GUSTI Blog

New Olive Oils in the Warehouse!

The new olive oils are coming in. They are arriving in waves, to accentuate the fact that they are ready at different times, depending on where the olive trees are located. Clearly, the first olive oils to cross the finish line are the ones from the South. We have just received Pianogrillo and Il Tratturello, both from 2011-2012 harvest, meaning that the olives were on the tree literally a month ago!

Pianogrillo, of NYTimes fame! Il Tratturello, of Andrew Cuomo fame, also the recipient (Il Tratturello) of 3 leaves by Gambero Rosso's new olive oil guide, the only 3 leaves in the Molise region!

Please don't call them "Novello". Francesco, who is a kinder person, would make a face. Lorenzo, who is much tougher, will never talk to you, again! The term Novello is for tourists. These are simply the New Olive Oils. They will stay with us for the next 12 months. Novello Olive oils do not exist.

Next olive oil to hit our shores will be Cru di Cures, made by Laura Fagiolo in Sabina (Lazio region) with leccino, frantoio, carboncella and local raja olives. If everything goes well, Cru di Cures should be in our warehouse early January 2012. What a way to start the new year. We can't wait!

Pianogrillo and Vicopisano EV Olive Oils in the NYTimes!

Thanks to Julia Moskin for inviting Gustiamo to the NYTimes to talk about EV Olive Oils. Very exciting! And for calling us "The Experts". Priceless!

This is an excerpt of Julia's article:

"ALONG with laboratory analysis, testing olive oil still involves human taste. To learn how the experts do it, the Dining section asked Martina Rossi Kenworthy, an importer, and her colleague Stefano Noceti, a certified master taster in Italy, to guide a blind tasting of extra virgin oils, including some from their warehouse, supermarket brands and California products. Even blind, they were able to pick out the most expensive oils (Pianogrillo from Sicily, $34.75, and Vicopisano from Tuscany, $43; all prices are for half-liter bottles). Those had an undeniable "liveliness" - a tingly acidity, balancing out the richness of oil - that made them complex and delicious... All those oils had some of the throat-burning quality that reveals the presence of polyphenols, antioxidants that make olive oil healthful... Mr. Noceti said that some oils produced for the American market are purposefully made smooth: we are perceived as timid when it comes to olive oil..."

Do not worry, Gustiamo's producers are so small they wouldn't even dream of a different production for the "international and/or American" market. Their EV Olive Oil is always the same and the best anywhere in the world.

The Conductor of the Met Is Italian!

Fabio Luisi, a native of Genova, was named Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera last month. Congratulations! While accepting his new engagement (of course!), he upset the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome because he canceled his fall performances there. Well, Rome will understand.

We have prepared the perfect care package to send to Fabio Luisi's apartment on the Upper West Side (Fabio, all we need is your exact address. Could you send it to us?): a jar of Fresh Pesto by the Genovese King of Pesto, Roberto Panizza; a bag of Pasta (Trenette Latini); a bottle Pianogrillo, a symphony of an Olive Oil; a tin of Sant'Eustachio coffee, which comes from across the street of Rome's Teatro dell'Opera. It will calm all quarrels.

Buon lavoro, Maestro!

Pianogrillo EV Olive Oil Goes to Aspen!

Carlo Mirarchi of venerable Roberta's in Brooklyn, was nominated Best New Chef 2011 and he is going to the Food & Wine Classics in Aspen to receive the well deserved award and to cook for food gods like Daniel Boulud, Mario Batali, Danny Meyer... this Saturday. Congratulations!!! Carlo is not going alone, he is bringing along Pianogrillo, his favorite EV Olive Oil made near Ragusa by Lorenzo Piccione from Tonda Iblea Olives. Not for nothing was Pianogrillo nominated Best of Sicily 2011!!! The Best chefs and The Best products travel always together!

Gustiamo, Whole Foods and SEIZE THE MOMENT!!!

Everyone at Whole Foods has been fantastic! They were our best supporters, in particular after they tasted the olive oil,  learned the story behind it and met the producers. Left, is Johan with Nicola Bovoli of Vicopisano. The people who work at Whole Foods know their stuff and they were all excited with having such unique products in their stores. They were very helpful and invited their customers to come and see us, by the SEIZE THE MOMENT rack, where we were doing our demonstations. This is the rack where you can find the EV Olive Oils from Italian small organic farmers.

All the oils in the rack "SEIZE THE MOMENT" were harvested at the end of 2010, a couple of months ago. They are: BuonOlio from Ligura; Vicopisano from Toscana; Cru di Cures from Lazio; Il Tratturello from Molise; Pianogrillo from Sicilia; Antichi Uliveti from Sardegna.

You can buy them at Gustiamo, of course. But, if you live in and around NYC (Long Island, Westchester, CT, NJ)... you should rush and buy them at your local Whole Foods, because they are running a special program and offer them at a special HUGE discount. SEIZE THE MOMENT!!!

Whole Foods and Gustiamo: Seize the Moment!

In case you follow the Market (the stock market, i mean), you certainly have noticed the impressive performance of WFMI (Whole Foods Market, for us mortals) in the past 4 months! It was under $35 in early October, 2010; it is now almost $60!!! What happened? The financial world must have heard Whole Foods was planning an event with Gustiamo!!! Only kidding, because not a single word came from us. Our mouths were sealed. Until now! Now we can finally talk! Starting tomorrow, February 16th, all the 22 stores of Whole Foods in and around Manhattan will sell our BEST new harvest Italian EV Olive Oils.

The program is called "Seize the Moment" and will last through the end of February. It all started when, last October, our friends of Whole Foods came to see us in the warehouse, loved our products and the stories of our producers. We immediately felt a connection, in fact  Whole Foods tagline is "every meal has a story". Then, the rest is history! Gustiamo is in Whole Foods! The olive oils Whole Foods will sell for the next couple of weeks are: BuonOlio Benza (Liguria), Vicopisano (Toscana), Cru di Cures (Lazio), Il Tratturello (Molise), Pianogrillo (Sicilia), Antichi Uliveti del Prato (Sardegna). Come see us and buy them @ Whole Foods! This is very exciting! Thank you, Whole Foods!!!

Gabriele Riva, the Pastry Chef at Nobu

Stefano and I went to make our first delivery to legendary Nobu restaurant on 57th streed in NYC and had a lovely chat with its amazing pastry chef, Gabriele Riva (left in the picture, with Stefano). So young and so accomplished, already! How is it possible? Gabriele started when he was a kid. Instead of playing with his friends, when not in school, he preferred to play with flour, eggs, and water; he would help his father, also a pastry chef, in his bakery in Milano. It must be in the genes! He knew right away what his future would be. He attended the best culinary school in Italy and learned from best pastry chefs, including Luigi Biasetto. Then, he started to work and see the world: Spain, France, back to Italy and then London, when he started to work at Nobu.

  At Nobu, they saw Gabriele's potential immediately and transferred him to NY, where he oversees the dessert menu at their three restaurants plus the one in Los Angeles.  Not only! Gabriele is a real celebrity! He even went to Martha Stewart who gave him an adorable and long interview (long because Gabriele showed her how to make Panettone - which takes forever). You can watch it here!

Gabriele's mantra is: simplicity and best ingredients. That's how and why we met! Gabriele uses our Pianogrillo EV Olive Oil in many of his creations, in particular his signature dessert: Equilibrium. Go to Nobu, eat great food and make sure you leave room for dessert. You are in for a treat!

Lorenzo Piccione's Pianogrillo at the MOMA!!!

Lorenzo Piccione is a musician and makes the splendid Pianogrillo EV Olive Oil in Ragusa, Sicilia. Either of these activities would be full time jobs for anybody else. Not for Lorenzo, who is restless, very creative and knows everything about olive oil. So, he and his friend Kobi Wiesendanger designed an olive oil taster which is produced by Alessi. Not only! Lorenzo's olive oil taster is a work of art: it is displayed at no less a place than the MOMA!!! When Lorenzo told me, I couldn't believe it! So, I went to check it out. True, and documented with picture above. With this device, you can really taste the oils. Next time you come to see us in the warehouse, we'll let you try it! Or, you can buy your own (click here). Bravo Lorenzo!!!

 

Pianogrillo, a Symphony of an EV Olive Oil, Made by Lorenzo, the Nay Sayer

Whenever we describe Lorenzo Piccione's Pianogrillo oil, words such as balanced, elegant, round, complete... come to mind. A symphony of notes of tomato leaves and just cut grass! Is Lorenzo able to make such a wonderful oil because he is a pianist and a composer? I think so! Music was his full time occupation when, twenty years ago he decided to become more involved with the family's farm outside Ragusa, otherwise his elderly parents would have sold it. That would have been a crime. The property is beautiful, with the family house and chapel (above) on top of the hill of Chiaromonte Gulfi. So, Lorenzo learned everything about olive oil making, became a professional taster and applied his music sensibility to creating a masterpiece of an oil.

Pianogrillo EV Olive Oil is made with local Tonda Iblea olives (from the Iblei mountains near Ragusa) in his own mill on the property. He has approximately 9,000 trees, some as much as 700 years old! The harvest starts in early october through the end of november and is done exclusively by hand, without any electrical devise's help. Lorenzo is a purist and has seen it all. Disillusioned with the commercial market, he hates to sell and has developed a strong cynicism. In this, I feel like Lorenzo is Gustiamo's brother! We have been selling Pianogrillo EV Olive Oil for ten years, I visited his farms and met his lovely parents.

 Talking about cynicism:

- Lorenzo grows organic and has all the "organic" certifications, but he does not write "organic" on the label. Why? The supermarkets are full of "organic" crap.

- Lorenzo's Pianogrillo is DOP Monti Iblei and has all the "DOP" certifications, but he does not write "DOP" on the label. Why? the supermarkets are full of "DOP" crap.

- Lorenzo does not participate in "oil competitions". He says he no longer trusts them because the jury receives the oils from the producers (who can send their best, made only for the occasions). Instead, Lorenzo says (and we agree), the jury should buy the olive oils from the stores. Only then, the jury would be able to judge the oil the consumers buy, which is the whole point of the competition! It makes a lot of sense!

- points before notwithstanding, Lorenzo is very proud of being nominated "Best of Sicily 2011" by a group of food connoisseurs and journalists. He should be!

Bravo Lorenzo! We love your understatement; keep your integrity and you'll be our brother forever!

Lilly Gets It! We Hope You Do, Too!!!

This is the best gift Gustiamo received! It's a post by our young friend Lilly at Gustiamo's tasting last week at Il Cantuccio. You must read it!  We tasted the new harvest EV Olive Oils. Not only does Lilly write beautifully, with that young edge only a 20 year old girl can have (who would ever think of a better title than "Hanging out with Raja, Tonda and Gentile di Larino"), SHE GETS IT! She says it all and very clearly: what Gustiamo's tastings are; the new harvest of olive oils; the New York Times Calendar mentions our next one where you can win a free bottle; how to taste the oil; the olives that make the oils and where they come from. And all with fun and curiosity to learn more! Very impressive, isn't it? This is what we, at Gustiamo, do! We want you to get it!!! Grazie Lilly, this is a precious gift!