Chef Kevin Thornton is the owner of Thornton's Restaurant in Portobello and has a Michelin star to boot. His recommendations for presents for anybody who loves to cook include a set of Bourgeat copper pots, "which you'll have forever" (from £120 to order from Kitchen Complements in Chatham Street); a Larousse Gastronomic, "because it's good for discovering new things as well as the history of food" (£55 from Waterstones and other good bookshops), or a voucher for the sevencourse surprise menu at Thorntons (£55 per person). Kevin's other idea was for a homemade food hamper that would include fresh black truffles, some haricot blancs soup, marinated salmon, fresh chestnut puree, some wild mushroom mousse, petit fours and some partridge. Many of the raw ingredients could be sourced in Cavistons in Sandycove, or Magills on Clarendon Street.