Thread: New Olive Oil Boutique in Santa Cruz

In article
<[email protected]>,
spamtrap1888 <[email protected]> wrote:

> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found
> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a
> joint like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a
> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive
> oil in special dispensing urns."

Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within
25 minutes of me.

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within
> 25 minutes of me.

Uh oh. Sounds like some kind of "business opportunity" scam.
If so, they'll all be gone in a year.

Beats raising chinchillas, though. Those guys have teeth!

Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote:

> spamtrap1888 <[email protected]> wrote:

>> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found
>> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a
>> joint like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a
>> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive
>> oil in special dispensing urns."

>Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within
>25 minutes of me.

I know of a couple such places. I am not sure of it as a business plan
either.

That being said successfully buying top-quality olive oil can be a
challenge. If these businesses convince enough people that they have
the solution to this problem, then they may do okay.

Steve

On Nov 29, 6:28*pm, spop...@speedymail.org (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Melba's Jammin' *<barbschal...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> > spamtrap1888 <spamtrap1...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found
> >> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a
> >> joint like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a
> >> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive
> >> oil in special dispensing urns."
> >Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. *I know of at least three within
> >25 minutes of me.
>
> I know of a couple such places. *I am not sure of it as a business plan
> either. *
>
> That being said successfully buying top-quality olive oil can be a
> challenge. *If these businesses convince enough people that they have
> the solution to this problem, then they may do okay.


I stopped in the other day. There are a lot of flavored olive oils, as
well as vinegars. I wish them all the luck in the world, although I've
had good luck getting locally-produced olive oil at the Santa Cruz and
Aptos farmers' markets.


V.
--
Veronique Chez Sheep

On 29/11/10 10:25 PM, Veronique wrote:

> I stopped in the other day. There are a lot of flavored olive oils, as
> well as vinegars. I wish them all the luck in the world, although I've
> had good luck getting locally-produced olive oil at the Santa Cruz and
> Aptos farmers' markets.

It can be quite handy to have a store where you can purchase them every
day, not just once-a-week during a partial-day farmer's market. Because
of my work schedule, I can't always get to my local farmer's markets
when they are open.

jc

"Melba's Jammin'" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
> spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
>> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found>>
>> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a>> joint
>> like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a>>
>> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive>> oil
>> in special dispensing urns."
>
> Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within >
> 25 minutes of me.

I don't know that I would characterize it that way. Americans in general
tend to be ignorant about olive oil, as demonstrated here lately. What
better way to allow them to get to know the product? It's good for you, so
getting familiar with it, understanding how to use it and why one rather
than the other can't be bad?

On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 02:28:49 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> spamtrap1888 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found
>>> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a
>>> joint like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a
>>> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive
>>> oil in special dispensing urns."
>
>>Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within
>>25 minutes of me.
>
> I know of a couple such places. I am not sure of it as a business plan
> either.
>
> That being said successfully buying top-quality olive oil can be a
> challenge. If these businesses convince enough people that they have
> the solution to this problem, then they may do okay.

Ours has been in business for a couple years in a very pricey rent
setting. And he prices aren't bad. They offer tastings of most of
their oils bought in bulk.

http://www.conolio.com

-sw

In article <[email protected]>,
"Giusi" <[email protected]> wrote:

> "Melba's Jammin'" <[email protected]> ha scritto nel messaggio
> > spamtrap1888 wrote:
> >
> >> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found>>
> >> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a>> joint
> >> like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a>>
> >> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive>> oil
> >> in special dispensing urns."
> >
> > Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within >
> > 25 minutes of me.
>
> I don't know that I would characterize it that way. Americans in general
> tend to be ignorant about olive oil, as demonstrated here lately. What
> better way to allow them to get to know the product? It's good for you, so
> getting familiar with it, understanding how to use it and why one rather
> than the other can't be bad?

I can't disagree with most of what you're saying ‹ it's just that all of
a sudden they're popping up "all over the place." What I would be
really curious about is if they attract new customers and hold them or
if the prices will keep folks away. (The last shop I went to is where I
bought what is apparently *real* balsamic vinegar - 18 years old, I
think. Quite different from supermarket balsamic. The oil shops seem
to also stock the foo-foo vinegars.)

--
Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Holy Order of the Sacred Sisters of St. Pectina of Jella
"Always in a jam, never in a stew; sometimes in a pickle."
Pepparkakor particulars posted 11-29-2010;
http://web.me.com/barbschaller

Melba's Jammin' <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,

> "Giusi" <[email protected]> wrote:

>> > Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within >
>> > 25 minutes of me.

>> I don't know that I would characterize it that way. Americans in general
>> tend to be ignorant about olive oil, as demonstrated here lately. What
>> better way to allow them to get to know the product? It's good for you, so
>> getting familiar with it, understanding how to use it and why one rather
>> than the other can't be bad?

>I can't disagree with most of what you're saying ‹ it's just that all of
>a sudden they're popping up "all over the place." What I would be
>really curious about is if they attract new customers and hold them or
>if the prices will keep folks away.

The problem with such a shop is it is not likely to carry a wide
range of olive oils. It is more likely to carry a handful of oils
from each of a range of captive producers. One such shop I went
into had no olive oils, other than French olive oil. I like French
olive oil but I'm not going to buy one more than once a year.

I do somewhat question that "Americans tend to be ignorant about olive
oil". So do people from other countries. I think the basic level
of olive-oil knowledge one finds in a chef or foodie from America
is about the same as that in Italy or France or Greece or Spain.
The latter person may have more market knowledge, e.g. they know
where better to find it. What's misssing in America mostly is
valid marketing -- one can see 50 high-priced olive oils in a specialty
shop in the U.S. and only maybe 5 are remotely worth the price.

Steve

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

>>> Must be the latest foo-foo food trend. I know of at least three within >
>>> 25 minutes of me.
>> I don't know that I would characterize it that way. Americans in general
>> tend to be ignorant about olive oil, as demonstrated here lately. What
>> better way to allow them to get to know the product? It's good for you, so
>> getting familiar with it, understanding how to use it and why one rather
>> than the other can't be bad?
>
> I can't disagree with most of what you're saying ‹ it's just that all of
> a sudden they're popping up "all over the place." What I would be
> really curious about is if they attract new customers and hold them or
> if the prices will keep folks away. (The last shop I went to is where I
> bought what is apparently *real* balsamic vinegar - 18 years old, I
> think. Quite different from supermarket balsamic. The oil shops seem
> to also stock the foo-foo vinegars.)
>


It'll be another fad. How many of those have we lived through in the
past xxx years? Remember when croissants used to be the Big Thing?
Then it was specialty popcorn and bagel shops. Now expensive, specialty
cupcakes are everywhere. Advertising and fads rule. :-(

gloria p

On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 10:04:44 -0700, "gloria.p" <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
> > I can't disagree with most of what you're saying ‹ it's just that all of
> > a sudden they're popping up "all over the place." What I would be
> > really curious about is if they attract new customers and hold them or
> > if the prices will keep folks away. (The last shop I went to is where I
> > bought what is apparently *real* balsamic vinegar - 18 years old, I
> > think. Quite different from supermarket balsamic. The oil shops seem
> > to also stock the foo-foo vinegars.)
> >
>
>
> It'll be another fad. How many of those have we lived through in the
> past xxx years? Remember when croissants used to be the Big Thing?
> Then it was specialty popcorn and bagel shops. Now expensive, specialty
> cupcakes are everywhere. Advertising and fads rule. :-(
>
You forgot chocolate chip cookies... bagels, yogurt and don't forget
"gourmet" coffee. There's a reason why Starbucks got to be so big.

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 2010-11-30, sf <[email protected]> wrote:

> You forgot chocolate chip cookies... bagels, yogurt and don't forget
> "gourmet" coffee. There's a reason why Starbucks got to be so big.

For the same reason as McDs. People are basically sheep.

But, unlike yogurt and bagels, good coffee is not likely to fade away,
any more than good beer. The last two are staples and now that the
masses have been exposed, only the tasteless and poor will continue to
buy the dreck still available, and even then the writing is on the
wall.

Just like there's a microbrewery making GOOD beer in even the most
remote small burg, there's more than likely a local coffee roaster
providing GOOD coffee, also. We have half a dozen places to buy great
fresh roasted coffee in the two small towns near me, but not a
charbucks in sight.

The smaller of these two towns won't even let fast food chains come
in. After a Subway snuck in, that was it. No more! Mom and pop
places abound. Great coffee and good beer are readily available and
well supported, yet this is no premium tourist mecca promoting only
boutique and artisan businesses for the upscale elite. Jes a lil'
working class town doing the best it can to support its local
businesses without letting all the whoremonger food chains in.
Everyone seems to be more than happy to let the larger town, about 20
miles away, provide all that crap. I like it.

nb

On 30 Nov 2010 20:55:50 GMT, notbob <[email protected]> wrote:

> For the same reason as McDs. People are basically sheep.

I don't think that's how McDonald's got to be so large. I remember
when fast food was an innovative idea and their fries were to die for
before the food police made them quit using the fat that made them so
tasty. Nowadays, no other fast food joint in the same category can
touch their fries. Not even In N Out - which I would put a notch
above McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Carl's and Jack in the Box
(did I leave anyone out?).

--

Never trust a dog to watch your food.

On 30/11/10 8:00 AM, Steve Pope wrote:
> What's misssing in America mostly is
> valid marketing -- one can see 50 high-priced olive oils in a specialty
> shop in the U.S. and only maybe 5 are remotely worth the price.

The same thing can be said for a LOT of wine. There was a piece on NPR
today about wine tasting. They took highly rated wines and asked a
large number of experts to rate them and the ratings were all over the
map. Even worse, they then snuck the same wines back in for another
subsequent rating later with the same experts, and the experts would
give the same wine a very different rating (sometimes higher, sometimes
lower) on the subsequent tasting.

jc

(deleted ba.food)

jcdill <[email protected]> wrote:

>On 30/11/10 8:00 AM, Steve Pope wrote:

>> What's misssing in America mostly is
>> valid marketing -- one can see 50 high-priced olive oils in a specialty
>> shop in the U.S. and only maybe 5 are remotely worth the price.

>The same thing can be said for a LOT of wine. There was a piece on NPR
>today about wine tasting. They took highly rated wines and asked a
>large number of experts to rate them and the ratings were all over the
>map. Even worse, they then snuck the same wines back in for another
>subsequent rating later with the same experts, and the experts would
>give the same wine a very different rating (sometimes higher, sometimes
>lower) on the subsequent tasting.

At least with EVOO, one can validly spend a minute sampling it and
obtain an opinion on how good it is. This is not possible for any
expert and any wine. Generally speaking tasting under a couple ounces
of a wine, in under a couple hours, develops no data or (in the opinion
of some writers) develops a bias towards "fruit bombs". Olive oil
does not evolve after you have opened the bottle. Different
flavor components do not ebb and flow. Nor does it matter what size
bottle it is coming out of.

Steve

On Nov 30, 10:46*pm, jcdill <jcdill.li...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 30/11/10 8:00 AM, Steve Pope wrote:
>
> > *What's misssing in America mostly is
> > valid marketing -- one can see 50 high-priced olive oils in a specialty
> > shop in the U.S. and only maybe 5 are remotely worth the price.
>
> The same thing can be said for a LOT of wine. *There was a piece on NPR
> today about wine tasting. *They took highly rated wines and asked a
> large number of experts to rate them and the ratings were all over the
> map. *Even worse, they then snuck the same wines back in for another
> subsequent rating later with the same experts, and the experts would
> give the same wine a very different rating (sometimes higher, sometimes
> lower) on the subsequent tasting.

For wines I'll stick to my binary rating, a la Hot or Not.

spamtrap1888 <[email protected]> wrote in news:87bfa6d0-fcff-48bb-
[email protected]:

> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found
> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a
> joint like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a
> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive
> oil in special dispensing urns."

Just freakin' peachy. Olive oil snobs. Feh!

On 11/28/2010 7:41 PM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
> Wandered over the hill in part to have lunch at "The Greek," and found
> "True Olive Connection," on Lincoln Ave in downtown Santa Cruz, a
> joint like the one on Campbell Ave. in Campbell, which came up in a
> discussion on r.f.c. By "like" I mean "also has many types of olive
> oil in special dispensing urns."

I saw an interesting study on olive oil.

Kirkland organic, extra-virgin, was one of the top-rated oils.

<http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/news-events/news/files/oliveoilappendix071510.pdf>

On Tue, 04 Sep 2012 17:47:43 -0700, sms88 wrote:

> I saw an interesting study on olive oil.
>
> Kirkland organic, extra-virgin, was one of the top-rated oils.
>
> <http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/news-events/news/files/oliveoilappendix071510.pdf>

The problem with all these olive oil ratings as that they're only good
for maybe 3-6 months. By the time they're published that years
crop/pressing is nearly sold out and a new seasons oil is getting
ready to hit the shelves. And especially with the blended oils, there
is guarantee that the oil will be anywhere near the same as the
previous year.

People keep quoting this study but it's almost 3 seasons out of date.

-sw