We took a field trip down to The Village at Shirlington, a chichi little shopping and dining district in Arlington, to visit the Ah Love Oil & Vinegar store, on the occasion of their first anniversary. They were having chef demos and offering samples of their products and dishes made with them.
The shop carries a wide range of olive oil, vinegar, and a select assortment of specialty items. I asked the owner, Cary Kelly, how she selected items to stock. “I look for people who have their hands in their food,” she said. Quality and integrity are her criteria. “And the difference in olive oil speaks for itself.”
When she demonstrated how to make pesto in a food processor, that difference was apparent in the taste of the finished product. Artisanal oil results in the noticeably superior taste of this combination of just a few ingredients.
Two of her suppliers were there, all the way from Sparta. Diamontis and Dino Pierrakos import Laconiko olive oil. When I asked them how old their trees are, they looked a little apologetic when admitting that they are only about 30 to 80 years old. ( In Greece, trees many hundreds of years old are still bearing. Gives the growers in California something to emulate!)
The many plain and flavored olive oils are sold from large stainless steel air-tight fusti (Italian for tanks). This arrangement facilitates tasting before purchase. Cary encourages tasting as many as you like to assure satisfaction.
The tasting samples were delicious and plentiful. They included popcorn with black truffle salt and white truffle olive oil; tortellini with tomato, Parmesan, olive oil and za’atar; dark chocolate walnut zucchini cake with olio nuovo; fig and olive confit; and my favorite, dark chocolate topping for cream cheese with candied orange flowers and lavender sea salt. And to drink, a little peach white balsamic vinegar mixed with Champagne.
There were friendly gourmets, tasty nibbles and interesting stories. A fine time, and I left wishing we lived closer to the Village.
