Shop local this holiday season with Feast's Kansas City gift guide
Looking for gift ideas for the food- and drink-lover in your life? These delicious ideas all support local Kansas City food or drink artisans, so you can feel good about giving a tasty gift that gives back to a hometown business. With the pandemic in mind, all of these gifts can be ordered and paid for online and either have shipped, delivered or picked up in person. Still at a loss? Purchase a gift card or two from a local restaurant, artisan food shop, brewery, distillery, winery, coffee shop, butcher or bakery, as Kansas City has so many delicious places in need of support this winter.
Andre’s Confiserie Suisse
Boozy Botanicals
Corporate lawyer turned cocktail company CEO Cheryl Bisbee launched Boozy Botanicals with the goal of making it easier to prepare craft cocktails at home, inspired by her own attempts to recreate flavor combinations she’d tasted at local bars and restaurants. Gift any of her seven unique floral syrups which include classic rose, rosemary-mint, ginger-hibiscus, lavender-Earl Grey, three pepper, cardamom spice and vanilla- allspice. With many of us drinking at home these days, this will help you or any creative cocktail enthusiast on your list to pull together a quick cocktail in the evening. (Photo courtesy of Boozy Botanicals)
Boozy Botanicals, boozybotanicals.com
Charlie Hustle KC Restaurant T-shirts
For the novelty tee lover in your life, Kansas City’s own Charlie Hustle has come out with a collection of vintage T-shirts that pay tribute to some of Kansas City's classic restaurants, bars and barbecue joints. Choose T-shirts from beloved Kansas City spots like Town Topic, Kelly’s Westport Inn, Garozzo’s, Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, Q39, Gates, Arthur Bryant’s, Boulevard Brewing Co,, BB’s Lawnside, Minsky’s Pizza, Stroud’s and more. Each T-shirt is has its own unique and colorful design and its made of 50 percent polyester, 38 percent cotton and 12 percent rayon, a perfect blend that is super soft on the body. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Hustle)
Charlie Hustle KC Restaurant T-shirts, charliehustle.com/collections/kc-classics
Elbow Chocolates
'Tis the season for chocolate everything, and who better to take the flavors of the holiday season and wrap them in chocolate than one of Kansas City’s best-known chocolatiers? Made by hand, Christopher Elbow's special holiday edition chocolate bar starts with creamy milk chocolate dotted with bits of Speculoos cookies, a classic European spice cookie. Pair it with a tin of Elbow’s peppermint drinking chocolates for an additional $20. (Photo courtesy of Elbow Chocolates)
Elbow Chocolates, elbowchocolates.com
City Barrel Brewing Co.
Give someone you love 24 days of presents! City Barrel has printed up an advent box with 24 slots for you to customize the daily gift of beer in any way you want. Buy the box and add as many City Barrel beers you want, like the Christmas IPA that has lovely aromas of orange, tropical fruit and stone fruit balanced by notes of pine. The box is also available for purchase separately if you want to share the love among several local breweries. (Photo courtesy of City Barrel Brewing Co.)
City Barrel Brewing Co., toasttab.com/citybarrel/v3
Common Descent Provisions
They may have strange names and even stranger labels, but Chris Bengston’s line of locally made hot sauces bring the heat in the most delightful way. Snake Wine, Phantom Rabbit and Heartless Heat are favorites from Common Descent Provisions. Phantom Rabbit features fried red shallot, tart rice vinegar, garlic, roasted curry powder and habanero to create this pepper sauce. Snake Wine is a green sauce based on jalapeño-rice wine vinegar, black garlic and ginger, while Heartless Heat is a grape and plum vinegar and scorpion pepper sauce. Shop the site and find the flavor that best suits you or someone you love. (Photo courtesy of Common Descent Provisions)
Common Descent Provisions, commondescentprovisions.com
Convivial Production
Since 2014, local artist and businesswoman Chentell Shannon has been designing and manufacturing ceramic wares in Kansas City’s West Bottoms under the name Convivial Production. She creates modern dishes and bowls that are casual enough to be used every day in the home, but are sturdy enough for use in local restaurants like Fox and Pearl. Get your mise en place on point or simply enjoy snacks in these beautiful 3-inch ramekin dishes that are perfect for small treats, dips and garnishes. Each piece is handmade using Convivial's proprietary sand stoneware and finished in the signature ivory glaze. The ramekins are microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe and food-safe. (Photo courtesy of Convivial Production)
Convivial Production, convivialproduction.com/shop/ramekins
Craft Beer Jerky
When former food-truck owner Chase Schaffter met local brewer Danny Kueser, they got to talking about their love for craft beer and quality meat. Both big fans of beef jerky, they found the flavors on the market uninspired, so they created Craft Beer Jerky. The company makes jerky with regional beers, like Cinder Block Brewery's Pavers Porter and Boulevard’s Tank 7. Order Craft Beer Jerky online or purchase in select liquor stores and breweries in the Kansas City area. (Photo by Kelly Glueck)
Craft Beer Jerky, craftbeerjerky.com
Crane Brewing
Pick up a 6- or 12-pack mixed beer bundle filled with flavorful beers that came straight from the mind of Crane head brewer Michael Crane. Holiday beers include Crane de Noel, a dark sour brewed with plums, and Holiday spices and Festweiss, a Berliner Weisse with cranberries and fresh ginger. Gift bundles are available for pickup starting Dec. 11, including a tulip glass, Crane coozie, vinyl logoed sticker and poker chip good for a pour at the Crane taproom in Raytown. (Photo courtesy of Crane Brewing)
Crane Brewing, cranebrewing.com/order.html
Doña Fina Café
Give the gift of coffee with a local twist. Erika Noguera lives in Kansas City, but her family’s coffee farm, Los Caulotes, is located more than 2,400 miles away in the mountainous region of Quetzaltepeque, Guatemala. Noguera imports her family’s sustainable, high-quality coffee beans to Kansas City, roasting them at Maps Coffee in Lenexa and selling them under the Doña Fina Café label. Try their holiday 3-pack featuring medium-dark whole beans (that can be ground upon request); that’s one for you and two to give as gifts. Enjoy hints of chocolate and sweet maize in this smooth Guatemalan coffee. Delivery service is available within the Kansas City’s metro area. (Photo courtesy of Doña Fina Café)
Doña Fina Café, donafinacafe.com
Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur
This creamy, dreamy Irish cream liqueur is perfect in your holiday coffee or poured over rocks and enjoyed in front of a roaring fire this winter. Holladay Distillery in Weston, Missouri, produces this liqueur made with real cream from five dairy farms in County Cork, Ireland (hence the name), and triple-distilled Irish whiskey. You can taste the quality ingredients used in this festive holiday liqueur. Order online from the Drizly app and have it delivered to your home, or pick up a bottle at the Holladay Welcome Center, McCormick on Main in Weston or at many Kansas City-area liquor retailers. (Photo courtesy of Holladay Distillery)
Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur, fivefarmsirishcream.com
Green Dirt Farm
Whether you're shopping for a die-hard cheese fanatic or just a lover of locally made goods, you can turn to Green Dirt Farm for great gifts for your favorite cheese head. Make a trip up to the creamery in Weston or shop online and ship fantastic gifts like Green Dirt’s cheese collection that features three of their award-winning aged cheeses. The set includes one 4-oz Aux Arcs wedge (a sweet and buttery blended cow and sheep’s milk cheese patterned after Beaufort and similar to a Gouda or Gruyere), one 10-oz square of Ruby (beautiful soft ripened blended cow and sheep’s milk cheese inspired by Robiola) and one 4-oz wedge of Prairie Tomme (a rustic, hard style 100 percent sheep’s milk cheese modeled after Manchego). (Photo courtesy of Green Dirt Farm)
Green Dirt Farm, greendirtfarm.com
The Holistic Hog
Jessica Schlanker of The Holistic Hog has been making delicious compound butter since 2018, starting with her first and most popular flavor: steak butter. Free from added sugar, dyes and preservatives, her steak butter is made with cream, garlic and a whole slew of savory herbs and spices sourced within miles of where she lives in Wellsville, Missouri. Schlanker has since grown her inventory to include 10 sweet and savory options, like garlic-Parmesan, pumpkin pie, cinnamon-maple, and blemon (blueberry and lemon), that come in BPA-free 8-oz containers. Tubs of The Holistic Hog butter are available online and can be shipped anywhere. (Photo by Aaron Ottis)
The Holistic Hog, theholistichog.com/collections/all
J. Chang Kitchen
Most nights, you can find James Chang floating between the floor and the kitchen working as part of the talented team at Waldo Thai, but his side hustle is a little spicier. An amazing cook in his own right, he makes and jars his own chili oil, selling them whenever he has a new batch ready. Friend him on Facebook, and when he posts a link to his latest batch you will place your order online and pay via Venmo. You will get an email when your 4-oz bottle of chili oil is ready to be picked up at Waldo Thai, or for an additional price he can ship it. This new batch is out just in time for the holidays. Made by taking chilis and garlic and slowly rendering them in oil for hours over a low flame, each batch made and bottled by Chang, with his wife carefully labeling each jar. His chili oil is vegan, gluten-free and MSG-free, and it's the perfect condiment for a fiery friend. (Photo courtesy of J. Chang Kitchen)
J. Chang Kitchen Chili Oil Batch 10, forms.gle/CJasMkfaXbyrBHH1A
J. Rieger & Co.
Designed in collaboration with Charlie Hustle, J. Rieger & Co. has come out with its 2020 Holiday Edition Kansas City Whiskey just in time for gift giving season. What’s in the 750-ml limited edition bottle is a blend of straight bourbon, straight rye and light corn whiskeys, with just a hint of sherry. What’s on the outside of this fourth annual limited edition label is colorful and nostalgic artwork inspired by mid-century greeting cards and holiday ads. Hidden on the inside of the label is a bonus: a vintage illustration from an old J. Rieger & Co. ad. A local whiskey enthusiast or simply a collector with good taste would enjoy a bottle wrapped in a bow. (Photo courtesy of J. Rieger & Co.)
J. Rieger & Co., jriegerco.com/our-spirits/kcwhiskey-holiday
Jude's Kansas City Rum Cakes
For over a decade, Craig Adcock and his wife, Teresa, have been making, quite simply, the best rum cake in Kansas City. Adcock is also the owner of Table Ocho, a private dining experience in Lenexa, Kansas, but this time of year he is a rum cake runner. Jude's Kansas City Rum Cakes use only premium ingredients, the finest rum (he's now making his own) and pecans sourced from a small orchard in Missouri. This rum cake is light and soft, melting like butter in your mouth with just the right amount of rum and the crunch of local pecans. The cakes come vacuum-sealed and will stay fresh for 15 to 25 days; they also freeze beautifully. (Photo courtesy of Jude's Kansas City Rum Cakes)
Jude's Kansas City Rum Cakes, judesrumcake.com
Kansas City: A Food Biography by Andrea Broomfield
As a professor of English at Johnson County Community College, a culinary historian and author, Andrea Broomfield realized it was high time she wrote about the food from her hometown. From its earliest days, Kansas City was in the business of provisioning pioneers and traders headed west, and later with providing the nation with meat and wheat. Kansas City: A Food Biography explores in fascinating detail how a frontier town on the edge of wilderness grew into a major metropolis, one famous for not only great cuisine but for a crossroads hospitality that continues to define it. It also explores how politics, race, culture, gender, immigration and art have forged the city’s most iconic dishes, from chili and steak to fried chicken and barbecue. Read this history of the food scene in Kansas City from the beginning – you won’t be able to put it down. (Photo courtesy of Andrea Broomfield)
Kansas City: A Food Biography by Andrea Broomfield, Rainy Day Books
KC Runs on Hospitality
Support our local, independent restaurants by pre-ordering this soft and warm sweatshirt from KC Runs on Hospitality by Friday, Dec. 4. When you purchase this new design by local artist, Frank Norton, 100% of the net proceeds from KC Runs on Hospitality going directly back to Kansas City restaurants to distribute to their employees. This sweatshirt is expected to ship on or around the week of Dec. 18. (Photo courtesy of KC Runs on Hospitality)
KC Runs on Hospitality, kcrunsonhospitality.com
Maps Coffee Roasters
For several years, local coffee entrepreneur Vincent Rodriguez has been roasting cocoa beans in addition to coffee beans, creating a sister business to his already established coffee company, Maps Coffee Roasters in downtown Lenexa, Kansas. His selection of chocolate bars varies online, but the coconut milk bar or the peppermint bar are both nice introductions to this local chocolate artisan. (Photo courtesy of Maps Coffee Roasters)
Maps Coffee Roasters, mapscoffee.com
Messner Bee Farm
Messner Bee Farm is your one-stop shop for a sweet selection of local artisan products, all made from local honey and beeswax. Owners Erik and Rachael Messner harvest honey straight from their own hives in Raytown, Missouri, and also source from nearby beekeepers. In addition to selling raw jars of honey, lip and beard balms made from their own honey, they also have jars of flavored creamed honey that can be slathered on morning toast, stirred into morning oatmeal and added to charcuterie or cheese boards. Creamed honey is thick and spreadable and there is no dairy involved; it's called creamed honey because of its light color and smooth buttery texture. The texture comes from intentionally crystallizing the honey with tiny smooth crystals. Get the variety pack of Messner’s creamed honey and get one 9-oz jar each of cinnamon-vanilla bean, plain and simple, cocoa-sea salt and lemon-lavender. (Photo courtesy of Messner Bee Farm)
Messner Bee Farm, messnerbeefarm.com
Of the Earth Farm + Distillery Liqueur Sample Box
Located in the gently rolling hills of northwest Missouri, Of the Earth Farm + Distillery is proud to offer seasonal produce, hand-crafted spirits and locally raised meats. For almost 10 years, Jim Pierce and his wife, Sarah Burnett Pierce, have worked side by side to grow their passion into a successful business. Give the gift of great taste with their locally made liqueur sample box and get five flavorful liqueurs made on their farm. The sample box includes one 50-ml bottle each of blackberry liqueur, raspberry liqueur, cherry liqueur, pommeau (apple) and coffee liqueur, all packaged in a sturdy box for gift giving. (Photo courtesy of Of the Earth Farm + Distillery)
Of the Earth Farm + Distillery, of-the-earth-farm-distillery-llc.square.site
Savory Addictions
Local Kansas City personalities and grillmasters Craig and Gay Jones discovered how smoke, herbs and spices could create a "flavor pop" when cooked on foods over live fire. This infuses a certain umami, especially in gourmet nuts, which was the inspiration for their smoked-nut company, Savory Addictions. Shop online and get either the standard mix nut blend that made the company famous or go for the red- or white wine-flavored nuts. (Photo courtesy of Savory Addictions)
Savory Addictions, savoryaddictions.com
Succotash
Succotash has made from scratch their own hot chocolate bombs, called chocolate chunkies, that they are selling individually or packaged in a box of six. Choose from five unique flavors: butterscotch, peanut butter, classic or hand-painted hot chocolate, hazelnut and raspberry. These chocolate balls look unassuming, but drop one inside your coffee mug, pour steaming hot milk over them and watch as the chocolate slowly melts filling your mug with hot chocolate, spices and marshmallows. Simply stir and enjoy! Hot chocolate chunkies are available to order online with pick up at Succotash. (Photo courtesy of Succotash)
Succotash, 2601 Holmes St., Longfellow, Kansas City, Missouri, 816.421.2807, succotashkcmo.com
Somerset Ridge Vineyard & Winery
For almost 20 years, Dennis and Cindy Reynolds have been pursuing their passion for creating artisanal, regional wines and locally made cider. With a tasting room set in their vineyards, they are producing award-winning wines in Somerset, Kansas. In the mood for a Hot Toddy? Somerset Ridge has created the perfect cocktail kit for the locavore you love. The Somerset Hot Tawny cocktail kit includes Somerset Ridge Tawny, Somerset Ridge Flyboy Red, Citron Honey and mulling spices along with instructions on how to make your own at home. (Photo courtesy of Somerset Ridge Vineyard & Winery)
Somerset Ridge Vineyard & Winery, somersetridge.com/order-online
Thēz Nüts
Kansas City lawyers Chris Oliver, Carmen Chopp and Jacob Lowry started their nutty side hustle in 2015. Thēz Nüts is a handcrafted small-batch nut company that uses premium ingredients with global flavors. You’ll be addicted to these old-timey candied pecans with a modern twist. The pecans are covered in organic cinnamon, Madagascar vanilla and organic cane sugar, then roasted ready for your next holiday game night or cocktail party. (Photo courtesy of Thēz Nüts)
Thēz Nüts, theznuts.com
Tom's Town Distilling Co.
Tom’s Town Distilling Co. was named by partners David Epstein and Steve Revare after the country’s most corrupt political boss, Tom Pendergast. Money, jazz and spirits flowed in the open in Kansas City during Prohibition, and when asked how he justified ignoring it, Pendergast quipped, “The people are thirsty.” If you want to buy a gift for someone who is “thirsty,” get the gift pack featuring mini bottles (200ml) of Tom's Town three flagship products: Royal Gold Bourbon, Botanical Gin and Double Grain Vodka. Order and pay online and pick up your purchase at the downtown distillery. (Photo courtesy of Tom's Town Distilling Co.)
Tom's Town Distilling Co., mercantile.toms-town.com/collections/spirits/products/gift-pack
Torn Label Brewing Co.
Torn Label Brewing Co. was among the first breweries to call the East Crossroads home in 2015. Beers from founders Rafi Chaudry, Travis Moore (who is also head brewer) and Carol and Chad Troutwine quickly found a following in bars and restaurants across town, with fan favorites now available in cans. Give the gift of La Dolce Vita, an affogato-style Imperial Stout. The Italian dessert for which this beer is named features vanilla gelato drowned in a rich shot of espresso. La Dolce Vita is brewed with vanilla bean, lactose and Thou Mayest espresso for a Torn Label spin on this decadent delight. It's available to order and pay for online and then pick up at the brewery. (Photo courtesy of Torn Label Brewing Co.)
Torn Label Brewing Co., tornlabelbrewingco.square.site
Jenny Vergara
Jenny is Feast's contributing editor for Kansas City. She brakes for chef's coats.
