Over twenty fantastic boxes of festive fun from your favourite venues
Has the pandemic hampered your Christmas shopping plans? Don't worry, many of our local venues have got Xmas all wrapped up. With a locally made hamper you can pamper your loved ones (or yourself, what the hell, it's been a difficult year) with handmade and carefully sourced food and drink delights. Easy.
There are all sorts of hampers to choose from for all manner of tastes and a range of budgets. Many also include unique hand made food and drink items so you can enjoy a taste of the restaurants you've missed in 2020.
From all out luxury to more modest tastes, here's our guide to the Top 20 Hampers:
What: Alty Market Build Your Own Hamper
How much: Prices from £8 per item
Delivery: Collection only 19th or 24th (deadline 12th Dec)
If you want to create something personal but still support local makers and bakers, Alty market has a great solution. They have put together a tickable order form for you to choose the items you’d like packaged up into a hamper for collection on one of the Saturdays before Xmas. You can choose from all sorts of market favourites from foodie stuff like Great North Pie Co pies, cakes and chocolates from Sam Joseph and selection boxes for dogs to jewellery, flowers, wine and wearables. All hampers come with an Alty market tote bag thrown in for free.
What: Baratxuri Christmas Hamper
How much: £99
Delivery: £1 to Ramsbottom, Bury, and surrounding postcodes (contact to see if they can deliver near you)
Ramsbottom locals are very lucky to have Baratxuri. Not only can they - in normal times - enjoy its sensational Basque inspired food whenever they like, but now they can order these stunning hampers for home delivery. City dwellers are well jel. Contents include Baratxuri piquillo jam, pickled Ibarra peppers, hot pickled carrots, chef Rachel’s own salsa bravas, boquerones from Getaria, Jamon Iberico, aged Manchego, Cava vinegar, truffle oil, a sack of paella rice, a bottle of red Rioja, bottles of Valencian beers Er Boqueron (made with sea water) and La Soccarada (rosemary & honey) and the classic Spanish dessert, Turron.
What: A very TOTI Christmas from The Cartford Inn
How much: £70 with basket or £55 without
Delivery: Nationwide for £10
TOTI (Taste Of The Inn) is The Cartford Inn’s deli which this year has expanded, gone online and kept the business afloat. The Christmas hamper includes a can of their own brew Giddy Kipper, chocolate kisses, handmade chocolates, chilli sauce, seasonal pesto, jam and chutney, local honey, hand-rolled bread crackers and a recycled TOTI bag for life but you can peruse the rest of the online shop for other types of hamper and create your own bespoke version too.
What: The Church Green
How much: £150
Delivery: Collection only
Aidan Byrne’s perhaps most famous for being head honcho at the sadly now closed Manchester House. His country pub up in Lymm, The Church Green opened a fantastic deli during lockdown and there are all sorts of bottled, jarred and baked indulgences on offer including this luxury hamper. Contents include cheese, charcuterie, crackers, shallot chutney, parfait, piccalilli, chicken truffle pie, pumpernickle bread, sticky toffee pudding, Ssmoked almonds, bags of chocolate truffles, Church Green coffee, santa cake, truffle crisps and a bottle of champers.
If you're a deli fan you might also like cakes and croissant butter from Pollen's new online shop.
What: The Creameries Luxury Xmas Hamper
How much: £150
Delivery: Nationwide for £10
Mary Ellen McTague should change her last name to Christmas as she’s not only put together the Eat Well Mcr hampers (see below) but also this from her Chorlton restaurant The Creameries. Ever the traditionalist, McTague’s whipped up a batch of proper mincemeat to a Mrs Beeton recipe (containing venison loin and suet). This joins Courtyard Dairy cheeses with oatcakes and apple & beetroot chutney, ‘Gold, frankincense and myrrh’ chocolates, a Christmas pud with brandy sauce, a half bottle of Tawny Port, bottles of white, red and fizzy wine and a bag of Ancoats Espresso coffee beans.
What: #EatWellDoGood Christmas Hamper
How much: £75 with two bottle of wine or £125 with four
Delivery: Nationwide on the 22nd
Xmas is all about giving and with Eat Well Mcr’s hampers you can feel doubly benevolent as every purchase helps them to continue supporting the community with nutritious meals. The hampers include either two or four bottles of low intervention wine plus a cheeseboard from Courtyard Dairy with crackers and chutney, Manchester Smokehouse smoked salmon, handmade pickles from Plucky Pickle, a handmade pie from Beehive Foods, ‘gold, frankincense and myrrh’ chocolates from the Creameries and a handmade beeswax candle from Kat Wood.
What: El Gato Negro
How much: Premium hamper £135, standard hamper £95
Delivery: Nationwide
These hampers are perfect for Iberophiles featuring three bottles of Spanish wine: one fizzy, one red, one white (with slightly fancier ones in the premium hamper) and a selection of nibbles from Spain. There’s chorizo, Iberica ham, aged Manchego, rosemary cheese, olives, olive oil biscuits, mini breadsticks, venison pâté, orange blossom honey, sardine shaped chocolates and white chocolate coated Marcona almonds in both. Perfect for a boxing day spread. Feliz Navidad!
You might also like Lunya's range of Catalan inspired hampers
What: Start Xmas day well with Elnecot
How much: £35 - £150
Delivery: Collection only
The Ancoats’ favourite has put together a small number of themed hampers packed with their homemade provisions and favourite wines. The Elnecot provisions hamper (£35) contains jars of small batch preserves lovingly made on the premises including chipotle jam, savoy kimchi and Stay Alert sauce – add a bottle of wine for +£20. There’s a Christmas morning hamper (£65) packed with all you’d need to make the perfect start; Campanio sourdough, free range eggs, whey butter, Manchester smoked salmon and paté, tea, coffee and more. Or treat yourself to an upgraded luxury version (£150) which includes all that plus Exmoor caviar, a bottle of English sparkling and a £40 Elnecot gift voucher.
To order, email hello@elnecot.com. Xmas morning hampers must be ordered by 18th Dec
What: Hyssop
How much: From £45
Delivery: Collection only
Hyssop is the star-shaped gingerbread on Glossop’s foodie Xmas tree, the team behind one of our favourite restaurants of 2019 are hugely passionate about good grub. So we’d be all over these hampers if we lived in the area. The classic hamper includes a bottle of Prosecco, cheese, rosemary maple cashews, citrus olives, fennel lavash crackers, Scottish oatcakes, chocolate covered honeycomb, almond and white chocolate biscotti, fruit and nut chocolate buttons, Hyssop chutney, rosemary sea salt and mini bottles of sloe gin and bramble vodka. But get in touch and they can rustle up a bespoke one for you if you prefer.
What: Isca Christmas Hamper
How much: £60
Delivery: Free in the local area or a small fee for nationwide
One of a number of newer businesses that didn’t get much chance to get the wheels in motion properly before covid created this lump of coal of a year. Isca is a sustainably minded and very lovely little deli and natural wine shop in Levenshulme and its hampers include two bottles of wine, Pump Street chocolate truffles (handmade at Isca), maple and rosemary nuts and a jar of organic preserve. Packaging is sustainable and 10% of sales are donated to homelessness support centre, The Mustard Tree.
What: Peace & Joy at The Lowry
How much: £8,695 - yes you read that right
Delivery: Nationwide for £8.95 or collect
The Lowry Hotel has perhaps slightly lost the plot with this one - well haven’t we all this year? Its Peace & Joy hamper has contents worth £12k and include two nights in the hotel’s Charles Forte Presidential Suite, a 24-hour-a-day personal butler for the duration of the stay, an in-room dining experience from the River Restaurant, two 60-minute spa treatments and Chef's Choice dinner for two with Champagne. But there’s more, a bottle of Ace of Spades Champagne, a bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII, two bottles of Lowry Gin, Lowry Blend Tea from the Manor, macarons, chocolate truffles, two pairs of Lowry slippers, a Lowry bear, two jars of Lowry honey and a whole stocking full of spa treats. The package also includes Christmas Day @ HOME – The Lowry Hotel’s 5-star cook at home Christmas lunch kit.
Slightly more affordable for us mere mortals is the Festive Hamper at £125 with bottles of Lowry Festive Gin, mulled wine and prosecco, Santa macarons, stollen, festive cake, honey, Tea, an Elemis Joyful Glow Festive Candle, two Aromatherapy Associates Mini Moments Deep Relax Oils and a Lowry Bear.
What: Timeless Hampers by Mana
How much: £160 incl delivery and VAT
Delivery: UK wide
Manchester’s only Michelin starred restaurant has created a chest of delicious items from their meticulously sourced suppliers, alongside a number of their own unique preparations. Mana’s seasonal delights include beef and chamomile broth, salt aged duck hung over burning grape vines, 'Bread Sauce', lacto-fermented Victoria plums, seeded rye bread, sourdough loaf, handmade cultured butter and preserved turnips.
Cured and aged meats (which you can perk up with Verjus mustard), perfectly ripe cheeses (with a jar of truffle honey) plus a bottle of Nero d’Avola or (+£50) you can push the boat out with Gusbourne Brut Reserve. Other optional indulgences include white truffle (£100), N25 Kaluga hybrid caviar (£55), 25g black truffle (£25).
These hampers (limited to just 50 per week) serve 2-4 people and are available to order until 17th December.
What: A Very MeatCo Christmas
How much: £115
Delivery: Greater Manchester only, from £5
Not quite a classic Xmas dinner box nor a classic hamper, it’s safe to say MeatCoMcr do things differently. They’ve teamed up with some other boundary breaching pals like Higher Ground, Elnecot and It’s Alive! Wines to come up with a great little box of treats. In the words of Mariah Carey… all I want for Christmas is beef. There’s 1.5kg rib of beef, a choice of wines (Quinta do Ermizio Chin Chin 2019 Vinho Verde & Ancre Hill Vineyard Pet Nat NV or a surprise selection of beers, apple & pear and pickled golden beetroot chutneys and stock from Higher Ground, Horseradish sauce from Elnecot and a brown sugar tart from Long Bois. Oof!
What: Moorcock Christmas Day Hamper
How much: £125
Delivery: Only to HX HD and OL postcodes
The Moorcock is a fermentastic little pub with a focus on locally grown produce cooked creatively. This hamper has everything but the turkey with chicken liver parfait with sweet wine jelly, cold-smoked, chalk stream trout, a slice of pork pie, the ubiquitous Courtyard Dairy cheese, chutney, oat crackers, pigs in blankets, orange and rum mince pies, Christmas pudding, shortbread fingers, brandy custard, sourdough and cultured butter. If you’re not in the delivery radius, there are lots of other items in the Moorcock’s shop that can be delivered nationwide like hand made ceramics (more about those here), bottled cocktails and jars of homemade preserves.
What: Luxury Hamper from Moor Hall
How much: £350
(£15 will be donated to Sandfield Park School, to help support families in need over the Xmas hols.)
Delivery: Collection only on Fri 18th Dec
Ooh it’s a special one, but what else would you expect from this two Michelin star restaurant. Packed full of superb Moor Hall produce such as pickles, onion jam and fennel crackers to accompany truffled Baron Bigod cheese and house-cured charcuterie, plus whisky barrel smoked salmon with dill cream cheese and a 50g tin of branded Exmoor caviar.
Drinks include a bottle of ‘Chapter Five – Moor Hall’ gin, their signature ‘Rum Punch’ cocktail (60cl), a bottle of Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs,) 4 bottles of branded IPA and mulled wine. Sweet stuff includes a smoked bacon, pecan and maple Xmas pud with brandy sauce, ginger lemon shortbread, rosemary salted caramel truffles, Christmas stollen, cranberry granola, pine marmalade and honey from Moor Hall’s own bees. Gifts include a Moor Hall chef’s apron, a printed menu and you get to keep the premium basket.
As if that’s not enough, one lucky recipient will also find a Golden Ticket in their hamper, to win an eight-course tasting menu for two.
What: A Taste of Parker’s Christmas
How much: £125
Delivery: Nationwide
Stosie Madi’s pies are legendary, and who doesn’t love a good pie, especially when there’s a nip in the air? The Parker’s Arms in Lancashire is one of team Confidential’s all time favourite gastro pubs and these hampers are packed with love from the ace little team. There’s a large family pie (or 8 pasties) filled with either curried Burholme mutton, pheasant or creamed potato & Lancashire cheese as well as piccalilli, cranberry sauce, mushroom parfait, liver parfait, potted kippers, a massive peanut slice, 1kg sourdough and 1kg Parker’s famous creamed mash. Although demand has been huge, so you might be unlucky.
What: Salvi’s Italian Christmas Hampers
How much? £25 - £90
Delivery - UK wide, plus collection
Salvi’s Deli in the Corn Exchange is spreading some authentic Italian cheer with themed gift hampers available in small, medium and large. Try the ‘Pasta Making Hamper’ full of pasta flour, a tagliatelle rolling pin, a gnochetti board, taralli, arrabiatta seasoning, tomatoes and olive pâté, or ‘The Manchester Cookbook Hamper’ with all the ingredients to make one of the recipes that Salvi’s contributed to the book.
A Wine Hamper is available in a couple of combinations; Barolo, Gavi di Gavi, or fizz along with cantucci biscuits, taralli, pandoro and more, or you could even choose an Italian beer hamper. There’s also the option to build your own bespoke version (no order too big or too small.)
To order a bespoke hamper email ruby@salvismanchester.co.uk (Hampers containing fresh produce must be collected on Xmas Eve).
What: Sicilian NQ
How much: Prices vary
Delivery: Contact them to enquire
If you’ve missed your holidays this year, you might want to bring some Mediterranean sunshine to your Xmas celebrations - or send some the way of a sun seeking loved one. Sicilian NQ’s online deli is overflowing with handmade Sicilian specialities like Grappa dell' Etna, bottled house cocktails, pasta sauce, Sicilian pesto, antipasti, capers from Pantelleria, Sicilian Farm Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sweet cannolicchio and the team can put together a bespoke hamper to suit you. Pop into their Northern Quarter deli or drop them a line.
What: Best of Barcelona with Tast Catala
How Much? From £27 - £75
Delivery - Collection every Fri-Sun 11am-6pm. Deliveries are available up to 15 miles for +10 hampers
While they’ve been closed, Tast Catala has re-launched their online shop offering a range of hampers plus gift cards and some of Tast’s favourite products. Exec chef Paco Pérez (who operates seven restaurants which between them hold five Michelin stars) is an ambassador of Catalan gastronomy, so knows how to pick the best.
You’ll find more in depth product descriptions on their website, but hampers are packed with variations on high-quality charcuterie, Manchego cheese, sweet treats and some of their most popular wines and Cava.
Additionally, when you buy any hamper and add a Gift Card (Minimum £50) you'll get £5 off. If you want to create your own bespoke hamper, just get in touch at hola@tastcatala.com
What: Xmas Market box from Thyme Out
How much: £37.50
Delivery: Free nationwide
If you’re missing the buzz of the Xmas markets, Didsbury cafe and caterers Thyme Out have put together a box full of market food faves. There’s a bottle of mulled wine and mug, a DIY bratwurst hot dog pack, stroopwafels, gourmet hot chocolate spoons, chocolates, fudge and more. You can also add extra treats like mini bottles of Baileys, Christmas mugs and macarons from English Rose. We bet you know someone who would love this.
What: Vertigo Festive Vegan Hampers
How much: From £38.50
Delivery: UK from £4.50 and EU
Vertigo Vegan Eatery started as a little deli on Cross Street but expanded in 2019 to a larger restaurant and wine bar at First Street. These hampers are a lovely for vegans or even your non vegan friends.The smaller festive hamper features Belvoir alcohol-free festive punch, a Cocoa Libre Christmas slab, gingerbread men, mince pies, cranberry sauce, Yogi turmeric chai teabags, Booja Booja almond salted caramel and peppermint candy canes. Other hampers in the range include low intervention wines, marshmallows, oat milk hot choc and incense sticks.
What: Where The Light Gets In Winter Provisions
How much: £120
Delivery: Collection only
Sam Buckley and crew really pulled it out the bag with meal kits during lockdown. While they are currently on hold as they hunker down getting the restaurant ready to reopen, they’ve taken some time to put together these unusual hampers. Handmade, locally grown and sustainably spirited goodies include smoked wild mallard, Cornish mackerel pate, farmhouse cheeses, pickles and preserves, a cracker selection, root veg Christmas pudding with calvados, chocolate mallow puffs, farm beeswax candles, a bottle of bubbles and a bottle of spiced negroni.
