A Holiday Gift Guide for the Indy Food Lover
It’s the most wonderful time of the year (well, almost), and everyone knows what the best part of the holiday season is.
The gifts. Yeah, it’s the gifts.
Gift giving is always a little bit weird. Just… hoping someone likes your gift? Trying to figure out what to get your mom’s cousin’s cousin? Trying to decode random hints and pieces of your dad’s life story into a potential gift? (Just me?)
The great thing about giving food gifts, though, is that everyone has to eat. If you get a food gift that isn’t to your taste, you can easily regift it — someone’s bound to like it — or throw it into a White Elephant exchange to get it off your hands. Win-win.
But, because waste is a real problem, I’ve done the hard work for you. These are gifts that any local food lovers would be thrilled to receive. I hope that when you’re out buying gifts this year, you focus on shopping small, shopping local, and shopping intentionally. Every single item on this list is from a small, local business in or around Indianapolis. You can rest easy knowing that you’re helping a member of our community by supporting their business this holiday season!
With that, here’s what to get for everyone on your gift list.
For the One With a Sweet Tooth
Your friend will know you really love them when you head to the freezer to pull out their gift. Local ice cream makers Lick and Circles both sell incredible flavors — you’ll just have to find the right one for your friend, so check out both of their menus. (Word on the street is that Lick is also offering a DIY affogato kit this year!)
You can’t go wrong with a pint (or three) of Circles’ delicious, Indy-made ice cream in flavors like Rice Krispies Treats made with Hotel Tango marshmallow liqueur, Gingerbread House, or Peppermint Bark.
Photo by Circles Ice Cream
Don’t want to worry about keeping your gift cold? Try Frittle, a peanut fudge/peanut brittle hybrid made locally by Newfangled Confections. Or, if you know you’re giving to a chocolate lover, pick up truffles from The Best Chocolate In Town, from the same team as Newfangled. SoChatti, DeBrand, and Xchocol'Art are also great places to find beautiful chocolate gifts.
You’ll make both sweet and salty lovers happy with a few fancy popcorns from Just Pop In in Broad Ripple. Choose from flavors like Hot Wings & Ranch or Beer Cheese, or go sweet with Caramel Nut Crunch or 4 Birds Oats & Maple Cookie.
Take your tastebuds on a tropical vacation with Kim’s Key Lime Cookies, dusted in plenty of powdered sugar with just the right hint of lime.
For the One Who Wants an Experience
We all have that family member who says they want an “experience” or to “spend time with their loved ones” for the holidays. Give them the best of both worlds with a local food or drink experience in Indy.
Mixo Indy is a cocktail education company that brings the cocktail making to you. Gather your friends or family for a night of themed cocktail (and mocktail!) making lessons. Seasonal, tiki, tequila — whatever tickles your fancy, Mixo probably has a class for you.
Mixo Indy offers cocktail and mocktail classes, and best of all, they come directly to your house or office to host.
Photo by Mixo Indy
Goose the Market, the gourmet market by the team at Smoking Goose, teaches a wide range of classes, from oyster shucking to bacon and sausage making to salmon curing. If you’re looking for gifts for the food lover who likes the finer things in life, Goose’s classes are for you. Strange Bird also offers oyster classes, ranging from shucking 101 to specialty tastings of hard-to-find oyster varieties. Or, if you’re not a bivalve fan, try one of their rum classes.
Learn to make macarons, croissants, or other delightful pastries with award-winning pastry chef Cindy Hawkins of Circle City Sweets. These classes are open to those 16 or older (but I hear exceptions can be made for younger chefs!).
If you have a friend who’s always asking you to get coffee, head to Amberson Coffee and buy them a latte art class. Several coffee shops in town offer cupping and latte art classes, but you can’t go wrong with Amberson. Keep an eye on their Instagram for class additions.
For the One Who Always Orders Extra Sauce
Who doesn’t love a fancy sauce? Thankfully, Indy has no shortage of high-quality, handcrafted jams, jellies, sauces, and seasonings.
Pick up a bottle of Chef Oya’s Trap Buttah the next time you get a loaded tray — with flavors like Yaad Jerk and the OG Garlic Herb, you’ll find a flavor for everyone on your list. Tell them to put it on everything.
Home Ec. Preserves is a seasonal preserves and pickle business crafting creative preserves like pineapple vanilla bean jam, bourbon pawpaw jam, and bourbon brown sugar peach preserves. The perfect accompaniment to your next warm biscuit or charcuterie board.
Home Ec. Preserves has an impressive, creative lineup of jams, butters, and preserves for your next biscuit or cheeseboard.
Photo by Home Ec. Preserves
Revival Food’s almond butter is gluten-free, peanut-free, vegan, and probably the perfect thing to get for your friend who, well, you’re never sure what to get because they need a lot of things to be -free. Their cinnamon chai spice almond butter sounds perfect for the holidays!
Order spice blends for everyone from FoodLoveTog, because, in her words “bland food won’t prosper.” Enough said.
Spice lovers will also love the variety of sauces and, yes, honeys, that Metal Honey Foods is slinging. Their infused local honeys come in a variety of flavors that complement your gift-receiver’s heat tolerance. Scorpion Honey is the original, made with Trinidad Scorpion peppers (aka it’s hot), but they’ve also got the sweet and floral Vernal Elixir, plus other options like Burger Jam and a Thai-style peanut sauce.
For the Social Butterfly
Need something to bring to a holiday party… tonight?
Pre-order (or roll the dice and walk-in to pick up) a delicious seasonal pie from Pots & Pans Pie Co.
Grab a few four-packs of local beer from Sun King, Daredevil, or Guggman Haus. Or, if you’re not imbibing, pick up a few non-alcoholic options from Loren’s AF or Memento.
Or DIY a charcuterie board made with local meats from Smoking Goose, Pig’s Tale, or Turchetti’s, add cheese from Tulip Tree Creamery, and don’t forget the extras (see the condiments section above!). You could even serve it on a beautiful local wood cutting board (like these from Bohall Design and Fabrication).
For the One in a Cookbook Club
Everyone has that friend who somehow always knows what the cool new cookbook or food trend is. (It’s me, hi, I’m that friend.) Or the person who’s always DMing food videos from Food52 and Bon Appetit. If there’s food content available, they’re consuming it.
Why not supply them with even more food content? Here’s what to get for the friend who loves to read — about food.
Dear Mom is one of my favorite stores in the city, a truly niche shop for magazine lovers. They’ve always got a new bundle of food-related magazines on their shelves (on top of design, food, music, culture, and other magazines), and I can’t help but pick up one (or three) every time I stop in. If you see a copy of Serviette, Midnight Snack, or even Cooks Illustrated on Dear Mom’s magazine wall, grab it — the foodie in your life will thank you. Maybe grab a few cool snacks while you’re in the store, too.
A bunch of new, local bookstores have popped up all around Indy over the last few months, and they’re slinging food novels and cookbooks to boot. Tomorrow Bookstore on Mass Ave is a personal favorite (bonus: there’s a coffee shop inside). Stop by Tomorrow, Dream Palace Books, or another local bookshop to find a book for your favorite food lover.
For the One With the 9-to-5 and a 5-to-9
Nothing says “happy Christmas” like caffeine. Keep your friends caffeinated with a bag (or three) of locally roasted coffee beans.
Feeling crafty? Make them a basket with beans from a variety of local roasters. Tinker Coffee, Indie Coffee Roasters, Blue Mind Coffee, Bee Coffee Roasters, Certain Feelings, Helm Coffee, one of Cafe Patachou’s blends roasted by Hubbard & Cravens… there are a lot of options to choose from, and this list doesn’t even begin to cover all of them. If you don’t feel like building your own coffee box, try an Indy Coffee Box subscription.
The Indy Coffee Box is the perfect gift for the friend who’s always (always) drinking coffee. You can gift one bag per month, or up to four bags to keep them super caffeinated.
Photo by Indy Coffee Box
There’s something for everyone in the Taste Indianapolis holiday gift guide! Yes, coffee haters, that means you.
Tea’s Me is my go-to for loose leaf tea in town, but Nelson’s Tea is another great option (I’ve used them in the past for corporate gifts, and highly recommend!).
Aahaa Chai is a popular option for chai, chai concentrate, and loose leaf teas as well.
For the Serious Home Cook
Buying gifts for someone who’s serious about the tools in their home kitchen can feel a little intimidating — but don’t resort to the single-use appliance gift. We do not endorse those Target end cap quesadilla makers.
An Ash Blaeds knife has been on my personal wishlist for years. These handcrafted knives can be completely customized to your recipient. In fact, Ash Blaeds has even made knife handles out of trees from a family member’s back yard, from old bourbon barrels, and even old Indy Cars.
You can’t have a beautiful knife without a great cutting board. Order a beautiful, handmade end grain cutting board from Aaron Dickinson at Dickinson Woodworking (they’re also available at Indiana Artisan’s shop in Carmel).
Your friends or family will think of you every time they pull a gifted Gravesco bowl from their cabinet. Check out their selection of bowls, cups, plates, and more handmade in Indianapolis.
The team at A Question of Eagles sells their products at their very own retail space, Prairie General in Broad Ripple. Buy one of their beautiful ceramic mugs, an egg tray for your friend who’s raising chickens, or one of their very cool ceramic crocks.
If you have a friend who’s not afraid to drive a little bit outside of Indy to find what they want, get them a Goods For Cooks gift card! This Bloomington shop is my personal heaven, absolutely filled to the brim with kitchen tools (hello, 20 different sizes of tart pans), small appliances, linens, high-quality oils and vinegars, tinned fish, and more. Plus, it’s a great excuse to taste the deliciousness that Bloomington restaurants have to offer.
For the Friend Who Helps You Over, and Over, and Over
A food subscription: the gift that keeps on giving. Literally.
Want your friends to think of you every time they cook a meal? Then get them a monthly meat subscription from Turchetti’s. Choose from beef, chicken, or a combination box, and select a one-time purchase or recurring subscription.
For your friend who likes wine, why not (WINE not? ha) pay for a few months of a wine subscription? Goose the Market offers a monthly wine club, as does Mass Ave Wine.
More of a cider fan? Sign them up for Ash & Elm Cider’s cider of the month club, or pick up their 12-pack Cider of the Month collection, a try-one-of-each lineup of the year’s club selections.
For Anyone: Gift Cards to Local Restaurants, Bars & Cafes
We’re ending on an obvious note. If you don’t want to have to make any decisions, you can at least make the one decision you need to make an easy one. If you know your friend, coworker, or family member well enough to know one single place they enjoy eating or drinking, buy them a gift card. Several local restaurants and restaurant groups offer gift card deals during the holidays (buy $50 get $10 back, anyone?).
Market Wagon, an online farmers market with products from local farmers, bakers, restaurants, and more, also sells virtual gift cards that you can send to anyone with an email. Their vendors include Indy legends like Sidedoor Bagel, Old Major Market, and more.
As a final note, none of the links above are affiliate links. I am not getting paid to mention any business on this list. Every single business in this gift guide is a business I believe in, purchase from myself, or admire (and some day I’ll buy from them!).
Remember to shop small and shop local this holiday season. Your purchases make an impact far beyond what you can see when you buy from a local business.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
