The Olive Scene: a Foodie's Shopping Spree and Dream Come True

It's so much easier for a home chef to make incredible meals when the best ingredients are available.  The Olive Scene is the place I go for the best olive oil and vinegars I've been able to find.

Northern Ohio Foodies definitely need to visit one of their three locations or their booth at local farmer's markets.  Anyone from out of town reading this will be happy to know they can keep reading and visit their website because they can ship just about anywhere.  

If you are a local and plan a visit, consider you are taking your taste buds on a roller coaster of flavor.  You can taste everything from basil infused olive oil to violet balsamic vinegar.  Professional associates will be happy to help with suggestions and have recipes on their website.

Their olive oils are global award winners and certified UP - Ultra Premium.

And, the vinegars - the balsamic vinegars - are divine.  Their traditional 18 year aged balsamic is the best I've had, in my kitchen and my life - it's just that good.  I have used it on it's own instead of a balsamic reduction because it's just about syrupy and bold enough to stand on it's own.  I bought my first bottle last year and I can no longer imagine buying any other balsamic.  I have in the past year but, even where I can find oil almost as good, I have never found anything that compares to Olive Scene's vinegars.  Imagine tasting the best wine or beer you ever had.  Then, imagine your next glass of wine from a box or a cheap tasting light beer, even though it wasn't cheap.  This is what home cooks will feel once they try Olive Scene's balsamic.

The wonder doesn't stop there.  They have infused their distinctively delicious balsamics (both dark and white) with a huge variety of flavors.  This home chef calls their shops

My new Olive Scene haul, except for the truffle oil I still had from the last trip

a playground of possibilities.

They have every type of vinegar you can think of, and haven't.  $6 mini bottles opens the door for lots of creativity for each course.  Coconut white balsamic?  I thought of a zippy mango salsa right away.  However, there were too many others I had to take home with me.  The coconut will unfortunately have to wait until my next visit, along with at least six others I wanted to bring home for experiments.  After tastings and suggestions by a trio of several nice associates, I tasted balsamic vinegars infused with blackberry and ginger, (sold),  black cherry (sold), strawberry (sold) and violet (sold).

My head was already racing with possibilities on how to use this new palette.  An associate who turned me onto the violet balsamic vinegar suggested the strawberry balsamic goes extremely well with tomatoes.  What a great idea!  I also told her I intended to use the strawberry vinegar in my next batch of strawberry jam; I told her I have used their regular balsamic in the past and it's really made the jam POP.  

Can't wait to get started posting about my vinegar adventures.

Easy Recipe for Bruchetta, Pasta and Pizza.

Years ago, in an old, cozy restaurant in Cleveland's Little Italy my family was served this savory tomato, garlic basil dip with our bread instead of the traditional olive oil and balsamic for dipping.  We've all had this topping baked onto bread but never as a dip with fresh bread.  Since then Mom has perfected her own method that's in high demand at all our family events.

It is ridiculously easy to make and very customizable to your own taste.
Plus, it's vegan and healthy, so it's ideal to take to a potluck for everyone to enjoy.  And, it's so versatile:

A topping or dip for fresh, crusty bread

Toss with pasta and chill, or saute with pasta for a hot or cold dish perfect for Summer dining.

Make traditional bruchetta or pizzas: place bread or English muffins under  a low broiler  or toaster oven for 2 minutes or until desired tostieness, add toppings, broil for another 2-3 minutes .  Or, quick for the kids, toast English muffins in toaster, add topping or toppings, microwave 30 seconds.

Fresh tomatoes would work well, I'm guessing, but we've never had it that way.  It looks like I may have a bumper crop of Romas this year, so I'm going to try making this with fresh and then update this post.


Before you start, Mom wanted to make sure I gave a few tips:

This is flavor-packed with lots of garlic.  If you think it may be too strong to your liking, start out with half the garlic and herbs.  This has to marinate for at least a day, so you can always add more seasoning later, marinate again, then taste.

Re-purposed spaghetti sauce jars work well.  This recipe makes a little under 32 ounces.  Two 16oz jars should do it.


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two 32oz cans of diced or petite diced tomatoes (tomatoes with Italian seasoning work great, but not necessary)

One full head of garlic, cloves peeled

2 cups fresh basil leaves

1/4 to 1/2 bunch parsley

1/2 bunch chives or scallions

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

one heaping teaspoon dry oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon of fresh)

1 1/2 cups of olive oil, extra virgin





Strain tomatoes in colander (Mom saves and freezes the tomato juice for future use in soups and sauces - no wonder they taste so good)












Put peeled garlic cloves and herbs in a food processor to chop

Add to tomatoes and add remaining ingredients.  Stir until combined.

Top off jar with extra olive oil.  Let stand at room temperature overnight.  Refridgerate afterwards.
As you may know, olive oil solidifies when chilled.  Be sure to restore it to room temperature before serving.