The Perfect Holiday Gifts for Foodies

There’s a lot to be joyful about during the holiday season – city streets aglow with twinkly lights, chestnuts roasting on an open fire (or in the case of most apartment dwellers, a gas-lit stove), and of course, receiving lots and lots of presents.  What’s not so jolly? Tearing through Manhattan in a desperate search to find the perfect gifts for friends and family.  But there’s no need to let the stress of shopping put a damper on your holiday merriment, especially if they’re foodies.  Our edible gift ideas are sure to be their favorite thing under the tree this year!

Brooklyn Brewshop 
Grabbing a beer at a bar is fun, but learning how to make one at home is a whole other level for a beer lover.  These kits from Brooklyn Brewshop contain everything your friends will need to whip up gallons of Chocolate Porter, Chestnut Brown Ale, and Everyday IPA, from ready-to-go mixes and sanitizers, to racking canes, thermometers, and glass fermenting jugs.  Just make sure you score an invite to taste test each batch… it’s the gift that keeps on giving!
www.urbanspacenyc.com

Urban Oyster
Walking tours aren’t just for out-of-towners anymore!  No, seriously.  There’s actually some hip ones, like Urban Oyster, which will give your favorite foodie an inside look at NYC’s bustling food scene.  From a Craft Beer Crawl to a Food Cart Tour or an Immigrant Foodways Tour, Urban Oyster guide groups track the culinary evolution of various neighborhoods throughout the city, highlighting influential vendors, suppliers, restaurants and distilleries within them.  Of course, there’s plenty of eating to go with that history and walking to, well, walk it off.
www.urbanoyster.com

Jojo’s Sriracha
Forget Tabasco.  In case you haven’t heard, the Thai chili sauce, Sriracha, is the “it” condiment nowadays, meaning your foodie friend is likely in love with the stuff.  So what could be a better present  than New York’s first handcrafted sriracha?  It’s called Jojo’s and each batch is made using organic, locally sourced chili peppers that vary in heat and flavor, assuring that every bottle of this hot and tangy sauce is one of a kind.
www.etsy.com

Lucy’s Whey
There are a lot of things we wouldn’t care to be bombarded with every thirty days or so (believe it or not, Mustache of the Month and Plush Squid of the Month clubs actually exist).  Cheese, on the other hand, definitely isn’t one of them. Your chosen giftee will gladly open their fridge to monthly shipments of artisanal, farmstead cheese from Lucy’s Whey.  What arrives is a pound and a half of all different kinds of cheeses, from sheep’s milk to cow’s milk and hard to super soft.  No matter your price range, there’s a three month cheese club, six month and a year’s worth of cheeses, depending on your budget.
www.lucyswhey.com

Vosges’ Chocolates
There’s chocolate and then there’s chocolate, so if you want to give the very best to that chocolate fiend you love, head to Vosges in Soho.  This doozy of a shop peddles flavors and spices from all over the world, like from Oaxaca to Barcelona to the Himalayas.  There’s a Black Salt and Caramel Chocolate Bar, Smoke & Stout, Goji & Chocolate and much more.  This Christmas, we’re mildly obsessed with their Bacon Chocolate Gift Box ($69), which comes with Chocolate Bacon Bars, Bacon Caramel Toffee and Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix.  There’s too many great gifts here to rattle off, so go see for yourself. How sweet (and savory) it is!
www.vosges.com

Eleni’s
Why spend the holidays churning out cookies like the Keebler Elf when it’s so much easier to head to Chelsea Market or go online and order some of Eleni’s beautiful Christmas creations?  Let’s be honest, these people are professionals at whipping up traditional sugar cookies shaped like Rudolph and Santa, Gingerbread Cupcakes, Chocolate Snowflakes and even Festival of Lights-themed gift tins.
elenis.com

Fork Art 
The true blue foodie in your life will adore this affordable, unique jewelry from Fork Art, sculpted entirely from stainless steel utensils.  Artist Matthew Bartik will happily custom design a piece to fit your friend’s tastes, but there’s a lot to love from his already established collection. Choose from quirky-cool bracelets, necklaces and rings to money clips and even tiaras!
www.fork-art.com

Broadway Panhandler
Any true liquor connoisseur will tell you that the worst thing you could do to a glass of scotch is water it down with a fistful of melting ice cubes.  Which is why these Whiskey Stones are the perfect gift for anyone that insists on ordering their spirits on the rocks.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting your spirit chilled, but watered down is just not right.  Just pop these stones in the freezer and drop them in your drink – it will stay well chilled (and undiluted) for 30 minutes or more.  We’ll raise a glass to that!
www.broadwaypanhandler.com

Chelsea Market
Who doesn’t love a good holiday basket, packed with an assortment of edible surprises?  The ones at Chelsea Market go well beyond your predictable collection of jelly jars, salami logs and cheese wheels.  Check out the European Treats Gift Basket, filled with exotic sweets like The Bay Tree’s Passion Fruit Curd from England, Chocolate Ginger Biscuits from Scotland, and Creperolles, miniature crispy crepes from France. Do your friends and family prefer the flavors of home?  There’s also a New York Nostalgia box, packed with Eli’s Raisin Crisp Bread, Checker Cab Crunch Popcorn, and of course, four jumbo black and white cookies.  Yum.
www.ChelseaMarketBasket.com