Holiday Gift Guide: 13 Tasteful Gift Ideas for Every Foodie in Your Life
Local cookbooks? Lemongrass beer? A pancake printer? We’ve rounded up some yummy and unique gifts for all your foodie friends.
When you don’t know what to buy someone, food is always a great choice. Here are our picks:
Island Lava
Photo: Katrina Valcourt
Crystallized Kona coffee and macadamia toffee are combined and topped with toasted coconut, almonds and roasted pecans in Island Lava’s newest baker’s brittle flavor, Java Lava, making this a totally appropriate snack to eat first thing Christmas morning with a glass of eggnog. Four-ounce bags are now available at Foodland, Times Supermarkets, 7-Eleven and more. Don’t forget to check out the other flavors, including Brownie Mac, Coconut Tree and Passion Fruit.
$5.99 (varies by store), islandlava.net
Delicious Geography: From Place to Plate
Part cookbook, part history lesson, Delicious Geography: From Place to Plate by Gary Fuller and his daughter, The Hawaiian Vanilla Co.’s Tracy Reddekopp, aims to connect people through food and culture. Expect to find a bunch of recipes that include vanilla in them—Hawai‘i customers can order the book with any Hawaiian Vanilla products and get free shipping.
$18.95, hawaiianvanilla.com
Food to Write Home About … Hawai‘i
For a more personal food story, check out Food to Write Home About … Hawai‘i, by Tiki’s Grill & Bar co-owner Bill Tobin and author Brian Berusch. The book is written as a series of letters by Tobin to his mother, who lives in the Midwest, as he discovers more and more about Hawai‘i cuisine. It also includes recipes from prominent local chefs and gorgeous photos by frequent HONOLULU contributor Olivier Koning.
$20.53, foodtowritehomeabout.com
Wright Kitchen’s food gradient photos
Photo: Courtesy of Wright Kitchen
If you’ve got someone on your list who loves pretty food, check out Wright Kitchen’s food gradient photos, perfect for hanging in the kitchen. Who would’ve thought we’d love staring at tomatoes so much? Prints start as low as $25, and all orders ship free in the U.S.
$25 and up, wrightkitchen.com
Artizen by MW gift basket
A photo posted by Artizen by MW (@artizenbymw) on
Treat your co-workers to a basket of goodies from Artizen by MW (and snag a few for yourself). Depending on which basket you choose, you’ll get an assortment of gingerbread cookies, matcha Russian tea cookies, furikake bagel chips, caramel macadamia nuts, MW coconut chai tea, banana bread and more.
$25–$100, order by Dec. 12, artizenbymw.com
Les Dames d’Escoffier’s Christmas cookie basket
MW’s Michelle Karr-Ueoka is also participating in Les Dames d’Escoffier’s Christmas cookie basket sale, featuring an assortment of treats from EATHonolulu, Sweet Revenge, Cake Works and more. There are only 200 baskets available, so preorders are a must.
$25 plus tax, pickup on Dec. 14 at EATHonolulu, ldei.wildapricot.org
Adoboloco hot sauce
Photo: Courtesy of Adoboloco
Adoboloco, our 2014 Best of Honolulu winner for best hot sauce, sells build-your-own gift sets of any three flavors. Choose from 5-ounce bottles of Jalapeño, Mangoes! Bumbye!, Pineapple, Habanero or Hamajang.
$25.99, adoboloco.com
Honolulu Cookie Co. holiday cookies
A photo posted by Honolulu Cookie Company (@honolulucookie) on
Honolulu Cookie Co.’s pretty holiday tins and boxes come stuffed with special flavors you’ll only find in the fall, including peppermint, ginger spice and the new white chocolate pumpkin, along with signature favorites. You can even get a clear pineapple-shaped ornament that comes with three cookies inside!
$4.95–$90 for the 2016 holiday collection, honolulucookie.com
Cake Works holiday treats
A photo posted by Cake Works Hawaii (@cakeworks_hi) on
Head to Cake Works for everything from stollen to gift sets that come with Daylight Mind coffee, house-made marshmallows, flavored meringues and more. Cookies, cupcakes, macarons, yule logs—you name it, Cake Works has a special holiday version.
Gift sets $17.95–$24.95, cakeworkshi.com
Kulu Kulu decorated cakes
Kulu Kulu’s adorable decorated cakes, all topped with “Merry Christmas” and a teeny Santa, come in six flavors this year: strawberry shortcake, chocolate, soufflé cheesecake, Kona coffee tiramisu, matcha white chocolate (shaped like a tree) and Bûche de Noël. There are limited numbers of each available, so make sure to preorder by Dec. 18 and get a 5 percent discount.
$35–$56, pickup Dec. 19–25, kulukulucake.com
Kona Brewing Co. mahalo variety pack
Photo: Michael Keany
When you’re not sure what type of beer to bring to a party, grab a Mahalo variety pack from Kona Brewing Co., which includes three bottles each of Wailua Wheat, Pipeline Porter, Lemongrass Lūʻau and Magic Sands Mango Saison, which has never been available in a bottle before.
Various retailers, konabrewingco.com
PancakeBot
These days, it’s all about the ’gram. Help your friend up her pretty pancake game with PancakeBot. Yes, a pancake printer is a real thing and, yes, it’s a ridiculous item to splurge on. You’d be better off spending the money on art classes and freehanding it from a squeeze bottle, but, hey, some people live for this stuff.
$299.99, crateandbarrel.com
Kahuku Farms liliko‘i gift set
Liliko‘i season’s almost over, but your friends can savor the tangy fruit with this gift set, which includes liliko‘i butter, liliko‘i jelly, liliko‘i syrup and liliko‘i balsamic dressing from Kahuku Farms.
$25, kahukufarms.com
Don’t forget to check out our gift guides from previous years here and here for more ideas!
READ MORE STORIES BY KATRINA VALCOURT
