All the Pretty Things: The 2015 Holiday Gift Guide
There’s so much good stuff to eat and drink in Brooklyn right now. Here’s some of it.
Gray and Pink Foozie
objectify139.com $25
What’s gray and pink and furry all over? These gray and pink fur koozies. Duh.
Braven White IPA
depanneurbklyn.com $2.50
Trust us, someone you love is dreaming of a White IPA this year. Make their dreams come true.
St. Agrestis Amaro, Blackfly Bourbon Whiskey, Neversink Apple Brandy
DukesLiquorBox.com: 170 Franklin Street, Greenpoint $40, $40, and $31
Any of these selections would be spot-on for the cocktail connoisseur in your life. But if you get them all three, they’ll love you forever.
Early Bird Granola
courtstreetgrocers.com $14
This granola is super crunchy and has plenty of plump dried cherries for a toothsome tangy, sweetness. Granola might seem like a weird holiday present, but that must be because you haven’t tried this version yet.
Brooklyn Roasting Company
“Court Street Grocers”
courtstreetgrocers.com $13
This particular roast is dark and smoky and has an effect akin to drinking rocket fuel, which is something we mean in the best possible way.
Malvi Marshmallow Cookies
mouth.com $8
The next best thing to s’mores, these minty marshmallow treats are seasonally appropriate and just plain delicious.
Lucky Peach subscription
luckypeach.com $28/year
Consistently filled with great food writing and home to some of the most gorgeous photography out there, Lucky Peach is a great gift for any literary foodie.
Brooklyn Local 1 and Local 2
BrooklynFare.com $10/each
At a time when people regularly spend their Saturday mornings standing on incredibly long lines for the chance to purchase limited run beers, it’s important to remember that you could instead walk into basically any bodega in this wonderful borough and buy two world-class beers: 750ml bottles of Brooklyn Brewery’s Local 1 and Local 2, a Belgian Pale and a Belgian Dark respectively. The festive color combination of their labels and their overall good looks make them the perfect gift for your beer-curious relative or, even better, the perfect host/hostess gift to bring to holiday parties.
Weak Knees Gochujang Sriracha
mixedmade.com $10
Smoky and spicy with just the right amount of funk to it, this hot sauce is a great alternative to the ubiquitous rooster-adorned bottle on everyone’s shelf.
Apple Plate
beambk.com $27
Apples are cool. They keep doctors away. They also look good on plates, as it turns out. Like, really good.
Razzy Gabby from the Jam Stand
thej.am $8
Sweet and spice and everything nice, all in one glass jar.
Liber & Co. Pineapple Gum Syrup
courtstreetgrocers.com $9
Perfect for dressing up cocktails, this pineapple syrup is just the right amount of sweet and is a strong addition to anyone’s bar cart.
Mustard and Co. Garlic Dill Mustard
ftgreenefarms.com $9
Fact: Mustard is the best condiment. Spread the word by giving this version as a gift to everyone you know.
Fleishers Meat Stix
fleishers.com $8
Friends don’t let friends snap into a Slim Jim. Friends get friends these deliciously smoky Fleishers Meat Stix instead.
Foosball Bottle Opener
modernanthology.com $48
Bottle openers are one of those things that everyone loses and it sucks because everyone needs them. This foosball version is so cute that it will never get lost, making this the perfect gift.
Paige Vickers PYT Glass Tumblers
paigevickers.com $10
We’re not totally sure, but we think in this case “P.Y.T.” stands for “Pretty Young Tumbler.”
Slate Beverage Coasters
brooklynslate.com $24
Practical gifts are almost never pretty, but these coasters defy tradition and manage to be super nice to look at as well as effective at preserving your wooden surfaces.
Le Creuset Dutch Oven in Caribbean
whisknyc.com $350
This is a great gift for any home chef, and this color is just too, too beautiful.
Oak & Rye Wormwood Craft Absinthe
midvalleywine.com $46
Perfect for that friend who appreciates the taste of really good liquor and who likes to just, you know, get fucked up.
Marble Mortar and Pestle
whisknyc.com $14
This little guy is gorgeous and hand-crafted and very useful for grinding up spices and looking cute on a kitchen counter.
Silkscreen of Fort Defiance
shop.tebeau.com $150
This beautiful silkscreen pays tribute to one of Red Hook’s all-time great spots.
Soapstone Cooking Pot from Whisk
whisknyc.com $80
Why a soapstone pot? Well, besides the fact that it just looks really cool, this pot retains heat for a lot longer than a traditional pot, making it great for parties.
Maple Whiskey Sour Craft Mixer
cocktailcrate.com $12
Mix one part whiskey and one part of this mix and have a very, very happy holiday.
Life Curated Drink Stones
life-curated.com $35
These stones are designed to keep your drink cool without watering it down the way ice does. They also just look really awesome. So there’s that too.
Misen Knife
misen.co $65
I’m not too proud to admit that I look to J. Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats as something of a culinary guru, so when he called this “the holy grail of inexpensive chef’s knives,” I had to get my hands on one. When I did, it was, unsurprisingly, tough to disagree: for an unheard of $65, you get a 8.2″ carbon-steel workhorse that cuts like a dream and feels perfect in your hand–substantial and serious without being clunky.
