The holiday season is just around the corner, and the daunting search for the perfect gift is underway. Luckily, Eater NY’s holiday gift guide is here to help you shop for the food enthusiasts in your life. From a mighty Kickstarter-funded knife to sneakers inspired by a seafood restaurant, here are 2016’s best New York-based gifts for food obsessives.
If this list doesn’t get the job done, check out Eater's national guide for more ideas.
Beer Making Kit
The team at Brooklyn Brew Shop is on a mission to prove that making simple, crushable beer can be easy and fun. Easy-to-use brew kits are available in options like citrus wheat, chestnut brown ale (shown), a chocolate maple porter, and a citrusy, everyday IPA. Each kit comes with all the tools one will need to make a delicious, one-gallon batch of beer. Stovetop not included.
Misen Knife
A Kickstarter-funded knife that stands up to the classic you've always coveted? Yup. The team at Misen (the name's derived from mise en place) has crafted a high quality chef's knife that sells for just $65. The sleek carbon steel knife looks and feels good, and it'll slice through just about anything your recipe calls for. Bonus: The company plans to offer free lifetime sharpening, starting soon.
Empire Estate Riesling
Thomas Pastuszak’s (The NoMad) riesling collaboration with Red Newt Cellars winemaker Kelby Russell is celebrating its second bottling this holiday season. The 2015 vintage of Empire Estate’s dry Riesling is intensely acidic before making way for a salty finish that packs flavors of ginger, stone fruit, and lime. The more citrus-forward 2014 vintage is available, too.
Brooklyn Cider
Brooklyn Cider House's owner Peter Yi grows the apples for his ciders near New Paltz, under the belief that the uglier the apple, the better the cider. Yi’s lineup includes Kinda Dry, a tart start with a dry finish; Half Sour, aromatic, citrus fruit-forward, and food-friendly; Still Bone Dry, mega dry and high-acid; and Bone Dry, crisp and clean, a classic cider.
Ramona Wine Cooler
A portable wine cocktail from a leading sommelier and beverage director, Jordan Salcito’s Ramona is a dream come true. Each mighty 250mL can packs a punch of fresh grapefruit and a pleasant amount of fizz. It’s great as a stocking stuffer, or to bring to your next holiday party. Also great: Ramona with mezcal or gin.
Crush // $4.95 for a 250mL can
Flavored Simple Syrups
Former Colonie chef Alex Sorenson created these versatile syrups that are being drizzled over everything from craft cocktails and iced tea, to pancakes and ice cream. Spice up a homemade margarita with Blank Slate’s tingling bird’s eye chili, or sweeten a bowl of oatmeal with a swirl of rich vanilla simple syrup. The caramel-like palm sugar syrup is a wonderful addition to a bowl of ice cream.
Hamptons Sea Salt
For the home chef in your life, these artisanal sea salts will add flavor to just about any dish. The salts come in a wide variety of flavors and combinations including porcini mushroom, espresso, vanilla bean, and jalapeño. The Flavor Seeker set (shown) comes with mini versions of black truffle, garlic, ghost pepper, smoked hickory, and rosemary.
Hamptons Salt Co. // $39.99 for collection
Vans x Seamore’s Shoes
Michael Chernow’s hip seafood restaurant has a keen eye for branding. One of the items available in the Seamore’s online shop is a collaboration with Royal Native and Vans creator Steve Van Doren. The shoe was designed in Vans’ authentic style and features summery imagery of palm trees, hula girls, and island life. Available in both men’s and women’s sizes.
Tea Towels
Handmade in Brooklyn, Claudia Pearson’s charming tea towels make the perfect gift for the dinner party mastermind in your life. Each towel is made of 100 percent cotton flour sacks which makes dish drying an easy feat, and leaves polished stemware fuzzy-free. No matter the theme (classic cocktails, wine and cheese, meat and veggies), Pearson’s whimsical illustrations are hard to resist.
Dinner at the Long Table
Beloved restaurateur Andrew Tarlow is the owner and operator of a family of Williamsburg restaurants that includes Diner, Marlow & Sons, Reynard, and Achilles Heel. With his debut cookbook Dinner at the Long Table, Tarlow and co-author Anna Dunn are offering that Tarlow aesthetic to home cooks with recipes like beer-brined ham, eggplant gratin, and a horseradish rib roast. The book’s stunning imagery is sure to provide inspiration for all future Brooklyn-themed dinner parties.
Food City
Food historian Joy Santlofer takes readers through four centuries of food-making in New York in her book Food City. Equally captivating is a collection of images including a Victorian-era trade card using the Statue of Liberty to sell crackers. From the establishment of the first Dutch brewery to the rise of familiar brands like Hebrew National and Thomas’ English Muffins, Food City is a stunning tale of immigrant ingenuity.
Mochidoki Mochi
This small-batch provider of mochi — the Japanese frozen dessert — offers an exciting mix of flavors for all palates. The Tropical collection comes with a delightful toasted coconut, a tangy lychee colada, and a subtle mandarin orange. Ship to your ice cream loving friend, or order one of the holiday collections to bring to your next holiday party.
Tea cakes and pastries
The Awkward Scone’s wonderful little cakes and sandwiches have been popping-up at markets and cafes around New York. Pastries include super nutty squares of Italian rainbow cake; sugary, buttery rum-soaked cake; and honeyed fig jam sandwiched between two buttery pieces of shortbread. The Awkward Scone’s treats are great with a cup of tea, or on their own.
The Awkward Scone // Starting $4.25
Dan Kluger x Todd Snyder Apron
Farm-to-table superstar Dan Kluger collaborated with menswear makers Todd Snyder to create this sleek, fashionable apron. Dubbed the Loring Place Apron, it’s named after Kluger’s soon-to-open Greenwich Village restaurant. Kluger and the rest of the Loring Place staff will be sporting the 100 percent chambray aprons when the restaurant opens.