How to celebrate dad this weekend.

Thoughtful gifts, recipes, and more.

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June 16, 2026 1:07pm EDT

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Come On Over | Food52's guide to gathering.

Welcome to Come On Over, a Food52 newsletter about hosting life's big and little moments. This week, our SVP of Content, Cliff, shares his Father’s Day guide—and it's not your typical list.

Most Father's Day gift guides feel like they were built for a character, not a person. A tie. A whiskey glass.

But the gifts I'm drawn to mirror the intentionality I strive for as a dad. And the best ones don't just sit on a shelf. They create opportunities to spend time together—whether that's grilling dinner, checking the weather before a walk, or simply sitting outside and talking. So in this week’s newsletter, I'm sharing a few gifts I'd actually want, plus a couple ways to turn them into a Father's Day worth remembering.

Let Him Pick the Menu

Skip the steak delivery box and give him a gift certificate to a local butcher instead. Let him pick the cut, ask the questions, and make the planning part of the celebration. Then build a meal around it, whether that's a showstopping tomahawk or our favorite pulled pork sandwiches for a more laid-back Father's Day gathering.

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Set Up a Ritual Together

Instead of another app (4 weather apps currently live within my phone), this brass analog weather station gives you a reason to look up. Check it before a walk, before firing up the grill, or before deciding whether dinner belongs indoors or out.

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Turn Dinner Into an Activity

While everyone else is going bigger with the grill, a Konro charcoal grill does the opposite: smaller, more precise, and somehow more fun. Set it in the middle of the table and let everyone cook together. Yakitori and vegetables become part of the entertainment, keeping everyone gathered around the same conversation.

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Give Him Something He'll Actually Carry

The Higonokami pocket knife is an iconic Japanese friction-folder, and this smaller brass version feels especially giftable. I’ve carried mine for a year now and it's become one of those everyday objects that's always useful when opening a package, working in the garden, or tackling a small project together.

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Create a Better Place to Linger

Because sometimes the best gift is simply sitting together. Whether it’s on the deck, at a kid’s soccer game, by the grill, or pulled into a patch of afternoon sun, this Snow Peak chair makes it easier to stay awhile—lightweight, sturdy, and handsome enough to live outside the camp gear territory.

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