Favorite Things: Patricia and Paul

I discovered Patricia and Paul: Artisans of Fine Oils and Balsamics last year (a few weeks before the pandemic shut down the world) while I was passing the time in downtown Westfield. I probably passed by the store three times before I actually got up the nerve to walk in. What exactly are fine oils and balsamics and why were there steel jugs lining the store walls? Luckily, there were several people already browsing in the store (less attention to me), so I decided to step inside. In retrospect, I need not have felt nervous as Erin, the salesperson and owners' daughter, was so welcoming and friendly. She explained that I should use the small cups to sample any olive oil I wanted. What? You drink olive oil? Now I was curious. So I walked around the store, and Erin again encouraged me to try a sample. I tried several olive oils, and settled upon the garlic and tuscan herb infused olive oils to purchase. I also tried several balsamic vinegars, settling on traditional balsamic and a peach flavored white balsamic vinegar. Since then, I've bought the garlic and tuscan herb olive oils many times over, however, we are still working on the original large bottles of vinegar! 

The olive oils at Patricia and Paul are truly delicious, and I learned a ton from Erin. Previously, we purchased the 2-pack of olive oil at Costco, thinking we were doing something good for our health. Did you know it is only 15% virgin olive oil? So that is why there is such a price difference among olive oils!