ONE of the world’s best olive oil brands and one of Manila’s top artisan Italian restaurants meet in a special collaboration that had Va Bene Pasta Deli’s executive chef and owner Massimo Veronesi personally curate a special menu of dishes created using different Oliviers&Co. (O&Co.) products.
Both the Oliviers&Co. boutique and the top-rated Va Bene restaurant are located at Central Square, located at the corner of 30th St. and 5th Ave., Bonifacio Global City. On their own, both are well-known and highly respected brands—Oliviers&Co. is famous for its flavored gourmet olive oils, which are sourced from different countries; and Va Bene is critically acclaimed for the high-quality food it serves.
France-based olive oil company Oliviers&Co. sources its olive oils from the best places in the world, including France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia and Portugal. At a certain time of the year annually, olive oil producing companies using hand-picked olives from their own farms submit samples to Oliviers&Co. and only the best are selected “by taste, by nose and by luminescence” and retailed under the O&C brand. The boutique also sells specialty condiments and seasonings, such as Blueberry Balsamic Condiment and Fig Condiment.
Va Bene offers a plethora of culinary delights with its decadent menu that gives diners a taste of true Italian food. It serves fresh pastas, such as fettuccine, tagliolini and pappardelle in different flavors, served with a choice of pasta sauces prepared a la minute. Each dish is prepared in such a way that the diner would feel like being transported to the lovely streets of Italy under the Tuscan sun.
For the special collaboration between O&Co. and Va Bene, Chef Massimo created dishes using O&Co. products as main ingredient, thus giving the dishes an extra special burst of flavor.
Tuna Carpaccio with straciatella cheese, celery, dill and capers, finished with O&Co. Lemon Specialty Olive Oil. It served as the perfect appetizer to prepare the taste buds for the bold flavors to come.
Aglio E Olio. Homemade linguine pasta with sautéed “aglio e olio” clams, plus zucchini, and finished with O&Co. Lemon Specialty Olive Oil. It is simple but is astonishingly full-flavored.
Tomato Risotto. Chef Massimo made Carnaroli risotto and cooked it with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil and buffalo straciatella cheese, and finished with O&Co. 2017 Affiorato Oil. It has a creamy texture with a burst of fresh Mediterranean flavors.
Summer Panna Cotta. The refreshing vanilla orange panna cotta topped with O&Co. Blueberry Balsamic Condiment gives diners a taste of summer, combining tart and sweet flavors to make it a refreshing dessert.
Olive Oil Ice Cream. Another interesting dessert, it is vanilla ice cream made more delectable with a drizzling of O&Co. 2017 Affiorato Oil, topped with honey and chopped almonds and lemon zest.
Strawberry & Fig happens to be the third sweet treat. This time, the vanilla ice cream is on a bed of sliced fresh strawberries, then finished with a drizzling of O&Co. Fig Condiment.
“The use of premium extra virgin oil balances and complements the taste of the food. For each dish, I chose the oil with the right characteristics to give it an unexpected, delectable flavor,” says Chef Massimo.
Exclusively distributed by Specialty Food Retailers Inc. (SFRI), a member of the SSI Group Inc., Oliviers&Co. has boutiques at Central Square, Bonifacio High Street and Greenbelt 5.
