marcona Almonds (the undisputed Queen of Almonds). There's also smoky and fruity chilies, meticulously fried garlic, crispy shallots, and toasted sesame seeds, plus a touch of coconut sugar and Maldon salt to bring you pops of salt and a shattering texture. Spoon it onto anything and everything.” Don’t mind if I do. Also, the writing on their website is quite clever!

I really should just rename this gift guide All The Good Food Shops Are Apparently in New York City because the Big Apple is making yet another appearance with a little shop tucked away in the East Village that goes by the name SOS Chefs. As in, Save Our Spices.  Bon Appetit raved about the shop, so it’s not a secret spot, but I’d be willing to bet it’s one most of the foodies in your life have yet to visit. The owner takes pride in “stocking the unstockable” which was proven true when I saw they had Saffron from Iran on their website alongside bee pollen from Costa Rica and honey from Upstate New York.

Rancho Gordo first entered my life in the form of a pouch of pinto beans tucked inside a gift box full of goodies from San Francisco. At first, I overlooked the package of heirloom beans in favor of a bag of coffee from my favorite roaster in city’s Mission District. It wasn’t until a cold winter night a few weeks later that my husband and I thought, “Oh yeah, we should cook those beans with the funny label.” Show stopper. I’ve since ordered beans and rice for myself and my dad. If you have a serious foodie in your life, this might be a winner. Customer service gold star alert! Rancho Gordo has a terrific team.

Honorable mention: Oaktown Spice Shop for seriously good small-batch spices.

I’m not looking to start any regional wars by saying this, but I genuinely miss California oranges. Florida oranges just don’t hit the same way for me. Same goes for California avocados. I flagged the Wighton Family Farm ages ago as a way to ship fresh oranges and avocados from the Golden State to the east coast. Marmalade Grove is another farm that will ship straight to you, along with fresh preserves. This could be a solid idea for someone with food allergies or a very health-conscious diet.

In addition to the aforementioned magical sandwich kits, Zingerman’s Deli delivers on the special-diet front. They have a variety of options for Hanukkah gifts in addition to gift boxes full of goodies for the vegan or gluten free people in your life. Their customer service team is incredible and will go to great lengths to put together gifts for people with dietary restrictions.

An old boss told me a story about how his youngest daughter would sneak milk at school even though she suffered painful side effects. That’s how much she loved milk. (Same, girl, same). It broke my heart, so for Christmas I sent the family a box of dairy-free ice cream from Jeni’s. So many dairy-free ice creams taste like eating the bark of a coconut tree or end up being a sorbet disguised as something it’s not. Jeni’s line of dairy-free ice creams are indulgent and delicious the way ice cream should be. Timing this one could be tricky because this is a gift that wows and should be sent when the recipient is able to store immediately upon receipt. Speaking from experience here :)

Last but most certainly not least, a gift that could help all the procrastinators out there move from the-shopping-bag-should-tell-you-I-bought-this-on-the-way-here gift to sleeper-hit-of-the-season gift. For so many of us, restaurants evoke powerful memories. Maybe there’s a restaurant you loved that time you visited Boston with your family in high school. Or there was a family-owned spot you adopted as a local hangout joint when you lived in that big city in your 20’s. And there are restaurants that feel almost aspirational. They become familiar to you even if you’ve never stepped foot inside because they played a character of their own in a book or TV show. Les Halles felt like this after I read one of Anthony Bourdain’s books. In an attempt to recall these magical places, Goldbelly comes in clutch. Goldbelly will deliver a cake from Duff Goldman’s TV-famous bakery in Baltimore, brisket from Austin’s iconic Franklin Barbeque, or a lobster roll kit from The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, ME.

What a time to be alive!