Category Archives: friends

olive oil workshop

24 Friday Feb 2017

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olive-oil

So remember when I serendipitously met Alexis last week? Well, before we parted company we made a plan to get together and try out Ana’s tasting space upstairs at Lama La Uva, along with Ania and Delia. I’d been to a couple of olive oil tastings before, but I felt I learned a lot more at this one. Alexis is a natural teacher, and her passion for all things olive oil is infectious. Even Delia, born and raised in Spain, had no idea about some of the aspects of the whole olive oil biz here. I even learned a few “tasting tricks” that I think will also help me with tasting sherries. A wonderful experience.

gurmé awards 2017

21 Tuesday Feb 2017

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gurme-201617-1The 2nd Gurmé Awards were held in the magnificent Portuguese Consulate, built for the 1929 Expo – a stunning building. It was an honour to be invited to the ceremony, and a thrill to watch friends being acknowledged. But the building kept diverting my attention. None of my photos did it justice.

After the awards ceremony we were all invited to a cocktail event in the main courtyard, which was lovely. But after an hour or so I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and made my “escape” (as my friend Jeanine told me later, this is known in Spanish as “leaving through the cat door”) and met up with some friends for a penúltima at La Azotea, where the vibe was much more relaxed. I do love these crazy events, but just a bit at a time. gurme-201617-2

alexis

15 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by in friends, wine

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alexisLove it when stuff like this happens. I went out late morning to run some errands, and a bit of shopping at the market for a dinner party with friends, and then I stopped off at Lama La Uva (my favourite new wine shop) to pick up some wine. There was a woman there talking with shop owner Ana Linares and so I politely waited my turn and perused the shelves… and then I realized this woman had a couple of olive oil bottles out on the counter, as well as the tell-tale dark blue olive tasting glasses… it could only be an OLIVE OIL TASTING.

So of course I butted in and joined the conversation, and I could tell that this other woman was NOT Spanish. And then the penny dropped and I said… YOU’RE ALEXIS!

This mystery olive oil woman, founder of The Olive Oil Workshop, has been on my radar for AGES, and I’d been meaning to get in touch and plan to meet up sometime. But now I’m glad that never happened. Because meeting Alexis exactly how we met was… well, perfect.

alexis-ana

What was supposed to be a quick wine purchase segued into an hour long chat including cheese, olive oil and wine… and meeting a new friend. Both Alexis and I are keen to work with the fabulous Ana, and maybe even with each other! The one true thing is… get three dynamic women together over a glass of wine, all talking about possibilities… I reckon only amazing things will come of this. Also, it was fun.