If you like to taste before you buy, Olive Amelia at 206 Centre Street invites you to sample its olive oils, balsamic vinegars and specialty foods right in the store. Amelia Island locals Kim and Buddy Holwell opened the shop in July 2014. Its extra virgin olive oils come from all over the world and run from mild to robust, alongside a range of infused and fused flavored oils.
The balsamics are made in Modena, Italy, and aged using the Solera system for up to 18 years in chestnut, oak, mulberry and ash barrels. Both the oils and the vinegars come from the Veronica Foods/Delizia Olive Oil Company, which the shop says began as a family business in 1924 and is the oldest continuously operating olive oil company in the United States.
Past the oils and vinegars, the shelves cover:
- Spices and seasonings
- Jams and jellies
- Gourmet foods and a "For the Bar" section
- Health and beauty products
- Packaged gift sets
The website posts recipes built around specific bottles, such as a black bean dip that uses its chipotle olive oil or sliders made with garlic oil and traditional balsamic, which helps when you get home and wonder what to do with a flavored oil.
Some of what you taste here also ends up on restaurant plates. The shop names The Patio at 5th and Ash and Cucina South as partners that cook with its oils and balsamics, and Ash Street Cigar Parlor serves its charcuterie boxes. If you're making a food-gift run along Centre, The Spice & Tea Exchange a block up handles spices and tea, and Color It Green in the same block covers eco-minded gifts. Hours are posted at oliveamelia.com.