Martha Stewart, Ina Garten, and Anthony Bourdain-Loved Holiday Gifts

If I could snap my fingers and have everything Ina Garten owns in her kitchen, I would. She — along with other celebrity chefs, like Martha Stewart — has incredibly effective and aesthetically pleasing kitchen gadgets. Instead, however, I’m forced to collect things slowly like the rest of us. Every year, I throw something new onto my wishlist, either to buy for myself or to ask for as a holiday gift. To make shopping easier, I gathered recommendations from three coveted celebrity chefs: Martha Stewart, Ina Garten, and the late Anthony Bourdain. 

Whether it’s the chic Bodum French press Stewart swears by for luxe coffee or the absolutely genius Garten and José Andrés-loved PepperMate pepper grinder, your food-loving giftee will be so grateful. Pro tip? Read the bolded callouts below for more context on what makes these tools favorites. 

Martha Stewart-Approved Holiday Gift Ideas

Martha Stewart — celebrity chef, entrepreneur, and cookbook extraordinaire (she has authored 100 of them, after all) — has done her fair share of cooking. Over the years, she’s given us some genius tips and tricks: replace your dish towel weekly to avoid nasty mildew, zest more efficiently with a microplane, brew better coffee with a good-quality French press, and so much more. Pour a Stewart-sized artisanal cocktail and get to gifting her elegant, timeless style with the effective kitchen gadgets below, starting at $10.

• Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester, $15, originally $18 
• Stewart Says to Replace Dishcloths Weekly: Lane Linen Kitchen Towels Set, $14, originally $18
• Bodum 34-Ounce Chambord French Press Coffee Maker, $40, originally $55
• For Stewart’s Perfect Meatballs: OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop, $19, originally $20
• Ball 32-Ounce Glass Mason Jar With Silver Lid, $10, originally $15 
• Genius Space-Saver: SpaceAid Knife Drawer Organizer Bamboo Insert, $24, originally $30 
• Stewart’s Favorite Type of Cookware: Viking Contemporary 9-Piece Copper Kitchen Cookware Set With Metal Lids, $824, originally $1,030 

Lane Linen Kitchen Towels Set

The one thing Stewart wants you to replace weekly? Your kitchen towels. Stewart reported, in a 2009 column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, that you should swap your dishcloths once per week to avoid them building up mold, dirt, and any other grime. Good thing one of our favorite sets, the Lane Linen cotton towel set, comes in a 12-pack. Give this to any cook or baker, and they’ll have enough towels to last through every kitchen task. 

Microplane Premium Classic Series Zester

Stewart shared a genius zesting tip that changed our lives, and now you can be the one to give that gift to someone else. Just grab this Microplane zester and attach a note with her pro advice: Hold the lemon on the counter, rotate it, and drag the rasp of the zester over the surface as you go. This trick yields so much zest, you probably won’t even know what to do with all of it. And this Microplane makes a fantastic stocking stuffer or white elephant gift, too. 

Ina Garten-Approved Holiday Gift Ideas

Just one look in Ina Garten’s kitchen and you’ll ask yourself why you don’t also have a house in the Hamptons with an elaborate Le Creuset collection. Garten is generous in that she lists a lot of her favorite items on her website, talks about them on social media, and appears on television so frequently that her staples are easy to spot. From affordable workhorses like a dependable veggie peeler to splurge-worthy stainless steel All-Clad pans, these are all gifts worth giving. How easy is that?

• OXO Good Grips Glass Salad Spinner, $56, originally $75
• Giada De Laurentiis-Loved: John Boos R-Board Series Maple Cutting Board, $100, originally $125
• Chef’s Choice Professional Electric Knife Sharpener, $116, originally $166
• Replace This Once a Year: Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss Peeler, 3-Pack, $16, originally $18
• Wüsthof Gourmet 6-Inch Chef’s Knife, $60, originally $100
• José Andrés-Approved: PepperMate Traditional Black Pepper Grinder, $30, originally $40 
• Anchor Hocking Glass Measuring Cups, 3-Pack, $25, originally $25
• Non-Toxic Favorite: Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven, 7.25-Quart, $393, originally $480 
• All-Clad D3 3-Ply Stainless Steel Fry Pan With Lid, 10-Inch, $110, originally $140
• KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt Head Stand Mixer, $350, originally $500

John Boos R-Board Series Rectangular Wooden Maple Cutting Board

Both Ina Garten and Giada De Laurentiis love John Boos cutting boards. They’re also a favorite among our editors thanks to the durable material, which protects your knives and lasts for ages. Crafted beautifully, this wooden cutting board is stunning enough to leave out on the counter, much like these stylish chefs do on their shows. 

Chef’s Choice Professional Electric Knife Sharpener

Garten said that this specific gadget yields “perfectly sharp knives, every time” in an Ask Ina post. This is something people may not know they need, but once they own one, they’ll never go back. Keeping your blades honed and in shape not only makes cutting easier, but it’s also safer— one swipe through the slots and your steel will be as good as new. 

Anthony Bourdain-Approved Holiday Gift Ideas

I trust Anthony Bourdain’s recommendations wholeheartedly. He was a revolutionary known for his straight-to-the-point opinions, and I doubt he’d ever so much as whisper about a tool or product he didn’t like without a very clear, detailed disclaimer. Among some of his past writing and interviews, we found some great advice: Always keep a spice grinder around for getting fresh flavor, and your sauté pans should “cause serious head injury if brought down hard against someone’s skull.” In Kitchen Confidential, he wrote further, “If you have any doubts about which will dent — the victim’s head or your pan — then throw that pan right in the trash.” We wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Global 8-Inch Chef’s Knife

This knife has stood the test of time. In Kitchen Confidential, which came out in 2000, Bourdain wrote about how he and his colleagues were ditching heavier, German steel knives and “replacing them with lightweight, easy-to-sharpen and relatively inexpensive vanadium steel Global knives, a very good Japanese product that has — in addition to its many other fine qualities — the added attraction of looking really cool.” After 25 years and hundreds of thousands of innovations, this knife is still on our list as one of the best on the market. Feathery light and made of just steel, we can’t resist its precision. 

Cuisinart Electric Spice-and-Nut Grinder

One of Bourdain’s best tips was to always have a spice grinder on hand. Someone so worldly, who has undoubtedly tasted the best food across the globe, Bourdain was well aware that spices were at the heart of many of these remarkable recipes. To get the best flavor, you’ll want to buy them whole and grind them fresh. Bourdain mentioned that he loves an electric grinder for peppercorns, though they’re fantastic for all sorts of whole ingredients. One of our favorites is this gift-worthy Cuisinart option, which is equally as speedy as it is built to last.