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Every city worth living in has two things in common with all the rest: Its own unique foods and homesick expats. And therein lies a gift opportunity.
Get a couple drinks into a Cincinnati native, and prepare to hear about the chili. Chicagoans have their distinctive hot dogs. The cheesesteak is Philadelphia’s go-to late-night fourth meal. And so on.
This city is no different. Know a homesick Detroiter? Consider sending a little bit of home for the holidays. You have many choices.
Drippy
A blue-collar town requires a blue-collar nosh, and the coney island hot dog is one of the most famous and distinctive. It’s also not the sort of thing one can just put in a box and transport, but Grace Keros at American Coney Island has figured that out for you.
The “coney kit” (above) sold by American offers a dozen natural-casing Dearborn franks, the same kind served in the restaurant at Michigan and Lafayette, along with buns, a tub of chili sauce, a Vidalia onion and a hat like the servers there wear, all packed in dry ice. Some assembly required, but that’s why you wear the hat. The price: $60 or $70, depending on where in the country you’re sending this miracle. Order online.
Buddy's half-baked (Photo: Buddy's)
Greasy
Not everybody loves Detroit pizza. But those who do, love it with an abiding passion that cannot be satisfied with an imitation. Buddy’s, the place one goes for deep-dish, crunchy-cornered Detroit pizza, sells a version of its famous pie known as “half-baked,” suitable for shipping. The bad news? They’re not shipping it at the moment. (They’re exploring their options.) But you can.
A company spokeswoman said half-baked orders made at least 48 hours in advance can be picked up frozen. (Order at any location.) How you get it to recipients out of town? That’s up to you. But a real Buddy’s pizza in Los Angeles? That’s a gift that leaves an impression. Figure it out.
Bread-y
The picture is rosier for lovers of breads, cakes, pies and cookies, which are dry, stable and have long shelf lives, relatively speaking. Zingerman’s, in Ann Arbor, has made their lavish (and expensive) gift baskets a holiday-season perennial. They offer a dizzying array of options, from charcuterie to made-in-Michigan to its best-in-class breads.
The Detroit Lovers gift box (Photo: Avalon)
Shipping ranges from flat-rate to two-day express, and you can find the whole menu here.
And even though Zingerman’s is regionally famous, it’s still Ann Arbor. But no worries -- Detroit’s own Avalon International Breads has its own selection of shippable gift selections, including bread, cookies, Detroit-made foods and its famous holiday stollen. Explore the options online.
Thirsty
The good news: You can send Faygo for the holidays, and you can send all of the brand’s more than two dozen flavors. Yes, even Redpop. Yes, even Rock & Rye. Even Moon Mist. And so on. They also have a good selection of T-shirts and a unisex “ugly Christmas sweater” that we suspect is actually a sweatshirt, but who cares when it has “Rudolph the Redpop Reindeer” on the front? There’s even a cookbook, in case you need to make Faygo cupcakes or something. For the hard-to-buy-for Juggalo in your life. Shop here.
Rudolph the Redpop Reindeer! (Photo: Faygo)
Now, the bad news: If you want to send your favorite local craft brews to your retired dad in Florida, whether it’s Atwater’s Dirty Blonde or Ghettoblaster from the Motor City Brewing Co., well, you can’t. Or rather, they can’t. State liquor laws prohibit it, an Atwater employee said.
Of course, if you’d like to invoke the can-do American spirit, find an online guide and ship it yourself, you probably could. But if the top blows off one of those bottles on the trip to Miami, it’s on you, bub.
Salty
We like to think potato chips are potato chips, but a true chip-a-holic will smack the crumbs right off your face if you talk that trash about their Better Made, and Better Made returns the love with their own shippable gift selections. There are flavored-chip samplers, a barbecue eight-pack (as in, there are eight different types of BBQ chips, and will wonders never cease?), pretzels, popcorn and...you thought we were going to forget, didn’t you?
Rainbow Darks, the gift that says you care (Photo: Better Made)We did not, because yes, Virginia, you can ship a four-pack of Rainbow Darks, and go ahead and cry a little, we totally understand. Lay your chips down in the online Chip Store.
Sweet
Candy is a great choice for the holidays -- it’s less likely to melt in cold weather, it doesn’t spoil and we have a hometown choice in Sander’s. They not only have choices in gift baskets, they have pages and pages of them, at a wide range of prices. There are samplers, jars of fudge sauce, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, peanut-butter filled Christmas trees, popcorn, branded mugs, the works. You might be wondering if you can send a bumpy cake. Are you kidding? Of course you can. Order online.
Ice cream is trickier, sorry. But it’s possible, if you have the cash, or are willing to go to a lot of trouble. Ray’s Ice Cream, the Royal Oak institution beloved and patronized by many a
Snoconuts, from Sanders (Photo: Sanders)
Dream Cruiser, gets requests “all the time” for its zillion-flavor offerings and cordial molds to be shipped, but few follow through, an employee said, because it has to go via two-day air, which is pricey, “usually at least $100,” she said. But hey, it’s Christmas, so if you’re willing, get out your credit card. Or buy an insulated box and dry ice and take your chances doing it yourself.
