Quick Takes Special Edition: The Best Gifts to Bring to a Party, According to Our Experts

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Today, we’ve gathered the responses to the most frequently answered prompt on our questionnaire: You’re invited to dinner. What are you bringing?

Without further ado, here are a slew of things to bring to the party, courtesy of our favorite chefs, makers, designers, and style-setters (and a few of our picks sprinkled in), so you’ll never show up empty-handed.

Something Fanciful

• Always a pair of pure beeswax candles. No one can ever have too many tapers! They smell lovely and—little-known fact—purify the air while they burn. – Fanny Singer
• A Hafod Grange Dandelion paperweight. We sell them in the shop, and they have been made by the same company in England since Victorian times. I’ve given so many away it’s hard to keep track of who also owns one. – John Baker of Mjölk
• Four Thistle Napkins in lilac, tied in a bow with two hand-dipped geranium red tapers. – Grier Stockman of Block Shop

• If it’s a warmer month, we love to give an Astier de Villatte Mantes-la-Jolie candle. It’s fresh, crisp, and wildly interesting. – stylists Porter and Hollister Hovey
• If I manage to plan far enough in advance, Gohar World is always a crowd pleaser. But whatever I get, it must be wrapped. I’m a little old-school when it comes to wrapping gifts. I think the way a gift is presented matters just as much if not more than the gift itself. – writer Nicole Najafi

• A ceramic piece from my friend @atelier_a_quatre_mains, a notebook from Antoinette Poisson, or chocolates from my neighbor Ducasse. You can follow the artisanal production of the chocolates behind beautiful windows in a setting that has nothing to envy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. – designer Marianne Evennou
• For all occasions: this. – shop owner Sandeep Salter

Something Helpful

• A great knife sharpener, bottle opener, or set of cloth napkins. – Helen Rice of creative agency Fuzzco and Ponytail Shop

• A bundle of napkins. There are so many great ones out there right now, it’s hard to choose. – event designer David Stark
• A bottle of olive oil. – (the most frequent answer! from chef and writer Clare de Boer, Alison and Jay Carroll of Wonder Valley, and writer Ajiri Aki)

Something Delicious

• I think booze is usually a safe bet. Depending on the occasion, Champagne or wine. – textile artist Ferren Gipson
• A favorite bottle of wine—either a Lambrusco or Côtes du Rhône. – designers Michelle Ficker and Peter Dolkas of Studio Dorion
• A homemade jar of seasonal pesto or chutney and a bottle of our foraged elderflower cordial. – architect Spencer Fung
• A jar of local honey. – designer Michael Breland of Breland Harper

• Pretzel shortbread cookies from Lost Bread Co. I get them at the Grand Army Plaza farmer’s market, but they ship, too. The flavor and texture are unexpected and satisfying. – broom maker Erin Rouse
• A pre-batched cocktail or mocktail to pass around. If it’s a special event, we try to find vintage silver or linens with the hosts’ initials. – architects Maria Berman and Brad Horn
• My stepdaughter is now a pastry chef at the renowned Landrace Bakery, so our friends mostly want her delicious goods. Previously it would have been Champagne and flowers from the garden. Good friends get all three. – designer Cassandra Ellis

Something Green

• A plant in a beautiful pot. Even if the host doesn’t have a green thumb, the pot will be a useful addition to any collection of housewares. – architect Ruth Mandl of CO Adaptive
• We send flowers. Always. And if the hosts have children, we bring books for them. – Pablo Lopez and Iñigo Aragón
• If someone has a garden, then a plant they can enjoy year over year. – designer Pernille Lind