My brother is currently studying to be a chef at Kendall College in Chicago. I want to get him a gift card ($100) so he can buy the kitchenware he wants once he’s saved up more money. What kind of gift card would be best? I was considering one from William Sonoma. Are they too impractical?
I would go for Bed, Bath, and Beyond. There’s a huge variety of neat stuff there for almost any culinary need, and even more on the website.
William Sonoma is crazy pricy. Unless you plan on giving him BIG bucks he won’t be able to get much.
What does he need?
You said kitchenware but Im not sure if you mean appliances. If so I’d go with BB&B like Time Like Tears said.
Knives? - Northwest Cutlery on Chicago’s near north side (not sure if they have gift cards but they’re nice folks, I’m sure you could work something out)
I think he’s saving up so he can buy nice stuff that will last long. Pots, pans, knives, etc.
He did mention he was saving up for a Cuisinart mixer.
Then follow Time Like Tears opinion and go with BB&B.
Worst comes to worst he can always pick up a decent knife or at least a shower curtain.
If he’s training to be in the biz, get him something for someone in the biz, not the home chef. I’d try to find out what are considered the best restaurant supply shops where he is, then see if you can get him a credit there. If you don’t know, maybe call the college and ask. (Not only a practical way to go, but I suspect your brother will be imprressed and touched that you went to some extra effort.)
I buy all my stuff from either Amazon or restaurant supply stores. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single thing at Williams & Sonoma or BB&B that I couldn’t get cheaper somewhere else.
Amazon has a huge selection of cooking stuff at reasonable prices. That’s what I’d do.
Regarding cookware… In my experience, “real” chefs are much more likely to use–and appreciate–relatively industrial offerings from restaurant supply stores as opposed to “really nice” but overpriced stuff from Williams-Sonoma. When your pots and pans are tools to be relied on, used, and sometimes abused…you don’t want them to be too fancy. It’s the same reason you don’t see a lot of Cadillac Escalades used as work trucks.
W-S caters to people who care as much about what their saucepans look like hanging on the rack as they do about whether they perform well. In other words, upper-middle-class folks who watch too much Food Network* and have as much gadget lust as they do passion for cooking. A working chef is more likely to want something that can be ridden hard and put away wet.
Of course, even a working chef outfitting their home kitchen may want something that appraoches the “fancy” side…but there are still places to get “nice” stuff which are less overpriced and overhyped than W-S.
*Disclaimer. I, myself, watch too much Food Network. I have days where I think I’m a hot-shot wannabe chef. So I’m not trying to be too derisive with that comment.
Honestly when I was working in a kitchen, the only things chefs needed aside from their knife bag (and you don’t even need that in a good kitchen) was pants, coats, hats and shoes. I would have killed for decent pants and my own coat. Instead I had to wear my cousin’s hand-me-downs.
Maybe a GC to Whole Foods so he can buy some nice ingredients to cook with that he might not normally be able to afford. Or maybe a GC to a high-end restaurant in town so he can expose himself to great cooking from a master chef like Rick Bayless (Frontera) or Stephanie Izard (Girl and the Goat).
These options are consumable and you don’t have to worry about getting him a giftcard for a place that he’s not very interested in purchasing tools from.
I think that $100 is not nearly enough for a chef’s knife. I know someone who graduated from the CIA and she spent about $300 on hers. (And would absolutely not let anyone else use it.
But I got a lot from my $100 gift card to Kitchen, Etc.
Crocs. Cooking is crazy hard on the feet and back.
How about a gift card with a Mastercard, Visa, Discover or Amex logo on it? Then he can go to whatever store he wants
:dubious:
You can spend $300 or more on a chef’s knife, if you’re getting the highest of the high end professional knives out there. However, you can get a damn nice Chef’s knife from a high-end knife maker for less than $100, no problem, and I’d go out on a limb and say that 99% of professional working chefs get along just fine with one of those.
The chefs and other industry types I know use Victorinox knives that cost around $25.
Huh. OK, so this friend is weird.
Thanks for the recommendations everyone. 
Maybe a gift card to Amazon would be the most versatile.
I’ll throw my vote with Amazon, too.
~VOW
Man I miss Kitchen Etc! But I got a lot of great stuff at their going out of business sale. 