Food-Adjacent Gifts for Drinking, Cooking, and Entertaining

Gifts of food can be tricky, especially when you’re navigating challenges like allergies, dietary preferences, and shipping expenses and logistics. But culinary artisans aren’t limited to professional kitchens; here are some beautiful food-adjacent items for the finickiest foodie.

DinnerPlans

The brainchild of the insanely talented folks at Asterisk Design, these sleek place mats look like blueprints and feature axonometric drawings of iconic Texas foods like queso, tacos, and brisket. They’re sturdy and reusable, and made right here in the Lone Star State from recyclable materials. Available at Whole Earth Provision Co., the Blanton Museum of Art, Parker + Scott, and Grey Market.

Drink Like a Local: Austin – A Field Guide to Austin’s Best Bars

Chronicle contributor Veronica Meewes authored this hot-off-the-presses little guide to 75 of the best gin joints the capital city has to offer. It’s organized by neighborhood and includes everything from beloved holes-in-the-wall like, uh, Hole in the Wall, to legacy establishments like Scholz Garten and the Broken Spoke. New-school drinking enterprises like Kinfolk and Flo’s Wine Bar are well represented, too. This would be a great gift for a new transplant, or you could treat yourself, too. Available where books are sold.

Cutting Board by Kookaburra Woodworks

Is your favorite home cook still working with a $4 LEGITIM cutting board from IKEA? No shade to everyone’s favorite Scandinavian home goods and torture maze shop, but maybe it’s time for a prep-tools glow-up with a gorgeous handmade cutting board or serving board by Kookaburra Woodworks. It’s not just a beautiful new tool – it’s a potential heirloom. Available at Blue Genie Art Bazaar through December 24.

Tea Towels From Dances With Looms

Have you got a friend who loves textiles and the fiber arts? How about gifting them an absolutely gorgeous, handwoven tea towel from Dances With Looms? Each tea towel is unique and made from durable 100% weavers cotton in vibrant blues, reds, and multi-plaids, is eminently washable and reusable until, approximately, the end of time. Available at Blue Genie Art Bazaar through December 24.

This article appears in Gift Guide 2023.