12/2 - Six Cooking Gifts That Will Always Be Loved
Onion goggles for the naughty list.
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Housekeeping:
-In the fourth installment of Ryan’s Reviews, our resident restaurant reviewer - who’s name is Ryan - reviews Ci Siamo in Manhattan West. Spoiler: Ryan liked what he saw. Read the full review here.
-Apologies for missing last week. I was busy washing dishes.
Six Cooking Gifts That Will Always Be Loved
In sixth grade, an academic colleague of mine gave his life partner a $25 Burger King gift card as a Christmas present.
They are no longer dating.
Although the BK gift card was well-intentioned and undeniably practical, good intentions and practicality on their own do not qualify a gift as good. This is obvious to most adults, until they buy cooking gifts.
Meal kits, air fryers, onion goggles, breakfast sandwich makers - these are Burger King gift cards. Don’t buy them.
Instead, buy a good cooking gift. Buy something that looks great and functions better - something that decreases cooking stress and increases kitchen style. A good cooking gift is never cheap, always durable, and often used. A great cooking gift is timeless - something that someone will cook with ten years from now.
Here are six great cooking gifts:
Staub Cast Iron Tall Cocotte, 5QT - $149 (normally $514)
Staub cookware is eternally gorgeous and unfathomably durable. Also, you can do just about anything in a pot like this: cook pasta, braise meat, bake bread.
I’m not sure why this is 70% off right now, but it is - so you should buy it for someone.
Misen Chef’s Knife - $85
If you’ve been reading Restaurant Adjacent for a while, you know how much I love this knife. It’s gorgeous, durable, and somehow not prohibitively expensive. This knife is perfect for everyone.
Ruby Knives - $300+
If you’re going to spend on a knife, you might as well ball out. Matthew Rubendall, owner of Brooklyn’s Ruby Knives, makes the most gorgeous, custom-designed knives I have ever seen. If you’re interested in giving someone the cooking gift of a lifetime, reach out to Matthew at rubyknives@gmail.com
Maple Cutting Board by John Boos - $125
A bit boring, sure, but anyone that loves to cook knows that you can never have too many thick, sturdy, high-quality wood cutting boards in your home kitchen. These boards look so good in person, that they couple as kitchen decoration - my Mom’s Boos board hasn’t left her kitchen counter in ten years!
Tilit Supply Apron - $45
Food tastes better when it is made by someone wearing an apron. Tilit makes the best looking and feeling aprons in the world. If you want someone to cook better and look hotter, buy them this Tilit Supply apron.
Escali Lightweight Scale - $24.99
For the person that bakes, pickles, or thinks coffee is a personality trait - this Escali scale will transform their kitchen experience. These scales look great, work better, and last forever.
In sum, don’t buy anyone a Burger King gift card and if you are going to buy someone a cooking gift, think long term.
As always thank you all for reading. This remains the highlight of my week, every week. If you enjoyed reading this please consider sharing with a friend. Thanks so much!
Great gift ideas Paul! A couple of hints I'll drop for my 'people' ; )
Pauly can you explain the virtue of a wooden cutting board over a plastic one?? Hard to justify the $$?