Whether you’ve got a food lover on your list or find yourself in need of a hostess gift, local restaurants have all manner of goodies so you won’t show up empty handed. Chefs are bottling, bagging, canning and jarring luxurious treats like cookies, teas and specialty sauces so you can give the gift of good eats – all you have to do is slap a bow on it.
You can head to Bar Volpe's on-site pastificio for fresh, house-made pasta, sauces and more just be sure to pick up a bottle of Karen Akunowicz’s Chef’s Blend Olive Oil while you're there. Perfect for cooking with or drizzling, it's full-bodied with notes of pink pepper, wet grass and wildflowers – a perfect accompaniment to everything from pasta and focaccia to soft cheese and fresh crudos.
Order online or stop by any Flour location to pick up a holiday box of goodies, including flourless brownie bites, brown butter pecan blondie bites, coffee, granola, spicy pecans, and more. Joanne Chang and her team have even put together a DIY snowman cookie kit if you're in the mood for some holiday crafting. Peruse their ready-to-gift housemade eats, as well as cookbooks and logo-ed apparel to go under the tree.
You can ship your favorite dishes from Fox & the Knife to folks near and far. Karen Akunowicz' South Boston spot is packing up pasta kits and gift baskets complete with house made pasta & sauces and her signature stuffed focaccia. The kits come in different sizes with a variety of pastas and sauces, so take your pick and place an order.
The bakers at Hi-Rise have been busy making all sorts of giftable goodies. If you've got someone with a sweet tooth on your shopping list, swing by for pre-packaged treats. Choose from a wide variety of cookies, cakes, pies, tarts and granola. Selection may vary based on chef's whim and baking bandwidth, but you really can't go wrong.
Give the seafood lover on your list a taste of the finer things with Hook + Line's Private Reserve Caviar. A collaboration between restaurateur Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli & his friends at Island Creek Oysters (he was the General Manager at Island Creek Oyster Bar before opening Alcove and Hook + Line), it's the perfect, super swanky stocking stuffer.
Availability: In-Store Pick-Up
Mamaleh’s Cambridge
One Kendall Square Cambridge, MA 02139 617-958-3354
Consider Mamaleh's your one-stop-shop for all the Jewish delicatessen classics. You can order and ship deli, sandwich and brunch kits right from their handy online shop, which is also full of tchotchkes both culinary and cute, from totes and onesies to pickle salt and everything spice. Bring a taste of Mamaleh's (and maybe some bagels and schmear) home for the holiday.
The team at Myers + Chang makes picking out the perfect present as easy as can be with their saucy gift packs. Featuring a trio of their three most popular condiments – udon, chow fun and hakka – these wrapped-and-ready kits will delight your host or any home cook on your list. You can add on a copy of Myers + Chang at Home if you really want to go all out.
Chef Marc Sheehan and the folks at Northern Spy are making jars of their Bulldog Steak Seasoning available for purchase. Swing by the host stand at the Canton restaurant (after dinner, maybe?) to grab a few for anyone who wants to make their steak (or pork or roasted veggies) a little extra.
Availability: In-Store Pick-Up
PAGU
310 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 617-945-9290
With everything from savory granola and cake mixes to spicy honey and chili crisp, PAGU's online shop is a great place to pick up housemade treats for fans of Tracy Chang's Spanish and Japanese fusion-ish style. Choose from specialities and curated pantry staples and your giftee can enjoy the flavors of PAGU at home.
Make the housemade limoncello from Pammy's your go-to gift this year. The crew at this award-winning Cambridge restaurant uses Meyer lemons to create a layer of complexity with notes of garden herbs and citrus curd for a versatile liqueur that can be used to soak a cake, poured over gelato or enjoyed as a digestif. They're also offering jars of their Housemade Bolognese Sauce so just pop over to their Mass Ave spot to pick up a bottle or a jar (or both) before they run out.
Availability: In-Store Pick-Up
The Smoke Shop – Kendall Sq.
1 Kendall Square #100 Cambridge, MA 02139 617-577-7427
You can brighten the day (the week, the season or maybe even the whole year) of the barbeque lover in your life with spice rubs, merch, cookbooks and more from the award-winning team of pitmasters at The Smoke Shop.
Bring the flavors of the Middle East home for your favorite food lover this holiday season. The team at Sofra Bakery & Cafe has preserves, teas and prepared foods from a select group of purveyors as well as their own housemade cookies, spice mixes, and nuts available for pick-up! It all makes for easy-as-pie gifting, and is a great chance to try some new Greek, Turkish and Lebanese flavors in the new year.
Spoke, Davis Square's small-but-mighty wine bar, is making their house made amaro and two different vermouths available for holiday gifting. The craft cocktail aficionado on your list will love them all (whether you give them one or the whole set is up to you) so you can't go wrong. You can bundle your bottles with a tote bag (or two - there are plenty to choose from) or back issues of Pipette (a print-only magazine about natural wines) to take your gift giving to the next level.
Hot sauce, hot paste, hot dust, oh my! The heat-seeking team at State Park has plenty of ways (sweet and savory) to pamper the pepper-loving peoples on your gift list. Pick up a bottle or a jar (in person or online) for anyone you know who likes it spicy, and they'll think of you every time they add a little kick to whatever deliciousness they're tucking into.
Barbecue fiends know the secret’s in the sauce—luckily for holiday shoppers, chef Tiffani Faison is sharing a taste of Sweet Cheeks with bottled BBQ condiments. The versatile sauces make a chefly addition to the kitchen; you can order online to pick up delicious gifts for the gourmets on your list (and get yourself some biscuits or bbq while you're at it - gifting is hard work, you deserve it!).
Send someone you love a little taste of the North End with pasta sauces from Tresca. The beloved Hanover Street mainstay has jarred up some of their signature blends so you enjoy them anywhere, anytime. Choose from flavors like fra diavolo, puttanesca, vodka sauce and more on the shelves of select Market Basket and Whole Foods New England locations.
Leave it to the taco-slinging experts at Yellow Door Taqueria to come up with the perfect little stocking stuffer for your pals who like to spice things up every now and again. The team behind the trio of taquerias is now offering bottles of Extra Picante Hot Sauce for pick-up at the location of your choice (South End, Lower Mills or Mission Hill).