It’s probably because we’re just rubes from the country, but we were amazed to discover during our recent visit to Santa Fe that there are [at least] two stores in the downtown area that specialize in selling olive oil and balsalmic vinegar in a wide array of flavors. We spent quite a bit of time in Oleaceae (the store name is the plant family that contains the olive tree, as well as being an extremely challenging word to type), a small shop on Old Santa Fe Trail (it’s actually part of the La Fonda Hotel, adjacent to the candy store and knife shop, if you’re familiar with that particular block).
Small town tourists
The little store is crammed full of small gleaming stainless steel vats, and you can sample any of the flavors, accompanied by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff whose command of food pairings rivals that of any wine steward. And if you think that tasting samples of vinegar or oil sounds unappetizing, you’d be surprised at the reality. Most of what we tried was delicious…so much so, in fact, that we ended up ordering four bottles (two of the 18-year old balsalmic vinegar, one of roasted French walnut oil (good for ice cream topping, we’re told), and one of arbequina olive oil.
One thing is for sure, salad time at Gazette HQ will never be the same, and there’s no going back to Wishbone Italian.