The Kenjilopezalt.com Gift Guide (Alt-Weekly, Issue No. 7, Friday, December 12, 2025) (Patreon)

Notes, News, and Nerdiness from JKLA World HQ

Hey folks! It’s that time of the year where we’re all searching for the perfect gift for that someone special in our lives (or for ourselves, since we’ve hopefully all been extra good to ourselves this year). To help with your search, we’ve launched the brand new shop page on kenjilopezalt.com where we’ll be adding gift guides and links to all of my favorite tools and ingredients, as well as the products I’ve been collaborating on.

The items listed on this page are all either tried and tested tools that I’ve been using myself, in my own home, cooking for my own friends and family, or tools that I’ve taken an active role in developing, designing, and testing. They are the tools and ingredients that bring true joy to me every time I head into the kitchen.

Here’s a look at some of the collaborative designs I’ve worked on over the past few years. For everything else, head to www.kenjilopezalt.com/shop .

And, although I'm not going to reveal exactly what they are yet, I have a few products in the pipeline that I am very excited about. A game-changing pan for stir-fries, a new countertop appliance that sees nearly daily use in my kitchen, and a seasoning that is guaranteed to make all of your food tastier without needing to change a thing about the way you cook. 2026 is going to be a a real exciting one for home cooking, I think!

Happy holidays to  you, your loved ones, your casual acquaintances, your it’s complicateds, your frienemies, your new Frienjis and Super Frienjis, your pets, and to that one guy down the street who thinks nobody sees him running to the mailbox in his skivvies. We see you, guy. We all see you.

But before we get to the shopping, a real quick recap of what I've been cooking and eating this week:

What I'm Cooking

For the Juiciest Beef Tenderloin, the reverse sear is the way to go, resulting in perfectly evenly cooked meat and a nice crust.

Ever wonder why broccoli and other brassicas turn sweet and nutty when you roast them at high heat? Here is the sweet science behind the transformation.

If you're a member of the Cookbook Club, you would have gotten your second recipe last week, Japanese hambagu, a Japanese take on Hamburg Steak served au poivre style with a brandy peppercorn sauce. If you're not a member of the club, hit the link to join the delicious fun!

Where I'm Eating

You can find a running list of over 100 of my favorite spots in Seattle over on my Apple Maps Let’s Eat guide.

The finest fish and chips in all the land comes from Proper Fish over on Bainbridge island, with gigantic pieces of juicy and crisp beer-battered cod and proper chunky chips with minty mushy peas.

A great BLT from Other Side Market and Cafe in Eastlake. Crispy bacon, fresh vegetables, and nicely toasted bread with garlicky mayo. A great sandwich.

A disappointing burger from Five Guys. Sorry, just not a fan of unseasoned meat!

Gift Guides

I recently shared gift guides for Pizza Lovers, as well as my list of 68 Cookbook Recommendations for cookbook lovers. Here, now are guides for folks who are specifically interested in my product collaborations, or in special gifts from Seattle. These are all the tools I've been working closely on designing, refining, and testing over the years.Stay tuned, because we are working on opening up the full Kenjilopezalt.com shop and gifting section this week. I'll announce it when it goes live.

1) The Titanium Pro Brushed Steel Cookware Collection form Our Place

I collaborated with Our Place based in LA specifically because of their embrace of a brand new technology that applies a layer of titanium oxide to the cooking surface of a high-end stainless steel-clad, aluminum-core pan. It performs like the best tri-ply clad pans (the industry standard for professionals for even heating and great heat retention) with non-stick properties that are nearly as good as teflon, but with no coating to scratch off or harmful chemicals that can vaporize. They are metal utensil safe, safe to cook in with acidic ingredients, oven and stovetop safe to 1,000°F, dishwasher safe, induction-ready, gorgeous to look at, and a joy to cook with. They've become my go-to pans for virtually all of my cooking.

You can shop the Our Place Titanium Pro collection here.

2) The Wonder Oven Pro in Pistachio

My second collaboration with Our Place is a countertop oven that really does it all. It's heated by powerful 1,700 watt quartz elements for even heating throughout and features a powerful convection fan. Unlike many countertop convection ovens that have side- or rear-mounted fans, this one has its fan at the top which creates a vortex of moving hot air inside for true air fryer results. It toasts, roasts, bakes, broils, air-fries, reheats, proofs dough, and dehydrates. It's also got steam-infusion technology that makes your toast crisper and keeps your leftovers juicier. It features my signature guava pink, golden yolk, and pistachio green colors and comes with a rack, an air-fryer basket, and a non-stick roasting pan.

You can add on a deeper casserole pan, a muffin pan, a pizza pan, and extra baskets by going with one of the accessory kits.

You can get the Our Place Wonder Oven Pro in Pistachio Green here.

3) The Vonhelmick x Kenji Hand-forged Shi-Toku Knife

The perfect knife didn't exist, so I set out to make it with master bladesmith Gordon Hanson of Vonhelmick Knives. The shi-toku is the result of five years of development, design, and testing. the perfectly balanced blade is designed to combine the chopping, mincing, and slicing versatility of a Japanese santoku blade, with the curved tip of a Western chef's knife which gives it even smoother motion and the ability to rock-chop. The handles are cut from a 200 year-old tree in McMinnville with banding in my signature Golden Yolk and Guava Pink colors.

Hand-made in Gordon's Oregon forge, it's crafted from Japanese shiro 2 high carbon steel for excellent edge retention and sharpenability. The profile is nimble enough for fine prep, sturdy enough for daily heavy work, and shaped to feel natural in the hand for long cooking sessions. This is a true knife nerd or collector's knife. One that you'll admire every time you use it, or when you pass it on to the next generation of cooks. Each knife in the very limited runs is a unique work of craftsmanship and comes stamped with a number and a signed a certificate of authenticity to prove it.

Because of material availability, this is the very last run of this version of the knife. We've reserved 30 of them for you. After that, the next batch will come after we are able to source the steel and wood needed to produce them.

Get the Vonhelmick x Kenji Shitoku Here

4) The KAN x Kenji Shi-Toku Knife

If the Vonhhelmick Shi-toku is out of your price range or seems like it may be too difficult to maintain (understandable!), here is a different option from KAN Knives. I've been using KAN Kitchen's knives for about 8 years now, and have gifted countless of them to friends and co-workers, so I was very excited to collaborate with Barney on producing a version of my Shi-Toku knife that offers the same perfect shape and balance of the carbon steel version, but in a beutiful, easy-to-maintain damascus stainless steel.

This knife will quickly become your go-to for everything in the kitchen.

And good news: All pre-orderes have been fulfilled, whcih means that you can still order until December 17th to have the knives shipped before Christmas. As an added bonus, a portion of each knife sale will be donated to No Kid Hungry, a nationwide charitable organization that helps feed the most vulnerable folks in need.

Get the KAN x Kenjji Shi-Toku Knife right here and use the code KENJI to get a small discount.

5) The Kenji x Hedley & Bennett Egg Apron (20% off!)

i've known founder Ellen Marie Bennett of Hedley & Bennett since she first started her apron company and have watched it grow into the best, most reliable source of high quality kitchen aprons for chefs and home cooks alike. Not only that, but they come in such a dazzling array of designs and colors that you can really make sure you get the one that perfectly suits your personality.

I love the brightness of my signature Guava Pink apron with the Golden Yolk and Eggshell White accents on the straps and webbing. This apron is sturdy, rugged, full of useful pockets and towel holders and knee-length to protect your cloths and your body from burns and splashes. It features my favorite ingredient, the egg, in various forms (including a hidden version of my own egg yolk logo).

You can get the Kenji x Hedley & Bennett Egg Apron right here. Use the code KENJI20 at sign out for 20% off.

6) The Earlywood Wok Spatula

The flat spatulas end turners, the rolling pins, and the lovely tasting spoons carved from natural hard woods from the company Earlywood in Montana have been my go-to tools since discovering them a few years back. They're also one of the most asked-about tools in my kitchen. So it made perfect sense to partner with them to produce my ideal wok spatula when my book, The Wok, was first released. After dozens and dozens of iterations, we landed on this model, which has a wide, lightly scooped paddle end that is contoured to fit perfectly inside the 14-inch wok I use most commonly at home. It's asymmetrical to allow the user to take control with their dominant hand to flip, lift, and properly stir-fry food, ensuring that it heat quickly and evenlt.

Because the spatula is shaped asymmetrically, make sure to order the left- or right-handed model, according to your dominant hand.

The Earlywood Wok Spatula is available here.

7) The Combustion Inc. Predictive Thermometer

Although I personally had no part in the design or manufacture of the Combustion Inc. Predictive Thermometer, as founder Chris Young has said, there is nobody in the world who has tested it as thoroughly as I have through years of use in my home kitchen, including every single model since the first one. (It also, serendipitously, perfectly fits the color scheme of my kitchen and aprons).

This thermometer is a true game-changer for anyone who cooks meat. With a typical thermometer, you need to fish around inside until you find the exact center of the roast in order to ensure that you are cooking it properly. With the Predictive Thermometer's seven sensors and predictive algorithms, the thermometer does the work for you, telling you exactly how hot your roast, chicken, or steak is in the very center, and, if you want, at intervals all the way up to the edge.

Not only that, but it will accurately predict exactly how long your meat will take to cook, giving you the confidence to walk away or work on another project while that chicken crisps up. The newest versions of the software even tell you once your meat has been saely pasteurized so that you can avoid overcooking. All this leads to the juiciest, tastiest, most reliable chicken, pork chops, or prime rib, or barbecue you've ever cooked.

Get the Combustion Inc. Digital Thermometer right here.

8) A Super Frienji or Cookbook Club Gift Subscription

Do you like getting bonus recipes and content every week? Do you enjoy connecting with fellow food nerds on the internet's friendliest food nerd forum? Do you want to help test cookbook recipes before they're finalized and even get your name printed in my next cookbook?

Then you probably enjoy being part of the Super Frienjis or Cookbook Club. Why not treat a friend or family member to a gift subscription? Right now, annual memberships (including giftst) to the cookbook club are 25% off!

You can get Frienji of Kenji gift subscriptions right here.

Gifts for Seattle Lovers

If you love Seattle as much as I do and you want to support local Seattle businesses, here are a few of my favorites.

1) Seattle Riders Food Tours

Seattle has some of the nicest biking infrastructure around, so what better way to take advantage of it while hitting up some of my favorite restaurants? I've collaborated with the folks at Seattle Rider Tours to curate a special tour that will have you tasting some of the best Seattle has to offer all while getting a workour (or letting the e-bike do the work for you), seeing some of Seattle's best hidden sights, and learning from a couple of tour guides with decades of knowledge and experience.You can book rides or get gift certificates for Seattle Riders right here.

2) Kari Kari Chile Crisp

I am a chili crisp fiend, and local seattle company Kari Kari makes the best around with a perfect blend of warm spices, heat, crunchy garlic, and deep umami from dried mushrooms balanced with just the right level of sweetness and numbing Sichuan peppercorn. My kids eat it by the bowlful, and I put it on virtually everything. (Try it on vanilla ice cream. For real.)

It's a perfect gift for out-of-town relatives, since we get to enjoy it whenever we want.

Get Kari Kari Chili Crisp right here.

3) Spinnaker Chocolate

I love watching someone who is singularly obsessive about a single goal work towards achieving that, and that is what family-run chocolate shop Spinnaker chocolate has been doing since 2020. Their chocolate is meticulously sourced, perfectly evenly roasted, and tempered to a crackly snap that melts in your mouth with an incredible range of flavors.

The chocolates they produce are virtually all single origins that aim to highlight the flavor of the beans, but they also have a few lines of tasteful inclusions, including sea salt, cocoa nib, bee pollen, and whiskey. It is truly some of the best chocolate I've ever tasted.

Servin’ up Squash

For this week’s recipe bundle, let’s keep it like my kiddo Wombat: short, sweet, and squashy. With winter arriving just around the corner, take advantage of some really gourd autumnal flavors while you still have the chance!

Making a pumpkin soup can be tedious at times—roasting the gourd in the oven, sautéing the aromatics and eventually bringing it all together. This one-pot roasted squash soup simplifies the process without sacrificing any of the flavor. 

If you don’t want to crank up the oven, try this 100% stovetop technique that will deliver a delicious butternut squash soup in just half an hour. 

Likewise, this butternut squash and sage brown butter pasta is made entirely on the stovetop and is complete with a deliciously deep brown butter sauce. (And for something similar, but different, try this sage, caramelized cream, and squash pasta.)

This make-ahead roasted squash and kale salad is perfect to prepare in advance for any holiday party you might be attending.

Working as a restaurant cook taught me many things, but especially how to use leftovers in a creative way. That creativity brought this next recipe—squash lasagna—to life. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

And speaking of creative recipes… if you feel challenged by pineapple on pizza, how about pumpkin? This fall-inspired pizza pie brings pumpkin, apples, gruyère, and sage together. It’s savory, autumnal, and still has that pizzeria-quality charred crust you want.

Thank you!

Thank you again for joining me as a Frienji of Kenji here on Patreon. I want my content here to serve you and your needs in the kitchen. Comment down below what recipes, techniques, or topics you’d like to see me cover!