10 Great Holiday Gift Ideas for Cooks and Chefs

Holiday season is upon us and it’s time to start shopping for the important people in your life. If you’re looking for a gift for home cooks or chefs, skip the basic cookbook and get a little more creative with these gift ideas for people who love to cook. The foodie in your life will love you for it, we promise.

1. Culinarie Kit (Well…Obviously)

We’re not trying to pull a fast one on ya–we think the chef in your life would absolutely love our cooking gift boxes. Chock full of artisan ingredients sourced from around the United States, each kit is a culinary adventure waiting to happen. Our Gourmand Box is available as a one-time purchase, or you can buy a yearly cooking subscription and send a new, unique gift box every 3 months.

2. CSA Subscription

Community Supported Agriculture groups allow you to sign up to receive fresh, ethically grown ingredients. Whether your favorite cook is a vegetable nut, a fan of farm-raised meat, or a seafood enthusiast, you can find a CSA that will deliver them a monthly or quarterly box of the best ingredients money can buy. As an added bonus, local CSAs are more cost-effective and help support the regional economy.

3. A Gift Certificate to the Coolest Restaurant in Town

The only thing chefs love more than cooking is eating, but sometimes it’s hard to find the time or room in the paycheck to indulge in the new culinary feats of one’s peers. Most fancy restaurants offer gift certificates, so treat your favorite cook to a meal they’ll never forget.

4. An Artisanal Salt Collection

As Gordon Ramsay said, think of salt as a magnifying glass for flavor. No dish is complete without it–even sweet baking. Salt is the most prized seasoning in the world, and our English word “salary” (from “sal”) is even derived from its value! There are dozens of types of salt in the world, and even more creative infusions. Any chef would be happy to receive a fancy set of salts to finish their dishes.

5. Personalized Kitchen Towels

Flour sack towels and regular old kitchen towels are indispensable when you’re cooking. Use your favorite cook’s initials, inspirational quotes from famous chefs, or find a premade design that suits your giftee. These towels are a present that will get used again and again, and remind the chef of you each and every time.

6. A Formal Chef’s Jacket

Professionals may have already their own chef jacket, but nothing makes a home cook feel more confident than their very own, classy cooking jacket. Chef jackets typically have convenient pockets for tools and eliminate the need for an apron because the material is designed to get messy. Go the extra mile and have it personalized with their initials over the left breast pocket.

7. Professional Non-Slip Shoes

Folks who spend hours on their feet certainly feel it. Your legs, hips, and back all get sore in combination with foot pain. That’s why good shoes for cooking are invaluable! Check out professional lines from Birkenstock or Dansko for kitchen shoes that will take a beating and still keep your favorite chef kicking.

8. A Knife Sharpening Subscription

I’d never suggest you buy a chef a knife unless they specifically ask for it, since we’re so particular about our tools. That said, knife maintenance is tedious work and dull knives are dangerous and inefficient. Many culinary shops and cookery stores offer knife sharpening services. Some even do pick up and drop off in urban areas. Talk to these places and arrange a prepayment for a year’s worth of sharpening appointments.

9. Anything Organizational

Chefs and cooks are people who have excellent time management and multitasking skills, but most of us are terrible at one thing: organization. From a recipe rolodex to a personalized knife bag to a standalone spice rack, every avid cook could use a little help keeping things in their designated place in the kitchen.

10. Don’t Forget the Amazon Wishlist

Chefs and cooking enthusiasts can be very specific about the brands and styles of equipment they use, so why not go directly to the source? Ask your friend or family member if they have an Amazon wishlist and it’s guaranteed that they’ll have a few cooking implements on there that they’ve been pining for.