The Official Foobooz Gift Guide
For every cheese-lover, chocolate-eater, and Philly food fan in your life, we’ve got the perfect gift.
Walnut Street Cafe’s Holiday Market | Photo provided
No matter your delivery method this year, even the smallest gift to a loved one will surely feel like a light in the dark — a small way to create a little joy at the end of what has been an otherwise terrible year. Here at Foobooz, we believe that all the best gifts are food-related, so we’ve rounded up all the edible, drinkable, restaurant-related items we hope to receive this year, from a fancy piece of cheese to a very cool t-shirt and everything in between.
Boardroom Spirits Nocino
Every year, Boardroom uses green walnuts to make their holiday nocino, a sweet, herbal, perfectly spiced liqueur that makes an excellent swap-in for vermouth in your Negroni or Manhattan. Note that Boardroom will deliver for free on orders over $75, so order a couple of bottles and save yourself a trip.
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Rush Creek Reserve from Di Bruno Bros.
Cheese nerds will tell you that Rush Creek Reserve is one of the best cheeses made in America – it’s a creamy, brie-like textured cheese made exclusively with milk from cows fed on dry winter hay, which makes the milk incredibly rich and flavorful. It comes out in limited quantity every year, so it’s a special gift for the snacker in your life.
Mighty Bread’s Panettone
Anyone who has received a bone-dry, barely edible grocery store panettone deserves to try the real thing, which is available in limited quantities from Mighty Bread. They’re also selling them at Di Bruno Bros. Airy, dried fruit-studded slices are perfect dipped in coffee or paired with a pour of amaro after dinner.
The Tahini Table Cookbook
Amy Zitelman, one of the founders of the Philadelphia-based tahini company Soon Tahini, finally wrote the tahini-themed cookbook we all want/need. Order a signed copy directly from Soom’s website, add a couple jars of tahini, and you’ve got yourself an excellent gift.
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Ox Coffee Mug and Pour-over Set
Ox Coffee Roasters teamed up with K’far Cafe, and local ceramicist Domenic Frunzi to create a gorgeous pour-over and mug set, which come paired with a bag of the roaster’s coffee (the same roast that K’far uses — add on the spice blend they use for the Yemenite spiced latte at the cafe). The utilitarian set is perfect for the caffeine addict in your life.
Anything from Walnut Street Cafe’s Christmas Market
If you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for, head to Walnut Street Cafe’s Christmas Market, a new shopping experience filled with edible gifts — including their 12 Nights of Cocktails set, which includes 12 two-serving bottles of cocktails to keep your loved ones appropriately tipsy for the whole holiday season.
Isgro’s Cookie Boxes
A classic. Make sure yours includes a few of their pignoli and pasticcini, which are more expensive than the others, but very worth it. Available for nationwide shipping as well as local delivery through Caviar.
The Chai Bar
The Chai Bar stocks high quality teas sourced from across India. Their four ounce tins make a lovely stocking stuffer or hostess gift. Find them online or at Riverwards Produce, Jezabel’s Cafe, and other local spots.
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Bibou Market
For the person in your life who over-pronounces “croissant,” head to Bibou’s gourmet market and put together a basket of French goodies. If your basket doesn’t include Pierre Calmel’s pate en croute, you’re doing it wrong.
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Neighborhood Ramen T-Shirt
Since its inception, Neighborhood Ramen has always done great things swag-wise. Case in point: the Neighborhood Ramen long sleeve tee.
Éclat Chocolate
A beautiful box of handmade truffles falls into the perfect gift category: the type of thing no one wants to buy for themselves, but everyone is excited to receive. Éclat has a huge variety of holiday specials and classics like salted caramels, but we’re especially partial to their candy cane bar.
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Kalaya Market
Kalaya’s marketplace just a few doors down from the restaurant is stocked with tons of gift-able items like Thai potato chips, woven sticky rice baskets, speciality ingredients, or even a double-decker fish platter for serving up whole fish.
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Stuff Every Cheese Lover Should Know, Signed
Philly food writer and cheese expert (and former Foobooz writer!) Alex Jones published a cheese guide earlier this year that is stuffed full of intel for all the dairy lovers among us. Order it directly from her site to support a local writer.
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Cookie Swap Box from Bunny Hop
If you want to give someone a sweet treat and support a great cause along the way, order a cookie box from Bunny Hop. You’ll get rosemary chocolate chip cookies, tahini chocolate chip cookies, and more, and you’ll help support Franny Lou’s Kitchen’s efforts to buy their space and keep a local restaurant open.
Restaurant Gift Cards
A great way to introduce someone to a new restaurant: give them a gift card. Or, treat them to dinner at one of their favorite spots by giving a gift card to somewhere you know they already love. You don’t need us to tell you that restaurants could use the help right now.
