Still shopping for that special someone? Here are 6 more stops for great Alaskan culinary gifts.

At the beginning of the holiday season, I made a last-minute 2023 resolution to do my Christmas shopping locally and give Amazon and some of the big box stores the cold shoulder. Happily, this was the easiest resolution I’ve ever made — and maybe the only one I’ve ever kept. When it comes to gifts — culinary and otherwise — Alaska’s small businesses have online shopping beat. You won’t get the aroma of fresh Christmas trees or The Kobuk’s Samovar tea while sitting at your laptop. And you definitely won’t run into Santa.

The Kobuk

504 West 5th Avenue

While The Kobuk is a year-round charmer, this is the season when it really shines. The cozy, vintage space is packed from floor to ceiling with unique holiday gifts from ornaments and tableware to jewelry and classic children’s toys. I am particularly enchanted by their array of traditional Weihnachtspyramide (of course I know how to pronounce it — why do you ask?), otherwise known as wooden German Christmas pyramids, that spin like tiny carousels from the heat of small candles. If Santa didn’t have a workshop, this is where he’d shop.

On the culinary side, The Kobuk stocks a wide variety of hard-to-find Christmas treats and sweets but it’s their incredible tea selection that makes it a holiday must. The intoxicating scent that greets you at the door is from their always-brewing Samovar tea, a signature blend, handmade in Alaska from a 50-year-old recipe. The concoction of cinnamon oil, cloves, granulated lemon and orange peel has no added sugar, nor does it need any. It’s perfectly balanced and has the magical quality of being both soothing and invigorating. Simply put, it tastes like Christmas.

My pick: A 3-ounce bag of Samovar tea ($9.95) with a teapot/cup set for one painted with a vintage bird motif ($32).

The Dirty Apron

3565 Arctic Boulevard D3

For the cook in your life who has everything, The Dirty Apron offers the perfect gift solution. This creative new business offers a wide variety of cooking lessons and events taught by Anchorage’s brightest culinary luminaries. From bao buns to Peruvian pollo a la brasa to French macarons, your gift recipient will have all the fun of a cooking adventure without the prep and clean-up. You can also book children’s cooking classes and private events. I dropped into their beautiful space just before a private Christmas party and they set the prettiest table in town. If you’re shopping for a cook who doesn’t have it all, their retail shop boasts a beautifully curated selection of upscale cookware and specialty ingredients including an impressive array of fresh oils and vinegars.

My pick: A gift card for a three-hour cooking class ($150).

Anchorage re:MADE

13500 Old Seward Highway

I love everything about this rambling, quirky space that’s part vintage shop, part café, and part haunted mansion. Here you can find upcycled crafts, authentic antiques, as well as a selection of new eco-friendly products. And if the Christmas season brings out your inner-Martha Stewart, re:MADE offers a packed calendar of creative arts-and-crafts workshops including felting, knitting, candle-making, or even charcuter-ing — it’s a verb now. There’s also an adjoining café that hosts a rotating roster of local chefs offering specialties from kolaches to salmon cakes.

Re:MADE is the perfect place for someone who, like me, enjoys a pre-Christmas treasure hunt. My most recent score was a set of oversized early 1900s teacups and saucers as well as a few, old-school coupe champagne glasses.

My picks: An eco-friendly lunch kit for your food-loving friend on the go including smart canvas lunch bags ($18) and matching reusable snack pouches ($8) by Forest and Gather. Gift these along with a pack or two of reusable beeswax food wrap, handmade in Alaska by That’s a Wrap ($8 each).

Johnny’s Produce/That Feeling Co.

1721 East Dowling Road

I’ve been in love with this meet-cute marriage of businesses since 2020 when they first set up shop in a converted mechanic’s garage. It’s in an off-the-beaten-track neighborhood so, shopping there feels a bit like an inside secret — but not one that you want to keep. Walking into the serene, elegant space which on one side specializes in fresh produce, specialty ingredients and gifts, and on the other offers a lush selection of houseplants and a smoothie/coffee bar, is like walking into perpetual spring. With this winter making such a dramatic entrance, it’s a welcome feeling. Both businesses have a lovely outpost at downtown’s K Street Market but I’m partial to the can-do spirit of the original.

My picks: Frontiersman Sourdough Starter ($18.95) wrapped with one of their charming holiday dishtowels ($8.50/each). Or a copy of the excellent “Alaska From Scratch” cookbook ($27.99) by Maya Wilson.

[Need a holiday gift for that Alaska foodie, friend or family member? Here are 6 great options]

Bell’s Nursery

3700 Specking Road; additional holiday location at: 7653 Cranberry Road

Bell’s Nursery is at the top of my list for fresh Christmas trees and locally grown poinsettias in all the colors of the Christmas rainbow. It’s also a local source for See’s Candies which is without a doubt one of the easiest and most fail-proof gifts you can give this season — I’m especially fond of their unmatched peanut brittle. They also carry a nice selection of unique jewelry, stationery, and children’s toys. But I love Bell’s for their fun and whimsical cook and tableware. Bell’s is also a great destination for photos with Santa just in case, after all that shopping, you just feel like sitting on someone’s lap and telling them what you want for a change.

My pick: Glass cutting boards featuring local Alaskan artists like V. Rae, Barbara Lavallee, and Jon Van Zyle ($29.50)

Alaska Mill & Feed

1501 East 1st Avenue

Alaska Mill & Feed is a perfect combination of necessity and invention. It’s a place where you can buy a bale of hay, a bag of something called “Mealworm Frenzy,” a lighthouse-style bird feeder, and a pack of Fruit Stripe gum — handy if your gift list includes a horse, a chicken, a seagull, and a nostalgic Gen Xer. For everyone else, there are lovely kitchen tools like a cast iron antler bottle opener, locally-made Ulus, and an assortment of charming dish towels, and sugar cookie mixes. I particularly love the whimsical and colorful fish-shaped gurgle pots (I have always known these as “gluggle jugs”) which make a cheery “glug glug” sound when you pour. There’s also a wide array of dog treats for the good dogs in your life. And, let’s face it, they’re all good dogs.

My picks: A Mr. Bird birdseed wreath ($18.49) because even birds deserve a treat at Christmas, or a colorful gurgle pot to add whimsy to any table ($44.99).