Are you looking for that perfect gift for your food-lover this Christmas? Here are a few ideas for unique Christmas gifts for foodies.
For the Full-Fledged Foodie
An Extravagant Dinner
There’s a reason the foodie became a foodie, and normally that reason is thanks to an exquisite dining experience.
There are those restaurants that like to employ luxuriousness in moderation. Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester does exactly the opposite, from the silver luminescent curtain to the sublime food that has earned the restaurant three Michelin stars. Naturally, these are just some of the aspects that make it such a desirable gift for foodies.
Wine Tasting
It’s important to remember that foodies aren’t snobs – they’re connoisseurs and tastemakers, often regarded as food oracles by their friends. In order to treat them as such, they need feeding the best of the best.
A good place to start is at The Montague on the Gardens in Bloomsbury, where one can taste some of the best reds to ever come out of South Africa. The Hannibal blend is one to particularly savour, with a rating of 99/100 in the SA Wine Index.
Lunch in a Michelin Star Restaurant
Much to many people’s surprise, eating out for lunch at a world-renowned restaurant isn’t that expensive. Lunch for two under the most decorated Michelin star chef, for example, is a reasonable £44 each, but bragging rights are free.
For the Sweet-Toothed Foodie
Biscuiteers
If you love handmade biscuits, this gift is for you. Here, all ingredients used are natural. Most of the biscuit “icers” are artists, so each biscuit is unique in design, colour and shape. At Biscuiteers, there have been bespoke commissions, for example Harvey Nichols and Selfridges 100 birthday.
For a gift, come for afternoon tea with a friend, where you will be able to enjoy many of the traditional tea essentials. You will have a tea consisting of biscuits, sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, tea, coffee, cupcakes, cookies, macaroons and brownies.
For The Fun-Loving Foodie
Draughts
Toby Hamand quit his job to start London’s first game lovers’ haven, Draughts. This board game café holds over 500 games and is the place to make new friends or entertain old ones while having a great time.
With simple, but quality food, beer, ales and wines, you have a wide selection to choose from when you arrive. Enjoy a themed evening or tournament in Draughts’ relaxed atmosphere. Draughts is easy to spot with its bricks and railway arch entrance. Discover more about Draughts
Supper Club
If your foodie is a particularly sociable individual dying to meet people just as conscious of what they put in their mouths, then a good place for them might be a supper club.
Supper clubs are becoming increasingly trendy in London and memberships are becoming more difficult to obtain. Banquet gives you a good idea of what a supper club is supposed to be, with ‘edible experiences’ running once a month.
DIY Molecular Gastronomy Kit
One look and this sparks chemistry set nostalgia. There are certainly no fewer chemicals to play with either, with a plethora of additives thrown into the mix.
The ingeniously named MOLECULE-R kit is designed to provide an accessible way into the art of molecular gastronomy and a ‘democratisation’ of the niche cuisine.
For the Beginner Foodie
Cookbook
While being a natural go-to gift for the discerning foodie, chances are their bookshelves are already stuffed with Jamie Oliver cookbooks. Yes, friends and relatives have had exactly the same idea before and no, just because they’re a foodie doesn’t mean their hearts are in cooking for themselves.
If you’re set on the idea however, how about making note of the restaurants he or she has visited? That way you can look up which of the foodie’s favourite chefs have released some recipe-based literature.
Vegetable Garden
If Raymond Blanc can source his ingredients from the garden, then why can’t anyone else? Well, one might encounter some trouble attempting to cultivate the 90 different types of vegetable at that Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons boasts. Saying that, there’s nothing quite like nurturing tomatoes on the vine before mercilessly devouring them in a spaghetti bolognaise sauce.
Le Creuset
There’s no other way of putting it – no cook can live without a Le Creuset. Their casserole dishes in particular are virtually indestructible, last just short of a lifetime, and are great for anything from pot roasts to cake baking. Not only that, they tend to add a dash of colour to the kitchen.
Mobile Foodie Survival Kit
There’s nothing worse than cooking up a beef ragù only to find you’re all out of Oregano. Fortunately, The Foodie Survival Kit, containing 12 individual spices and herbs, does not carry that problem with it.
The fact it’s designed to slot into your backpack means that you’ll never be caught short with your granulated garlic back home in the larder.
For The Vegetarian Foodie
Benares Vegetarian Tasting Menu for Two
What better gift is there for a vegetarian than a trip to one of London’s highest-rated Indian restaurants? Benares features incredibly fresh food and warm, friendly service. Whether you like your food with a kick or not, there is something for everyone.
Start the gift by sampling seven courses of Indian dishes, a mixture of traditional dishes with a twist of modern style. The dishes are a combination of tradition with regional flavours. Guests are invited to add wine pairing with their meal from the onsite sommelier while enjoying the surroundings of silk, trinkets and carvings.