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45 Cooking Gifts That'll Impress Any 'Foodie'

When their palate is advanced, the gift must be, too.

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The absolute best gift for a foodie is scoring them that impossible-to-get reservation at that impossibly good restaurant and footing the bill for its impossibly complex tasting menu and wine pairing. But, most of us would like to stay in the realm of achievable, or at least not impossible, when doing our gifting. That's not to say this is an easy undertaking. Much like giving a wine lover a bottle of wine is expected, even boring, a gift basket or jar of vaguely interesting tapas spread will fall flat with any food aficionado.

You have some impressing to do, because this genre of self-proclaimed chefs is serious. After all, they religiously sharpen their knives. They dedicate hours to flipping through cookbooks. They plan decadent feasts starting with hor d'oeuvres, followed by impeccable main courses with must-have after-dinner drinks and mouthwatering desserts that are so good, you swear you'll never eat another fast-food meal again. They're obsessed with Italy and Stanley Tucci, and they tell you all about how you're actually supposed to boil pasta. And to top it all off, they have immovable opinions on cookware. But, don't let that intimidate you—let it inspire you. Let it motivate you to buy the best food-focused gift you can.

If you still feel a little bit lost, we rounded up our Esquire home chefs (mostly me, but there are some others), and found all the best gifts for foodies out there. Shop from this list, and I personally guarantee they will not be disappointed.

Best Gift for Hosts

Uncommon Goods Compact Swivel Cheese & Tapas Board

Compact Swivel Cheese & Tapas Board
$88 at Uncommon Goods

This collapsible tapas board is for big entertainers. They can use it for cheese nights, appetizers, desserts, and more.

Best Mini Gift

Brightland The Mini Artist Series

The Mini Artist Series

More from Brightland because we literally can't resist this mini assortment of olive oils.

Best Tinned Fish Gift

Fishwife Fly By Jing Smoked Salmon Trio

Fly By Jing Smoked Salmon Trio

You want me to get them tinned fish? Yes! They want you to get them tinned fish too! They see Fishwife at every specialty grocer but can never justify the purchase, this is an easy one.

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Best Gift For Food With a Sweet Tooth

Levain Bakery Levain Signature Cookie Assortment

Levain Signature Cookie Assortment

For the foodie with a sweet tooth, a dessert treat is never a bad way to go. Everyone deserves these famed monstrous cookies in their kitchen.

Best Wagyu Beef Gift

Snake River Farms Wagyu Starter Pack

Wagyu Starter Pack
Now 17% Off

If they're a regular at Michelin-star restaurants, then they've surely tasted the top-notch quality that is Snake River Farm's wagyu beef. This starter pack will have them cooking up five-star (we hope) creations in their own home.

Best for Experimental Chefs

LEVO II Infuser

II Infuser

This nifty machine will let them infuse their oils and butters with any (yes, any, high-making or otherwise) herb of their choosing.

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Best Charcuterie Board Gift

Murray's Cheese The MVP Charcuterie Platter

The MVP Charcuterie Platter

The Murray’s MVP platter is just that: a spread of the most valuable players to ever grace the charcuterie board field. You can’t go wrong with a Murray’s gift if they love cheese.

Most Fun Foodie Gift

Mercado Famous Whole Jamon Serrano

Whole Jamon Serrano

If they're the one throwing the holiday party (they probably are), tell them you've got a charcuterie surprise and have this whole leg of Jamón delivered before the event.

Best Foodie Subscription Gift

The Caviar Co. Sapphire Membership

Sapphire Membership

Everyone likes caviar, but even foodies rarely get a chance to taste caviar. Outside of restaurant menus, where they use caviar to just increase price, you rarely get to eat caviar.So, any foodie would love The Caviar Co. twice yearly subscription. Every May and November, they'll get a special shipment of 3-4 ounces of caviar and caviar-adjacent items.

If you want to give them a little taster on Valentine's Day, the wild harvested Hackleback is phenomenally fishy, or the farmed White Sturgeon is so smooth you could eat it by the spoon.

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Best Food Delivery Gift

Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen - 2 Dozen Biscuits

Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen - 2 Dozen Biscuits

As a Georgia Boy, I can make decent biscuits, but once every few months I get a deep craving for the biscuits from this roadside joint where my girlfriend went to school. (I'd do a lot for a chicken biscuit right now...) Thankfully, they ship on Goldbelly now. If your foodie is from the South, get them biscuits. If they've never had good biscuits, get them biscuits.

Best Foodie Garden Gift

Organic San Marzano Tomato Seeds

Organic San Marzano Tomato Seeds

Technically, they will never be able to call these San Marzanos. That's a legally guarded distinction that requires the tomatoes to be grown in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius... But! They can grow the world's most famous tomato in their backyard, and they'll almost taste the same.

Most Practical Gift

The Citizenry Linen Apron

Linen Apron

An apron that looks so good they might forget to take it off once they've finished cooking and cleaning.

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Best Cooking Textbook

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

Give a man a fish or teach a man to fish—you know the saying. This isn't a cookbook full of recipes, it's a textbook on how to cook. If they're one of the last people on Earth without this book, this year is the perfect opportunity to gift it.

Best New Piece of Cookware to Gift

GreenPan x Stanley Tucci Essential Stanley Pan

Essential Stanley Pan

Stanley Tucci is now a cookware mogul, on top of everything else. Everything from the actor's GreenPan collaboration is great, but if we had to recommend one piece, it would be this huge pan. Make pasta for a crowd, a fish stew on a weeknight, or use it like a wok for fried rice. It can do pretty much everything.

Best Olive Oil to Gift

Graza "Drizzle" Extra Virgin Olive Oil

"Drizzle" Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A fancy Instagramable olive oil that comes in a chef-style squirt bottle. Perfect for a final drizzle over any of their high concept dishes.

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Best for Backyard Chefs

Ooni Koda Outdoor Pizza Oven

Koda Outdoor Pizza Oven

This sleek, futuristic oven will have them making pizzeria-brick-oven-level pies from the comfort of their own backyard.

Most Useful Food Gift

Jacobsen Salt Co. Salt Sourced 8 Vial Set

Salt Sourced 8 Vial Set

Savory or sweet, no dish is complete without a pinch of salt. This gourmet variety of infused sea salts—from Black Lava to Pink Peruvian salt—will impress any real foodie.

Best Gift for Wine Lovers

Vinebox Tour of Europe Set

Tour of Europe Set

You know the deal with boxes: a shipment of cool stuff packed up all nice that'll really make their day. With Vinebox, it's wine. Specifically, vials holding single glass servings of different varietals, to keep things interesting. Because when you eat a lot of excellent food, you need a lot of excellent wine to pair it with.

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Best Tablescape Gift

Mepra Italian Flatware Fantasia Flatware Set

Italian Flatware Fantasia Flatware Set

They if take pride in having luxury kitchen items, then there's no doubt the Merpa flatware set should be in their arsenal. Made with the utmost quality, these sets come in an assortment of colors that are honestly, just fun.

Best Food Gift For Pasta Lovers

Williams Sonoma Imperia Pasta Machine

Imperia Pasta Machine

They’ve graduated from their Airbnb experience at Nonna’s kitchen in Tuscany, so now they can make fresh pasta by themselves at home.

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