Holiday Gifts For The Foodie In Your Life
With jolly St. Nick having made an appearance in Toronto yesterday, and CHFI, going all Christmas, all the time, it’s time to turn your focus on the holidays. We want to make your life a bit easier with our 2014 recommended gift list for the foodie in your life. Ready, shop!
Cheese/Charcuterie Board by Hubert Obermeier ($40-125)
By day, a Chef at Severn Lodge, on his spare time, the greatest maker of live edge wooden boards we have ever come across. Chef Hubert Obermeier spends countless hours, in a lengthy process, turning trees into these works of art. Made of balsam poplar, willow, and black ash, these boards are almost too pretty to serve food….almost! What makes this even more exclusive is the limited number that are produced each year, and, being able to track one down. Gift this to the hostess with the mostest and you will be sure to get invited back to every party in 2015.
They are available in the following stores (as long as supplies last):
Hundred Mile Store in Creemore (http://www.100milestore.ca/)
Country Produce in Orillia (http://www.countryproduce.ca/)
Dags & Willow in Collingwood (http://www.dagsandwillow.ca/)
Nicholyn Farms in Barrie (http://www.nicholyn.com/)
Maunders Food Shop in Aurora (http://www.maundersfoodshop.ca/)
Vince’s Deli in Newmarket (http://www.vincesdeli.com/)
Ciboulette Et Ci in Midland (http://www.cibouletteetcie.ca/)
As you will notice, we are out of luck in the GTA. A trip north of the GTA has never looked better!
Jacqueline Poirier ($100+ for a custom plate, $40 for a print)
After you stop saying her name a hundred times in your best French accent, head on over to her website and see what happens when art meets food. Jacqueline is the resident artist at the Ritz-Carlton in Toronto. If you have ever dined there, you will have noticed her work. Pick up a print of your favourite design, or, even better, Jacqueline will hand paint your favourite food item on a plate. Want to see it first hand, you can catch her at the One of a Kind Show. This is the gift for the foodie who has everything, because it’s likely they don’t have a hand painted plate…yet!
Ninutik (gifts from $12-100)
If you are gifting a distinctly Canadian gift, you are gifting Ninutik (which happens to be the Ojibway word for Maple Sugar). Richard and Diane, the creative minds behind this amazing product, are bringing sexy back to local Ontario maple syrup. From their sleek packaging to creative use of this national treasure, maple syrup products have never looked so good. Long gone are the days of giving maple syrup in a maple leaf bottle or classic pioneer jug, which are so not Vogue sexy. This is Canadiana gifting for the modern times. Check out the amazing assortment of gifts, such as the Cube 57 Combo or Pops, and order your favourites directly from their web-site.
Artisan Food Gift Basket
If you are reading this list, you obviously love food. Time to step up the gift basket idea, put some love into it, while supporting local artisans. Need suggestions, here are a few of the items we would include in our gift basket:
Kitten & The Bear Jam, No. 7 Hot Sauce, Rise Kombucha, Manning Canning, Crazy Corn, Louise Prete Tomato Sauce, Jewels Under the Kilt, Bao Smoothies, Abokichi, Kewaza, and maybe a nice Ocean Wise cookbook to top it off? We are salivating already….so will the lucky recipient of this delicious gift. Bonus points for putting in an actual effort, and, customizing it on the tastes of your foodie.
Food Experience
Want to be on trend? Food experiences are where it’s at! Everyone loves the opportunity to learn about food while indulging in their favourite past time…eating! What to do, we have a few recommendations (including a shameless self-plug or two).
Le Dolci – Not only do our friends at Le Dolci make some of the tastiest and creative cakes in the city, they have a whole range of classes where you can take some skills home with you. From Intro to Cupcake Decorating to Parisian Macaron Class, you cannot go wrong gifting these to your favourite baker.
Prep School – Shameless self plug #1…kicking off in January, our very own in-house Chef, Damian Harrington, will be teaching you all the tricks to cooking the perfect meals at home. Our monthly classes kick off with Knife Skills. Start with the basics (or hone your skills), enjoy a meal along the way, and stay tuned for more classes throughout 2015.
Food Tour – Shameless self plug #2…join us as we discover the city on our award winning food tours. We have happily been feeding thousands of bellies every year on an array of food tours. Find your favourite and give the gift that keeps giving. Not sure which tour to book, grab a gift certificate and let the lucky person choose their taste.
Contest
Tis’ the season of giving, and, if you know us, you know we love our contests, and, we have our best ever contest on right now. Love all of our holiday gifts? We will be giving them all away. Yes, we are giving over $500 worth of gifts to start your holiday off right. We will choose 6 lucky winners, and, each winner will be assigned to one of the following tasty gifts:
Prize 1: Cheese/Charcuterie Boards by Hubert Obermeier
Prize 2: Signed Printed Plate from Jacqueline Poirier
Prize 3: Cube 57 Set from Ninutik
Prize 4: Artisan Gift Basket curated by Foodies on Foot
Prize 5: Gift Certificate to a Le Dolci Baking Class
Prize 6: Foodies on Foot Food Tour Gift Certificate
Enter the contest today. Good luck and tasty shopping!