Stepping into Catherine Bucaro's shop, The Olive Gallery, is like taking a culinary trip around the world.  Olive oils and balsamic vinegars from Italy, France, Tunisia and Spain, to name a few, are dispensed from stainless steel "Fustis" and bottled to order.

 

Both the olive oils and the vinegars come in a wide variety of flavors -- 14 plain olive oils, 14 flavored olive oils, 4 specialty oils, and 19 balsamic vinegars, with more on the way.  You can sample anything before buying.  Try the Blood Orange or Chipotle EVOO, or perhaps Cinnamon Pear or Pineapple White Balsamic.

 

Recipe cards are displayed throughout the store to help you turn these delectable flavors into appetizers, salads and entrees.  There is even a recipe for Blood Orange Brownies.  You can also purchase sampler sets, supplies such as dipping bowls and pour spouts, specialty foods (including gourmet olives, of course!), and even gelato.

 

As you might guess, Catherine loves to cook.  Following her maternity leave from her job with a Chicago law firm, she started looking for something that would allow her to cut down her daily commute.  She happened to visit a store in Schaumburg that featured imported olive oils and vinegars, and fell in love.

 

Catherine worked with the Illinois Small Business Development Center to put a business plan together, and opened The Olive Gallery in October.  She holds tasting events to introduce local shoppers to her products, and already word is spreading.  When I visited the store, shoppers visiting from out of town were stockpiling Christmas gifts and hoping to make post-holiday purchases on the web site.  Catherine has been so busy with the shop that she is still working on her web site, but she expects to have all her recipes and products posted shortly after the holidays, and plans to offer her products for sale online as well.

 

You can visit The Olive Gallery at 2671 N. Bridge St. (Rt. 47) in Yorkville, or on the web at www.theolivegallery.com.