Is there a gr love language than food? You could buy my heart with Ina Garten’s coconut cake, some king crab legs, or a heaping tower of chocolate-covered honeycomb. But there are also plenty of food-related gifts — a farfalle-shaped candle! A rhinestone chocolate chip cookie necklace! — that would make a food- or drink-obsessed person really happy this Valentine’s Day.
It’s easy to please a food-lover on such a famously indulgent holiday. (No one ever turned up their nose at caviar and Champagne), but we’d like to offer a few more alternatives for the person who has already done many a lobster dinner, and whose pantry shelves overflow with heart-shaped Le Creuset cookware. They’re the person who orders for the table (whether you agree or not), and they know how to make an elaborate layer cake. You can’t give them something expected, like an Instant Pot. It’s safe to assume they already own every mug ever made or sold at Anthropologie. And don’t even think about getting them a Dutch oven: They already have one in a signature color. These are the gifts they won’t see coming, but will adore — dare we say, savor. Many, if not all of the Valentine’s Day gifts below are also able to be shipped to your loving arms in a matter of days, and given that capitalism’s most cherubic holiday is just around the corner, the time to order really is now.
Below, we’ve rounded up food-related Valentine’s gifts for everyone on your list, from your pasta-loving partner to cast-iron snobs, wannabe wine experts, and everyone in-between. (If this list still doesn’t cut it, get them a good old-fashioned gift certificate to Food52 or Williams Sonoma, which will cover all the bases.)
If They’re Old School
Chocolate sardines are trop chic right now, and are the perfect small, slips-in-your-bag gift for cheekily impressing a food lover — tinned-fish and chocolate-craving folks alike.
