13 tasty gifts you can only get from L.A. restaurants
Whether the people on your gift list love locally roasted coffee, spectacular spices, wine, sake, mezcal or pizza, there's something delicious for everyone from a neighborhood restaurant or bakery.
One of the best gifts is a subscription from some of the country’s premier wine bars and shops, including Ototo in Echo Park and Alta Baja Market in Santa Ana. It's a gift that keeps on giving throughout the year. They'll ship bottles, or you can pick them up. Or get a pasta-dinner subscription instead. Pizza fans can have frozen pies delivered directly to their doorstep.
Many of L.A.'s favorite restaurants are packaging their own sauces, salsas and spices — and so are we. This year L.A. Times Food collaborated with Burlap & Barrel to create two new zesty spice blends: L.A. Asada for grilling and seasoning meat and vegetables, and Salty Angeleno for making micheladas and other cocktails and for sprinkling on fruit, salads and more.
Here are a dozen one-of-a-kind gifts from L.A. restaurants (plus our own spice blends).
If you make a purchase using some of our links, the L.A. Times may be compensated.
Ototo Sake Club
Give a bit of L.A’.s best sake bar to a loved one this year with a monthly subscription to Ototo’s Sake Club. Every month, members receive three 10-ounce bottles of sake from Ototo, which won a James Beard Award in 2023 for outstanding wine and other beverages program. Each month Ototo examines a new theme — a specific region, brewing technique or style of sake. Ototo includes tasting notes, suggested pairings and information about the breweries. You can pick up at Ototo’s Echo Park location after the 15th of each month. The sake also can be shipped within California for an additional fee. — Cindy Carcamo
$58 a month at Ototo
Pizza packs from Pi00a
Give the gift of frozen pizza. Melody and Russ Stein’s pizza company Pi00a (pronounced pie-oh-ah) launched a ghost kitchen in 2023 with their children, Taysia and Rylan. A Deaf- and family-owned business, Pi00a sells Neapolitan pizzas with Asian influences and a mission to provide jobs for the hard of hearing. Pi00a isn’t a restaurant but pops up all over Los Angeles and beyond, baking puffy-edged, char-crusted pizza pies with toppings such as miso eggplant; soppressata with chili crunch; Hainan chicken; and Asian pear with pancetta. The family ships mix-and-match four-packs of frozen pizzas nationwide, with the option to add a jar of Pi00a chili crunch. Also find them in the freezer section at local stores such as LA Homefarm in Glassell Park, Carla's Fresh Market in Highland Park, Yoboseyo Superette in Little Tokyo and Anna's Joint in Long Beach. — Betty Hallock
From $64 at Pi00a
Salsa macha from Socalo
The salsa macha from Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s Socalo restaurant in Santa Monica is magic. Gifting someone a jar is like passing along a wonder condiment, capable of transforming anything it touches into a flavor bomb. The dried arbol, chipotle and guajillo chiles turn chewy with a gentle, slow burn while the almonds, sesame seeds and pepitas offer a nice crunch. Drizzle it on eggs, use it as a dip for your favorite chips, spoon some onto tacos and burritos, burgers and sandwiches. It’s also good on a spoon. You can purchase jars of the salsa at the restaurant. — Jenn Harris
$7.50 at Socalo
A bottle of mezcal from Madre Oaxacan Restaurant and Mezcaleria
If you have a friend who loves wine or spirits, mix it up by giving them a bottle of small-batch mezcal. The traditionally Mexican distillate is derived from the agave plant, often using methods that have been honed across generations, with varieties that impart flavors ranging from smoky to earthy and acidic. Owned by Ivan Vasquez, Madre celebrates the ancestral cuisine of his Oaxacan homeland, including mole-filled tamales and tlayudas topped with cured meat. With locations in Palms, Torrance, West Hollywood and Santa Clarita, the restaurant boasts one of the most extensive mezcal collections in the country, including hard-to-find Mexican distillates such as sotol, raicilla and tequila. Add on a handmade copita for sipping the agave-based spirit. — Danielle Dorsey
Prices vary at Madre
Chicken fry, fish fry, barbecue rub and chili crisp from Alta Pantry by Alta Adams and Locol
A handful of new products from Alta Pantry are available for diners who want to make their own crispy golden fried chicken, tender juicy brisket and other fan-favorite dishes from chef-owners Keith Corbin and Daniel Patterson. The chicken fry and fish fry feature the same recipes used by the restaurant. The dry rub is for Alta Adams’ brisket as well as the ribs at recently opened Locol. Corbin says the product pairs well with smoke and will bring out the unique flavors of whatever you're grilling. Alta Adams' chili crisp blends Fresno chiles smoked in-house and dehydrated, house-roasted peanuts, porcini mushroom powder and Ethiopian berbere spice. Corbin calls it “crazy good” and recommends using it on eggs in the morning or drizzling it over vegetables, rice or pasta. The products can be purchased in the restaurant or online. — D.D.
$7 to $10 at Alta Pantry
Vanilla-tonka bean maple syrup from Destroyer
At Jordan Kahn’s all-day cafe in the Hayden Tract neighborhood of Culver City, the strawberry French toast comes with a bowl of whipped crème fraîche surrounded by a perfect circle of sliced strawberries garnished with candied hibiscus. Alongside is a sidecar of vanilla-tonka bean maple syrup, heady with the almond-y, fresh-hay scent of coumarin — a naturally occurring chemical in the seeds of the kumaru tree. (If you eat a whole lot of tonka beans, the coumarin level might be considered dangerous, but a tiny amount goes a long way.) You can purchase bottles of semi-illicit tonka-infused syrup among other pantry goods at the cafe or on Destroyer's website. — B.H.
$25 at Destroyer
Café Cuate roasted coffee beans at Gusto Bread
Arturo Enciso is known for the naturally leavened sourdough breads and pastries at his Long Beach bakery Gusto, including his hueso baguettes and conchas de cacao. But recently Enciso started roasting his own coffee beans on a Giesen machine at nearby Rose Park Roasters under his own label — Café Cuate — featured in many of the espresso drinks on the extensive Gusto menu, such as an atolatte (atole plus latte) and the Xicano made with espresso, hot water and piloncillo syrup. You can buy bags of the roasted whole beans to take home, or to give as gifts. Recently, a blend called Cloud People combined two single-variety, high-mountain coffees grown in the Sierra Sur region of Oaxaca. Also look for a pink bourbon variety coffee from finca Sierra Morena in Colombia, "gracefully tart." — B.H.
$19 to $21 at Gusto Bread
Denim work jacket and apron at Chifa
Few restaurant uniforms are as stylish as Chifa’s, but then, few restaurants are co-founded by fashion designers. Humberto Leon, who also co-founded fashion brand Opening Ceremony, oversaw the staff attire at his family’s highly aesthetic Chinese-Peruvian-Taiwanese restaurant in Eagle Rock. The denim work jacket and long apron are made in L.A. and designed by Leon, who grew up in L.A. “obsessed with this whole Americana vibe.” He created a look that would blend Americana silhouettes such as barn jackets but accent them with nods to his Chinese heritage. The result is an oversized denim work jacket fastened by frog buttons; long denim aprons, inspired by matriarch “Popo” Wendy Leon’s years in formal catering, also use denim and frog buttons. “I think as an Asian American kid, it’s this combination of my two worlds colliding,” Humberto Leon said. “That's what Chifa is: It's about this melting pot of ideas.” — Stephanie Breijo
$95 for apron and $195 for work jacket at Chifa
Mole gift boxes at Guelaguetza
Silken, rich and fragrant with spices, Guelaguetza’s moles are a thing of beauty in all their colors and flavors. The James Beard Award-winning Oaxacan restaurant in the heart of Koreatown cooks up a rainbow of moles and dozens of other regional specialties, and thanks to the restaurant’s retail line of mole starter pastes, imported chocolate, bags of masa and dried beans, so can you. Sold in jars or pouches, Guelaguetza’s mole starters can be purchased individually or in gift boxes; some gift boxes contain only mole, some come with beans and masa, and others include cookbooks by co-owner Bricia Lopez. I’ve picked up jars of mole starters from the little gift shop inside the bricks-and-mortar, and I’ve ordered a mole gift set for a friend’s wedding across the country. This is a gold-star gift year-round, but its warming spices are especially perfect for the holidays. Gift sets are available for pick-up in the restaurant, but if you’re shipping them, place all holiday orders by Dec. 16. — S.B.
$15 to $75 at Guelaguetza
Phin filter at Nam Coffee
Vince Nguyen has dedicated the last few years of his life to popularizing Vietnamese coffee across L.A. and Orange County, and now he’s making it even easier to enjoy at home. His East Hollywood coffee shop serves Vietnam-grown beans transformed into pandan lattes, rich and foamy egg coffees, ube-cream lattes, sugarcane-juice coffees and beyond, but the roaster also offers his own branded phin filter, a traditional Vietnamese brewing vessel that slow-drips coffee directly into your cup. The filters come in three colors — red, copper or black — and can be purchased individually or as part of a set with a bag of Nguyen’s own Nam coffee beans. Use a phin for a strong cup of classic Vietnamese coffee, or visit Nguyen’s recipe page for more inspiration while brewing at home. — S.B.
$13.50 (or $30 with coffee) at Nam Coffee
Pasta Club gift box or 3-month subscription at Bucatini
Echo Park specialty foods shop Bucatini does an expert job of curating its bevy of pantry items and always-on-trend home goods — and the same can be said about its new Pasta Club. Launched earlier this year in collaboration with social media account Pasta Girlfriend, the limited-time subscription service delivers a box filled with everything needed for a pasta-centric dinner party each month, for three months in a row. Subscriptions can be purchased and gifted for 2025’s Pasta Club, but if a one-time bounty of Bucatini goods is what you’re after, the shop and Pasta Girlfriend are offering a special gift box for the holidays. It includes a guide to hosting, table decor, a hat and other knickknacks in addition to the usual staples you’ll find in the Pasta Club subscription: a recipe and all the ingredients required to make it, plus a few surprises. What’s more, the gift box comes wrapped in custom-designed holiday paper for the festive pasta lover in your life. — S.B.
$125 for the holiday box or $130 for a three-month subscription at Bucatini
Macabre tiki mugs at Death & Co. Market
Some drinkware is merely functional, while others are also works of art. The latter is especially true of the tiki mugs from Death & Co., the award-winning, trendsetting national cocktail bar with a foothold in the Arts District. It sells drinking vessels so beautiful they’re worth displaying year-round. Lifting inspiration from mythology, the macabre and even local landmarks such as L.A.’s own Capitol Records Building (depicted split right down the middle as if in the midst of a massive earthquake), Death & Co.’s ceramic tiki mugs are dark and moody — and they’re released in stunning detail and limited-edition drops. Tiki mugs have a long, robust history rooted in handmade ceramics, and these are made in collaboration with designers such as sculptor and Disney Imagineer Tom “Thor” Thordarson. For the tiki lover or macabre appreciator in your life, skip the mass-market-produced ceramic parrot mugs and opt for something spooky and small-batch. — S.B.
$120 apiece at Death & Co. Market
Alta Baja Wine Club
Give your fellow oenophile something different this year: Mexican wine. Alta Baja Market in Santa Ana has one of the largest collections of Mexican wines in the U.S. Its Baja Wine Club can ship subscriptions of three- or six-bottle packages four times a year. Around the holidays you can also purchase a one-time three-bottle gift package. Alta Baja partners with La Competencia Imports in Los Angeles and delivers a thoughtful selection of wines from across Mexico, including Baja California and central Mexico. Well-known wineries — Casa de Piedra, Bruma or Casa Magoni — are usually included along with smaller and hard-to-find labels, such as a Nebbiolo from Casa Jipi, an independent project by Lulú Martínez Ojeda, one of Mexico’s leading winemaker in Mexico and also vintner at Bruma. — C.C.
$96 to $182 at La Competencia Imports
L.A. Times Food x Burlap & Barrel spice blends
You're going to want to put Salty Angeleno michelada seasoning on everything. It's the spice blend L.A. Times Food created with Burlap & Barrel for making micheladas and for using it to rim all our glasses of beer and cocktails. But the spicy-sweet sprinkle is also fantastic on fruit or salads. L.A. Asada is our new spice blend for grilling — smoky with chiles, mesquite and pimenton, it's also the perfect seasoning for homemade tacos and vegetable dishes such as calabacitas. — B.H.
$11.99 each or $35.97 for all three at Burlap & Barrel
Wine tote at Adams Wine Shop
I know. You probably already have 37 tote bags. But this one is my new favorite carry-all. Adams Wine Shop is the specialty bottle store connected to restaurant Alta Adams in the burgeoning West Adams neighborhood. Focusing on wines made by women and BIPOC producers all over the world and founded by sommelier Ruben Morancy, AWS has a selection featuring a lot of fun-drinking labels. And guess what? You can put those bottles in special slots that line the inside of the tote bag. The bag also has a zipper, another key feature, to ensure nothing falls out while you’re shopping. Use it for everything. — B.H.
$25 at Adams Wine Shop
Prices and availability of items and experiences in the Gift Guide and on latimes.com are subject to change.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
