Our Favorite Gourmet Foods
Counter Culture Coffee
Counter Culture's amazingly smooth coffees are the next best thing to locally grown; each variety includes details about the exact farm where the coffee was cultivated. Check online, and you can even Google Map your selection.
Price: $11 to $14 (12-oz.)
Shop: Counter Culture Coffee
Crofter's Pomegranate and Black Currant Fruit Spread
Slather on the sweetness with Crofter's intriguing Pomegranate and Black Currant Fruit Spread.
Price: $5
Sal de Ibiza Fleur de Sel
Mediterranean fleur de sel brings out the bright flavors of tomatoes, and we just love the summery jar—no matter what the time of year.
Price: $24 (4.4-ounce ceramic jar)
Shop: The French Farm
Grove 45 Olive Oil
Grove 45’s olive trees are Italian imports. But the olives they produce are grown, harvested, and pressed into spicy extra-virgin oil in the Napa Valley.
Price: $45 (18.5-ounce bottle)
Shop: Grove 45
Fee Brothers Old-Fashioned Aromatic Bitters
Rochester, NY-based Fee Brothers produce intense, flavorful bitters—classics as well as unusual versions like rhubarb and chocolate.
Price: $7
Shop: Amazon.com
Granny Cho Kimchi
Hot, crunchy, tart, complex: The essential Korean fermented-cabbage pickle gets better with age.
Price: $9
Shop: Granny Choe
Spice Hunter Turkey Brine
Fans of the salty soak say it results in a more tender, flavorful turkey. Give it a try with Spice Hunter's Turkey Brine, premixed with sea salt, brown sugar, dried cranberries and apples, orange zest, black peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, and sage.
Price: $10
Tanimura & Antle Artisan Lettuce
Like bagged lettuce, only better and much fresher: Tanimura & Antle's 4-pack of artisan lettuce includes petite heads of sweet, soft gem and mildly bitter tango lettuces.
Price: $4
Shop: Specialty Grocers
Lucini Italia Vinegars
Who needs oil, with vinegars this smooth and flavorful? We sampled the entire line—pinot grigio, pinot noir, aged balsamic, dark cherry-infused, fig-infused—and loved them all.
Price: $11 to $16 each
Shop: Lucini Italia
Nudo Italian Olive Tree Adoption
Adopt an olive tree, then get tins of first-press oil from its fruit throughout the year.
Price: $109
Shop: Nudo Italia
Neuske's and Benton's Bacon
As the national bacon craze continues, we nominate two favorites: Nueske's and Benton's. A little of either goes an astonishingly long way, suffusing your dish—and kitchen—with rich smokiness.
Price: $20 for 2 pounds (Nueske's), $21 for 4-pound-order (Benton's)
Shop: Benton's Hams
Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese
Luxe, creamy Humboldt Fog, with its trademark ribbon of bitter vegetable ash, is as iconic now as cheddar.
Price: Varies
Dry Soda
Dry Soda's zippy flavors have a fraction of the calories and sugar of standard sodas.
Price: $19 (12-pack)
Shop: DRY Soda
