Epic Foodie Gift Ideas: Bring Joy That Makes You the Holiday Winner This Year

Experiences Over Things Holiday Gift Ideas Vol 2: Gifts for Those Who Live To Eat

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Emotional Eating

Eating is what every self-proclaimed foodie looks forward to. Not for sustenance, but for more pleasurable, if not gluttonous reasons. If it weren’t for foodies living to eat instead of eating to live, there would be no food culture as we know it.

For a foodie, a fulfilling or exquisite meal is an emotional event. Nothing makes a foodie happier than a culinary experience. If you have a foodie in your life gift them that experience this holiday.

Not All Self Proclaimed Foodies Are Alike...So Gift Carefully

The foodie in your life will fall under several categories of foodie culture. There are numerous divisions, such as health-conscious, junk foodies, carnivores, vegans, adventurous, upscale,...you name it, there are categories and subcategories a foodie can represent. For the sake of this article and to make gift giving easy, we’re going to lump every foodie into one of these three categories:

1. Eaters
2. DIY Cooks
3. Connoisseurs

Eaters

Believe it or not, there is a world of foodies today that do not or cannot cook. Those would be the Eaters. Eaters spend all their dollars on going out to eat or take out. Most college students fall into this category.

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

Somewhere along the line between Gen X and Millenials, many college students stayed college students all their lives when it comes to food. These would be the type of people that get something in life accomplished and say they are “adulting.” They may still live with roommates, or they are living with a significant other who might be able to cook. Make no mistake, a lot of these Eaters are women who date men that can cook their asses off, when traditionally (the age of the Boomer) it was vice vera.

Don’t look down on an Eater. Eaters usually don’t cook for several reasons. A lot of studying, a lot of work, and a lot of delicious food options that happen to be available today. Blame The Food Network, which spawned tons of children who grew up to be world-class cooks in hopes to someday become an Iron Chef.

DIY Cooks

Next, you have the foodie that cooks. The DIY Cook. This is a vast category to lump a foodie into because not everyone is a chef. However, a foodie that cooks usually hates bland food. This type of cook will go out to eat and figure out how to make that same meal at home. The DIY Cook will also see a recipe in a blog post and cook it even if they’ve never tasted the meal before.

Eaters love DIY Cooks because DIY Cooks love to feed everyone else. They will push their food on anyone who will try their cooking.

Caution, do not make the mistake of thinking that someone who cooks well is a foodie. Many home chefs cook because they feel they have to or it is just expected of them. A foodie gift would be a slap in this person’s face because they probably would rather have the opportunity to not cook.

I happen to be able to cook my ass off, but I don’t necessarily love cooking. I do love to eat. Since I’m a self-proclaimed foodie, I won’t cook a bad meal because I won’t eat one. Don’t give me a new baking set, because I don’t bake. I don’t measure when I cook because I cook by taste and experience. I wouldn’t put myself in the DIY cook category. I consider myself a connoisseur.

Connoisseurs

Okay, so Connoisseur is a pretty lofty name for this category of a foodie. It also lumps a ton of different food lovers into this category. We might all be able to review our food on Yelp, but it does not necessarily mean all connoisseurs are renowned food critics. We are the foodie that really knows or tries to understand the food we eat. We not only have an appetite for a beautiful food experience, but we recognize ingredients, have culinary preferences, and can cook even if we prefer being served a meal.

Food Preferences

It’s up to you to know the types of food your foodie is willing to eat. There are general foodies who will try anything. With food sensitivities, vegan popularity, and ethnic food readily available, many foodies are into food niches. Know if your foodie is picky or if there are certain foods they are sensitive to. Think to yourself or maybe even ask the foodie if they eat meat, eat healthily, or are an adventurist eater.

If you have had a meal with this person, you should have an idea of their food preferences. The foremost thing to gifting a foodie after identifying their likings is knowing if your foodie will actually want to cook or not.

Gifting Experiences for the Eater

The Eater might be the easiest foodie to gift. Almost any food experience will please the eater as long as it falls into their dietary preferences and they don’t have to cook.

A nice example of a gift for an Eater is meal delivery. You can easily send your foodie a holiday card, email, or even a text with a gift card from a food delivery service. You can also plan for a meal to be sent over on any day of your choosing. I have given meals as birthday gifts this year under my own Postmates account and it has been well appreciated. Sending meals from an area restaurant works well for any foodie during this COVID-19 pandemic.

An excellent gift for an Eater with a sweet tooth is edible cookie dough. Doughp is a hip, woman-owned business shipping edible cookie dough packages extremely fast and still in time for Christmas. The dough is edible right out of the carton so an Eater doesn’t actually have to bake it. The choice to drop the dough onto a baking sheet and throw it in the oven for a few minutes for warm cookies is always an option. Edible cookie dough is a foodie trend seen all over Instagram so this is a gift your foodie will eat up.

Eater Gift Ideas:

1. Charcuterie Box - charcuterie does not require cooking, just grazing.
2. Meal Delivery - ensure it’s a cooked meal or a card for a food delivery service like Uber Eats, Postmates, Grub Hub, Toast, etc.
3. Sweets Delivered - desserts, chocolate covered fruits, or edible cookie dough. Gluten-free and vegan dessert delivery is becoming wildly popular as well.
4. Private Chef - either for one special meal or service for a year, an Eater would love a private chef. Whether the chef delivers or cooks within the Eater’s home would be up to the comfort level of the eater, pandemic or not.
5. VIP Dining - Eaters love to dine out, but in a pandemic, safety first. Instead of getting the Eater a gift card to a restaurant, why not set up an exclusive meal (distanced away from any other patrons). Many restaurants take reservations for dining experiences and there are pop-ups with limited seating available in many cities as restaurants and chefs pivot during the pandemic to stay afloat.
6. Food Tasting - every foodie loves a food tasting. Many cities have Air BnB experiences that offer food tours. Always check to ensure proper safety protocols are in place at the tasting venues.

If your foodie wants to learn to cook, perhaps a gift meant for a DIY Cook will be in order. Just ensure the gift falls in the beginner category.

Gifting Experiences for the DIY Cook

The DIY Cook will always appreciate a cooking gadget and certain gadgets can deliver an experience for some cooks, but as I stated in Vol 1, materials lose their luster quickly in the age of COVID-19.

Food delivery is always a great idea, but the DIY Cook appreciates ingredients they can cook with. If your foodie is a carnivore, meat delivery is a fantastic option. Butcher Box is a popular meat subscription box that offers non-GMO, humanely raised, grass-fed beef, wild-caught seafood, and organic poultry.

Green Chef is a great subscription box option for any DIY Cook as it provides menus for vegans, keto-friendly, and any dietary preferences that are anything but boring.

Warning: Don’t give a DIY Cook a subscription to one of the leading prepped subscription boxes. The most popular subscription boxes seen in commercials are run-of-the-mill and not creative enough for an experienced DIY Cook. They won’t guarantee the “wow factor” as a food experience. The leading boxes should however be gifted to those just learning to cook.

I have subscribed to the two most popular boxes simultaneously as a test and so my children can learn to cook meals following the included instructions. While it was nice being served by my children, the meals were ones that I could whip up too easily on my own. It wasn’t long before both boxes were recycling the same meals and for a foodie that’s a no, no. Be sure to gift based on the foodie's cooking level.

DIY Cook Gift Ideas:

1. Subscription Boxes - whether it’s ingredients, or a meal kit, be sure it’s made for the foodie that loves cooking and appreciates quality ingredients. Consider convenience and hard to find ingredients.
2. DIY Kits - hot sauce, cheese making, tortilla making, sushi, and molecular gastronomy kits are all popular examples of DIY activities that will deliver a memorable experience to the home cook.
3. Cooking Class - this can be virtual or in-person, but learning to cook a new elevated dish from a chef is a treat for a DIY Cook. Just be sure that the cooking class is not beginner level as a DIY Cook will only view this as a divine culinary experience if they are acquiring a new skill.
4. Specialty Condiments - spices, sauces, or trending items like, hot honey are things that cause excitement especially if accompanied by recipes or examples of how the condiment can be used.
5. Recipe Entry - if your DIY Cook happens to be an innovator in the kitchen and has an award-winning dish, why not enter that foodie’s item in a cooking contest or write to a food publication to have their recipe submitted? The ultimate gift to a DIY Cook is people loving their food and being appreciated for it.

Gifting Experiences for the Connoisseur

It’s safe to say that many of the items that can be gifted to the Eater and the DIY Cook can be gifted to a Connoisseur foodie. A special culinary gift would all depend on the type of food specialist they are. Remember the definition of a connoisseur for this article’s purpose is that they are Eaters that can cook. They have distinct tastes, understand nuances in flavor, and enjoy the pleasures of unique food experiences.

Food festivals are perfect for connoisseurs as the foodie gets a chance to discover the greatest chefs and food trends. For example, the famous South Beach Wine and Food Festival is scheduled for May 2021. The hope is that the release of the COVID-19 vaccines will slow down the pandemic and it may be safe enough to run next year, with safety protocols in place. There are coveted food festivals worldwide, and any food connoisseur would be happy to be a part of those festivities if they are safe.

Photo by David Todd McCarty on Unsplash

Restaurant pop-ups, like Outstanding in the Field hold community table outdoor dining events in different cities, and some 2021 dates are already sold out. Outdoor seating is the safest bet for culinary events during this pandemic, as there are ways to keep the food connoisseur safe while savoring the experience.

Connoisseur Gift Ideas:

1. Tickets to a Food/Wine Festival - there are food festivals that are still going on, especially outdoors. There are vegan fests, Cuban sandwich festivals, Oktoberfest, food, and wine festivals to name a few. Some of the canceled 2020 food festivals are on pause with vendors ready to come back as soon as it’s safe to do so in 2021. Gift tickets to give hope to the connoisseur for a social foodie future.
2. Private/Virtual Tasting Events - setting up a wine tasting, cheese pairing, coffee tasting and the like are all events that will excite a connoisseur’s senses.
3. Restaurant Pop-Ups - Restaurant pop-ups are usually a culinary dream within a beautiful venue. Most pops ups are now outdoors or in gorgeous tents. These culinary escapades are extremely desirable to the connoisseur.
4. Bespoke Picnics - Elevated picnics in parks, beaches, rooftops, and anywhere open-air are all the rage since indoor dining is a challenge in this pandemic. The picnics are themed and picnic curators, like A. Tailord Picnics will provide food, drink, and charcuterie from their own vendor or of your own choosing. All the connoisseur has to do is show up and enjoy the cuisine and landscape.

Remember that for a foodie, who eats to live, eating is an emotional event. Why not gift the foodie an emotional food experience they will never forget.

This is Volume 2. Follow me to see Volume 3 of "Experiences Over Things Holiday Gift Ideas". Read Volume 1 for the intro and Gifting Indoor Experiences.

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