Wow, that Olive Oil Jones site is beautiful, and their arbequina is very tempting, but I’m not crazy about those prices – they’re much higher than what it cost at Fairway ($50 instead of $15-$20 for a liter). That’s somewhat understandable since I’m sure it’s a much smaller operation, and I bet they’re worth it, but I’ll probably wait for a special occasion like Christmas before I think about that kind of splurge. I really miss my Brooklyn Fairway and its excellent OOVOs. After heavy usage of those for months, I became spoiled and can’t go back to Trader Joe’s olive oils. They taste rancid to me now! (Except maybe the California one, that might be OK.) I tried TJ’s Tunisian unfiltered organic OOVO recently. It comes in a lovely tin. But, nope, not a fan. Too astringent, and not particularly fresh-tasting.
I’m feeling too nervous about Covid for a jaunt into Manhattan to visit its Fairways. Fortunately I have the Industry City Sahadi’s near me and found a pretty good Greek Kalamata OOVO there, Agrovim Iliada. It’s $12.50 for 750 ml (25 oz.). It’s rich and unmistakably olive-y, the kind where you can be sure, just by tasting it, that there’s no cheating being done, no grapeseed or canola or sunflower oil in there. IMHO it’s definitely better than Zoe, which I also tried at Sahadi’s and wasn’t crazy about. It tastes very neutral to me, not bad, but a bit blah, not much taste, maybe more reminiscent of sunflower oil with a few olives tossed in, though definitely not as bad as some of the other junky olive oils I’ve found around here. Anybody have any other recommendations for southern or central Brooklyn? I love fruity ones that aren’t too astringent. Thanks!