Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Taste Of Olive

Are you the type of person that douses any vegetable in vinegar? Can drink vinegar straight? And relishes it?



If you're anything like me, you have a cabinet filled with every type of vinegar you can get at the grocery store — white, apple cider, white wine , red wine, white balsamic, balsamic, sherry, and rice vinegars.



Add ponzu (a Japanese citrus and vinegar based sauce) to the list of vinegars above, and that is my standard vinegar inventory. Well, before I was made aware of A Taste Of Olive, a specialty store featuring "the East Coast's largest selection of extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars and specialty oils and vinegars 'on tap' from all over the world!"

It all started last spring when a friend gifted me with espresso balsamic vinegar (great on berries or blue cheese), peach balsamic vinegar, jalapeno olive oil (nice way to add subtle heat to almost any thing), and Persian lime olive oil from A Taste Of Olive. I was adding these infused vinegars (and olive oils, but mostly vinegar) to everything in sight.



These vinegars and olive oils from A Taste Of Olive truly improved my life. Seriously, they have been ruling my summer, finding their way into almost every meal!



Very soon, I found myself out of Taste Of Olive's infused vinegars and olive oils, so hightailed it to the West Chester store (there are also locations in Ardmore, PA, and Haddonfield, NJ, as well as an online store) to pick out a few new vinegars and olive oils from their in-store inventory of over 50 varieties. A Taste Of Olive also sells flavored salts, salt slabs, chocolates, and pretty jars of gourmet condiments, so makes a nice store for any-occasion gifts or self-indulgences.More stainless steel drums of vinegar and olive oils than you can joyously imagine line shelves and tables of the cute, but spacious, downtown West Chester store, where you are encouraged to sample before you buy. I happily drank about a cup's worth of various vinegar before I settled on the babies that were going home with me (grapefruit, honey ginger, and pumpkin spice), as well as bottle of a Tuscan herb extra-virgin olive oil.



The friendly staff will gladly suggest vinegar and olive oil pairings, as well present you with menu sheets. They even made sure I left with a frequent buyer punch card to get a free bottle of vinegar or olive oil after the purchase of ten bottles. How did they know I was coming back soon?



A Taste Of Olive


26 South High St., West Chester, PA 19382 / 610-429-0292

22 W Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, PA 19003 / 610-642-1123

106 Kings Hwy East, Haddonfield, NJ 08033 / 856-795-0043

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