Monterey's Tasty Olive Bar

Taste from over 70 varieties of olive oils and balsamics

Welcome to Monterey's Tasty Olive Bar, where there are over seventy varieties of olive oils and balsamics to choose from! All of our olive oils come from two different hemispheres in Tunisia and Australia, and our balsamics are aged the traditional Solera Method from Modena Italy.  Open everyday at 10:00am.

Don't say goodbye to summer yet...

You can still capture the taste of summer with this fantastic salad featuring our dark chocolate balsamic!

2 cups of spring mix

1 cup of sliced strawberries

1 cup of cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup of honey roasted peanuts

1/3 cup of dried cherries

a splash with dark chocolate balsamic

blend everything together, and congratulations! You now have a delicious and elegant salad. Enjoy!

Creative ways to reuse and recycle!

From Bottle to Dish: the journey of an MTO olive oil bottle

Slumped from Debbie's sister's kiln, a bottle undergoes the magical transformation into a dish!

Slumped from Debbie's sister's kiln, a bottle undergoes the magical transformation into a dish!

Happy July! Here in Monterey, we are always happy when there are some new, creative ways to recycle, and we are definitely very enthused with our new product! Our small bottles are melted down and then pressed to become the perfect little cheese platters, dishes for olive pits( you know, the olives that you bought from us, of course) or a little souvenir that can hold small spoons at the dinner table. Here are some other creative uses to recycle a bottle:

1. Bring it to our store! We take a dollar off the refill to encourage recycling. Make sure you wash it first, since you can do any flavor. Petites unfortunately are not under this discount. 

2. Wash it out and arrange with any of our other size bottles and place some flowers for the perfect centerpiece. 

3. Creative candle holder--just place a candlestick and seal by placing the base of the candle near some heat. 

Have any interesting ideas? Let us know! 

Exciting new products--from Olive Oil of the Month to New Flavors!

We've now debuted our Olive Oil of the Month program, with a promotional price for a short period of time until June 13th--seize the moment while you can! Every month, we will ship a medium (375ml) bottle of a handpicked oil or balsamic that will be delivered to a door of your choice. This will be perfect for any holiday or event gift, such as weddings, graduations, or anniversary gifts. Order here.

We are also introducing two new flavors: the Wild Fernleaf and Dill Olive Oil and French Tarragon White Balsamic! Both are very herbaceous, which means that they will be extremely versatile in cooking and food preparation. Try the Wild Fernleaf and Dill Olive Oil in baking herbed breads such as rosemary biscuits or foccacia, and try the French Tarragon White Balsmamic with a nice Asian Chicken Salad! 

Last but not least, Gift Certificates are now available. Customize any price you'd like and tell us who you'd like us to send it to! We have fixed options on the website but you can call the store at 831-242-8900 to request any value you'd like to add. 

Citrus people rejoice--and relax with this calming candle!

Citrus Olive Oil Candle

Step 1. Decide which citrus you'd like to turn in to a candle.  Half a standard size lime filled with olive oil will burn for about 1 hour, while half a lemon will burn for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours, and orange filled with olive oil will burn for a…

Step 1. Decide which citrus you'd like to turn in to a candle.  Half a standard size lime filled with olive oil will burn for about 1 hour, while half a lemon will burn for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours, and orange filled with olive oil will burn for about 3-3 1/2 hours, and a grapefruit for 4-5 hours. 


Step 2. Cut your favorite citrus in half reserving the half that is connected to the long, white string-like pith that runs through the center of citrus fruits.  It is very important that this remain intact and connected to the citrus, as this is your candle "wick".


Step 3. You can be meticulous and remove all the flesh of the citrus down to the white pith, or you can be lazy like me and simply get most of it out.  It will not affect the performance of your citrus candle.

Step 4.  Choose the type of oil you'd like to fill it with.  Any single cultivar extra virgin olive oil, fused olive oil or infused olive oil will burn in the candle, however stay away from burning the chili olive oils such as Baklouti, Cayenne, or Harissa.   Fill the citrus about 3/4 full, but make sure the wick is not fully submerged in the oil and at least 1/4" is available to light.

Step 5. Gently coat the citrus pith or the "wick" with olive oil.  Using a stick lighter begin the process of lighting the wick.  This will take a minute or two as it is necessary to dry out the wick and char it to some degree.  Once it's lit, it will stay so until all the oil is gone. 

Our Imported Olive Oils at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics!

How wonderful is this? Veronica Foods olive oil and balsamic was hand selected to be served at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Currently our products are being served in all venues and starting today will also be on the buffets in USA House and NBC’s VIP Hospitality Pavilion. The products are a HUGE hit & guests are already asking how they can buy them when they return to the states....well, right here, of course, at Monterey's Tasty Olive Bar!!

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