Oliviers&Co is a place you've surely seen in ABC Achrafieh and Dbayeh. This olive oil specialty shop cannot be missed and so I headed down there one day. I loved the colors, the freshness and positive spirit that fills the shop and decided to stop for an up close and personal encounter with the brand.
Oliviers&Co is on Level 0 at ABC Achrafieh, next to Zara in the round space facing the escalators. The shop sells a large variety of olive oil as well as related products and mixes. Expect to taste some finely flavored olive oil, bread baked with olive oil, olive oil dressings for your salad, truffle oil, aromatic salt and much more.
Oliviers&Co is a French franchise with more than 80 shops around the world, including three in Lebanon - ABC Achrafieh, ABC Dbayeh and Beirut Souks. Olives are the base of all their products, olives chosen from five countries (Portugal, Spain, Greece, Croatia and Italy). The concept has been built on a simple love of food, cooking and the kitchen and they sell sophisticated, tasty products.
Good to know:
- You need to harvest 10 to 12 kg of olives to create one liter of oil.
- The gold bottle, the highest level of olive oil is always from Tuscany in Italy. On the bottle you’ll discover the origin of the olives.
- The shop is divided into two sides. On the right is the olive oil, while on the left sit all their other products.
- They will gladly let you taste before buying.
Let's start our journey with the olive oils:
Choose between two categories, the flavored bottles and the olive oil produced from the five countries. Oliviers&Co sells stainless steel containers, or you can choose from the Grand Cru collection of dark glass bottles. Imagine the rich aromas of mandarin, lemon, or chili followed by the richness of European olive oil.
Different varieties:
- Basic from Spain (Reserva de Guadalupe)
- Le Verger du Portugal, Italy or Spain
- Recolte Reservee, Greece, Italy, Spain
- Affiorato (special edition of the year)
- Gran Cru (glass edition)
Tasting the Grand Cru collection:
- Chateau Virant, 2013, French grand Cru, buttery and oily, light on the palate.
- Il Tempio Dell'Oro, Italian 2013, acidic, more flavorful, a bit buttery, I like it more than the French.
- Finca la Torre, Spanish 2013, the strongest of the three, with more flavor, more aroma and a strong acid feel which is felt on the throat.
- Castillo de Canena, Spain 2013, tickles the throat, very rich, grassy, great with a salad
Other than oil, check out Oliviers&Co’s other products:
- Truffle-based products
- Pasta
- Carnaroli
- Galettes
- Tapenade
- Sauces
- Olive creations
- Limited edition products
- Vinegars (Modena, wine, flavored wine vinegar, flavored balsamic)
- Balsamic vinegars from Modena, up to 12 years old
- Chips
I enjoyed their premium olive oil collection, but honestly loved the balsamic vinegar collection even more:
- Balsamic vinegar of Modena: The premium is amazing, so sweet, so acid, so sour, so intense.
- Coquelicot Wild Poppy: Fresh and floral.
- Barolo: Wine vinegar with an equilibrated wine taste and acidity. Imagine it with goat’s cheese and walnuts.
- Wine vinaigrette with raspberry: Sweet and a very nice flavor.
Now that we've understood how things work around here, let me take you on a tour into the heart of the MeliMelo cocktails. It's an idea based around matching the finest olive oil with the best balsamic vinegar to create a one of kind sauce for your salad and food pairings.
Meli Melo: Olive and balsamic collection. Imagine: Olive oil flavored mandarine with condiments of honey and ginger. Unique indeed.
Best for last of my coup de Coeur if I can say:
- L'Exquis: A sweet spread with citrus flavors, that's the healthy Nutella of the 21st Century. A spread that smells like the homemade cake of my grandmother, followed by an intense smell that fits perfectly well on a cake, crepes or simply a biscuit.
Sweet pistachio spread with olive oil: Sweet, with an enjoyable, slippery texture provided by the olive oil and a crunchy after note of peanuts.
Voila, this is a quick overview on a shop with interesting offerings down in ABC Achrafieh. I chose some of the products I loved and went back home to enjoy them with my family.
