Best gifts around Fayetteville for people who love to cook, eat and drink
Check off the foodies on your holiday shopping list with food-and-drink gifts in the Fayetteville area.
These sweet treats, savory snacks and superb sauces make a nice complement to gift cards from a favorite restaurant, or on their own.
Here’s a sampling of Fayetteville-area gift ideas for people who love to eat and drink, including how much they cost and where to get them.
For the hot sauce-obsessed: CW Dressings sweet date hot sauce
As the former senior culinary management noncommissioned officer with the 20th Engineer Brigade at Fort Liberty, who also ran the post's Smoke Bomb Hill dining facility for several years, Chris Whitehurst is no stranger to food.
The Army veteran and CW Dressings owner developed a balsamic vinaigrette sweetened with dates as an alternative to supermarket dressings, which often contain added sugars. Now, he's added a hot sauce to his line of naturally-sweetened offerings.
Made with cayenne, scotch bonnet, chipotle and guajillo peppers and black peppercorn, the sauce gets its sweetness and depth of flavor from deglet noor date syrup, Whitehurst said. Found at several stores around Fayetteville and online, the hot sauce is sold in 8-ounce bottles for $14.99. Or, get dressing and hot sauce for $24.99.
Early next year, he plans to add barbecue sauce to the lineup of date-sweetened offerings.
Price: $14.99 to $24.99
Where to get it: Pate's Farm Market, LeClair's General Store, The Downtown Market, or online at cwdressings.com, Amazon, and walmart.com
For the coffee aficionado: Morning Jump ground coffee
The Morning Jump Coffee Company, a drive-thru coffee stand and independent roaster, has been a popular Spring Lake stop since it opened in 2013.
Army Special Forces veteran Erik Brinkman owns the shop with his wife Danae. Their daughter Katelyn Bartlett manages the shop and their son Tyson Leavitt heads up coffee roasting and quality assurance.
Morning Jump sells its signature blends by the bag, either ground or whole beans, online and in-store for one-off purchases or monthly subscriptions starting at $12. Gift boxes with coffee, mugs and k-cups start at $40.
Price: $12 to $70
Where to get it: The Morning Jump Coffee Company, 106 S. Bragg Blvd., Spring Lake or online at themorningjump.com/shop.
For the sushi bar lover: SunFish T-shirt
Fresh seafood has been a calling card for Sunfish on Yadkin Road since the fish market opened more than a decade ago. In early 2022, chef-owner William Randall got customers hooked on another specialty — sushi.
He sells about 500 rolls a week, including many original creations, like the best-selling Aloha, a California roll topped with tuna and scratch-made mango lime sauce.
Randall greets customers by name, some of whom come in multiple times a week, and knows many of their orders by heart. It’s no wonder that the shop’s super soft tees, adorned with the SunFish logo, have struck a chord with regulars.
The store stocks them in blue, pink and black for $20 each.
Price: $20
Where to get it: SunFish, 5352 Yadkin Road, Fayetteville.
For the trail trotter: Uncle Zip’s jerky
Uncle Zip’s Beef Jerky was born when the late Ken Howell began selling his father’s beef jerky recipe at bars, bowling alleys and businesses around town.
“Zip” was the nickname of Howell’s late father, Bill Howell. His wife, the late Peggy Howell, drew the caricature of her husband with thick-rimmed glasses, beard and blue coveralls that graces every Uncle Zip’s vacuum-sealed package.
Now, Ken Howell’s childhood friend Jeff Harris operates the store on North Main Street, which still serves the original recipe jerky, along with seven house-made spicy and smoky flavors, and 120 jerky varieties from around the nation. Jerky is $8 per 2.5-ounce pack or $20 for three packs.
The shop is also popular for its gourmet apples, which are dipped in various sweet toppings and sliced.
Price: $8
Where to get it: Uncle Zip’s Beef Jerky, 3059 N. Main St., Suite 15, Hope Mills.
For the one with a sweet tooth: Suga Mama’s Confections candied grapes
Toni Bryant-Chance got the opportunity to finance her childhood dream when she won $10,000 on the Netflix show "Nailed It!" which pits three amateur bakers against each other.
She used the winnings to open Suga Mama’s Confections on Cliffdale Road about two years ago, where she stocks a variety of both classic and new candies, ice cream, sodas, popcorn, snow cones and cotton candy spun to order.
Among the biggest draws, however, are the candied grapes made in-house. Regulars know to call ahead because the sugared fruit sells out fast. A pack of 10 grapes is $10.
Price: $10
Where to get it: Suga Mama’s Confections, 6900 Cliffdale Road, Suite 105, Fayetteville.
For the snack packer: Popcorn-Is-Us gourmet flavored popcorn
Faith Tucker Bassett is the woman behind the gourmet popcorn shop Popcorn-Is-Us, which opened in late 2021 at the Food Lion shopping center on Rosehill Road.
She said she was inspired by the fond memories she has of her father making popcorn at the fireplace in her childhood home. Now, she carries on the family tradition, while adding her creative flair with flavors like red velvet, birthday cake and cheddar jalapeno.
Made fresh daily in-store, prices start at $2.79 for a miniature 2-cup bag, and up to $59.99 for a party-size 75-cup bag.
Refillable 1-gallon buckets are $18.99, with refills at 12.99 or 15.99, depending on the flavor.
Price: $2.79 to $59.99
Where to get it: Popcorn-Is-Us, 3300 Rosehill Road, Suite 103, Fayetteville or online popcornisus.com.
For bubbly bottle-poppers: Scented Wicks cranberry prosecco candle
Shaylin Bell and her husband Kirk, both veterans, opened Scented Wicks Candle Bar in Hope Mills in January.
The shop features dozens of premade candles or customers can mix and match scents to create their own.
Among the seasonal candles that foodies may love are cranberry prosecco, pumpkin caramel crunch, apple pie and cinnamon stick. Made from soy wax, the 12-ounce candles are said to burn for up to 60 hours and are $20, or two for $35 through the end of November.
Price: $20
Where to get it: Scented Wicks Candle Bar, 3109 Main St., Hope Mills, or scentedwickscandlebar.com.
For the vino sipper: The Sip Room wine club subscription
Santina Thomas and her business partners opened The Sip Room, an inviting wine bar nestled in historic downtown Fayetteville, early last year.
Sweet sangria, fizzy champagne, crisp whites and bold reds flow at the upscale hotspot, which sells wine by the glass, as tasting flights and by the bottle to take home.
The Sip Room offers monthly wine club subscriptions, which include one glass of wine at the bar and discounts on events, food, hookah and private room reservations. At $50, the gold level includes two bottles of wine; the platinum level includes four bottles of wine for $100.
Through Dec. 23, get a free bottle of wine with any wine club subscription, which is a minimum three-month commitment.
Price: $150 to $300
Where to get it: The Sip Room, 106 Hay St., Fayetteville.
Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com, on Twitter, or Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Best Fayetteville, N.C. gift ideas for foodies in 2023
