Newish shop: "Oil & Vinegar"

Before Christmas, I rendezvoused with some friends at a new store called “Oil & Vinegar” in Old Orchard (whatever it calls itself now – Westfield? Westworld? Waterworld?). The store sells bulk oils and vinegars from a unique system of large, glass globular cruets that hang on a backlit glass wall – quite a striking display. Each upside-down glass teardrop has a spigot on the bottom for dispensing the oil.

They have an interesting selection of oils and vinegars from around the world, not just the usual Tuscan and Greek olive oils. At small tables, samples of the various oils and vinegars are available in small plates with a platter of bread cubes and toothpicks. A card with each product identifies its origin and characteristics. You stab a cube of bread with a toothpick, dip it in the oil, and munch and savor.

There are some very knowledgeable attractive young people, dressed in black except for long golden orange aprons, standing by to explain the various products and the system to purchase a product. It goes like this: You select a container from a big group of empty glass bottles and cruets that are on display. Maybe you want something very simple, a square glass bottle with a screw top. Or maybe you’d like something that is more for display like the very tall slender glass bottles with cork tops that I chose. These containers are all priced individually. In essence, you are paying for the bottle, at minimum $2 a piece and up from there.

Then you choose your oil. The clerk will fill your bottle with that oil and seal its top. He will hang a tag on the neck that describes that product. You pay for the bottle and for the amount of oil that you purchased, by the deciliter.

At their website you can see one of the owners of the Old Orchard franchise. I think the uniforms are very nice. In the background of the photo, you can see the lit wall of globular glass containers.


I wonder if the enthusiastic man we met when we were there was ‘Hakan Gokhan’, the other owner. This man wore a natty suit and tie and was clearly in charge of the staff that day. He was great. He had a passion for the product – or else was a wonderful salesman or both. He insisted we try certain oils including an Australian olive oil that he pointed out had a strong grass or hay flavor. (This was a positive attribute, in his opinion. I thought it was fairly awful but I loved his energy). Later I thought, how does a grass or hay flavor become imparted into olive oil? It is not like bees making honey from certain clover flowers or cattle grazing on certain grasses. The olive is the plant. The flavor must be inherent in the plant, not picked up from the surrounding plants? Or the soil?

This shop does so many things well that I hope they are successful. But I have my disappointments. First, I was looking for a bright dark green, strong-flavored Italian olive oil and they did not seem to have anything that fit the bill. You would think there would be a fair selection of Italian olive oils wouldn’t you? Maybe there were two (in bulk), a Tuscan and a Sicilian. Balance those two against the selection of twenty or so odd-ball oils like the Aussie grass oil. This was disappointing.

Secondly, we purchased a vinegar that was described as a “balsamic sherry vinegar”. This was an odd experience because, while the vinegar was lovely, I couldn’t understand where the “balsamic” part came in. The vinegar was quite light and sweet, what I would describe as “new” maybe, and a pink-rose color of white zinfandel. My idea of balsamic vinegar is something deeply rich in color, almost dark brownish purple, with a round developed flavor, where only a few splashes add significant flavor to, say, cheese or fruit. This sherry balsamic was nothing like that. Maybe it was a balsamic that had never been aged? And if so, what’s the point? Why not just call it sherry vinegar? I hope I am missing something here and would love it if someone could enlighten me.

Third, the prices here are interesting. 3.5 deciliters of oil at $5 per is $17.50 for a skinny bottle. The sherry was $8.75 With the $6 for the glass bottles, the oil and vinegar cost me over $30. (shown here next to a standard wine bottle) I had to ask myself if I could not get the same or better quality at a lower price from a store like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. Maybe these are really worth it and I am just missing the point. But then…



--- the first bottle of olive oil started to show just the faintest tiny tinge of rancidity within a few weeks of the purchase. By that time, we were down to the last quarter of the bottle so we just used it up but I was very disappointed with the shelf life. It seemed to me the oil had to be on the verge, even before I bought it, for it to have gone off, even a bit, in a month.

In any case, I brought my empties back for refills a few weeks ago. The store is intriguing and pleasant but I think I will not be back again for quite a while.

There are franchises of this concept opening all over the world. Check out the website. I wonder how they are all doing.

I could see this being a nice source for a corporate gift. Have you been? What was your experience?

They are between Crate and Field’s on the west side of the ‘street’.
Oil & Vinegar
66 Old Orchard Center Suite F82
Skokie, IL
(847) 763-1446

I visited the store in early December, when they were kinda new. I thought the concept was pretty interesting, especially for flavored oils. The floor near the oils were slick though, possible from the mix of oil dripping and our wet shoes. The store was pretty busy especially with the holidays around the corner. Took some pics:





The oil was not cheap. And I agree with the rancidity comment. I do like their vinegars though. The sherry vinegar and red wine vinegar were pretty good iirc.

Over Xmas they were offering surprise bags. I bought one for $20, and received a small bottle of garlic oil, another small bottle of vinegar, some pasta, oil seasoning mix, and a bottle of mustard. Slightly overpriced in my opinion, but I think they look nice and make good holiday gifts.

CrazyC, great pictures! A good pic is worth a thousand of my babbling words. These really show the wall-o-oil. Thanks. --Joy

I stopped in while cruising through Old Orchard a few weeks ago. I tasted a few oils and vinegars and thought they were hit and miss. Some bad, some decent, none exceptional.

I must confess, however, that my willingness to be open-minded may have been compromised by the fact that there were at least five varieties of vinegar labeled "balsamic", none of which actually were and most of which didn't even resemble balsamic. Balsamic, much like Kobe and free range, has become a meaningless marketing buzzword that is almost never used properly. "Sherry Balsamic" is on par with "Chicken Scampi"... an oxymoronic monicker, and a supreme annoyance.

That said, if it tastes good, I'll use it... but it didn't inspire confidence in the purveyor.

Did the branch of this store that was supposed to be at 900 N. Michigan fail to materialize, or is it closed already?

There is an olive oil store in the 900 N. Michigan building although it's not the same one as the store in Old Orchard. The 900 N. store carries olive oil from Turkey...I think, along with soaps made from olive oils.