Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

Articles Sections >> Arts + Words Bars + Clubs Dating Festivals Fitness Food Lifestyle Music Theater Travel + Tourism Who's Who > View All Cheap Thrills Green Thumb

Made-in-Chicago

Support the city's makers and shakers by buying local goods for your holiday gifts.

Monday Nov 20, 2006.     By Jessica Herman

Lifestyle Feed

Stumped on what to get Dad for Christmas? Our holiday guide is full of plenty of smart gift ideas, plus a few other deal-with-December tips. Skip the holiday hooplah with a little help from Centerstage.

Buying produce from your neighborhood farmers market isn't the only way to support the local market. Show your Chicago love this holiday season by buying gifts produced by the city's outstanding eateries and artisans.

Purchase a basket of sweet and savories, from Gary Poppins caramel popcorn to Milk and Honey Cafe's granola and Smoke Daddy BBQ, plus a copy of The Cooks' Guide to Chicago, from Provenance Food & Wine. ($90)

Send the taste of Chicago to your California cousins with an order of three Gino's East deep-dish, raring-to-be-devoured pizzas ($50 and up, with a two pizza minimum).

Indulge someone else's sweet tooth with an exotic candy bar box set from Vosges Haut Chocolat ($31). Or order a few quarter-pounds of Lavenilla and Peppermint Pistachio Crunch toffees from Terry's Toffee House ($8-$30).

Send your pen pal a pack of sweet, screenprinted greeting cards by Binth at Paper Source, Hazel or Sprout Home (around $20).

Commemorate a night at the Empty Bottle with a whimsical, screen-printed poster from The Bird Machine ($20-$30).

Let someone else enjoy the smell of baking brownies every day with a chocolate candle by local candle-maker and purveyor Tatine ($15-$20).

Pick up a copy of author Joe Meno's not latest but perhaps greatest Hairstyles of the Damned at Quimby's.

Splurge on a sleek 'n' silky scarf by Agnes & Hoss in yummy shades like royal purple and persimmon and covered in organic-inspired designs ($80).

Order the gift that keeps on giving, a year-long subscription to Chicago-based national rags: Stop Smiling, Punk Planet and Venus Zine ($15-$20).

Handpick a limited edition tee from Imperfect Articles, with screen-printed drawings by Chicago art scene-stars like Cat Chow and Cody Hudson. ($30)

Show your love for a local musician and buy an album by Glenn Kotche or The 1900s from Reckless Records ($10-$16).

Take a piece of Piece home in a growler filled with the brewery's own fresh-from-the-tap beer ($15).

Snag a limited edition silk tie, packed in a palm-size wooden box, from the graphic gurus at Naked & Angry ($95-$105).