A Business to Fit Your Passion and Lifestyle

Finding a unique niche community that seeks out your product/services and connects with you on a personal level, should be the goal for all franchise concepts around the country. Oil & Vinegar distinguishes itself in the franchise industry because unlike the restaurant concepts, it connects with people involved in all facets of the food industry. Whether it be chefs, food enthusiasts, or the average “foodie”; Oil & Vinegar is a great opportunity to get involved in their own business and still have an attractive lifestyle prospect.

Oil & Vinegar gives people who are looking for a unique, exotic, international concept, a chance to have that option here in the U.S. While you may live in America, it is always nice to experience international cultures, foods, and lifestyles. Joining the Oil & Vinegar brand is a great way to enjoy international flair on a day-to-day basis and also to share that experience with your community and neighbors.

Many entrepreneurs are interested in being a part of the “food community” when selecting their own business venture. Often people immediately think the restaurant industry is the only way to delve into this field. Unlike the restaurant industry, which requires extensive hours, retail concepts allow a more attractive lifestyle and “family-friendly” appeal. Oil & Vinegar combines the best of the both worlds allowing the opportunity to be involved in the food industry, for passionate foodies, and an accessible lifestyle that the entire family can be a part of.

Being able to tackle your life-long passion and open a business that fits your lifestyle are two incredibly important issues to explore before committing to a business investment. Oil & Vinegar allows the chefs and food enthusiasts to bring a unique concept of which they are passionate about to their local communities, giving consumers an exotic retail experience never done before.

Passionate About Pasta

At Oil & Vinegar, celebrating Holidays, new seasons, and events is always an exciting time for us. We are entering a new season and to celebrate the beginning of fall, we have launched our newest promotion: “Passionate About Pasta”. As autumn is approaching quickly and it's back to school, back to routine and back to basics. Switching back to a routine is never easy, but Oil & Vinegar can help with quick, easy to use pasta recipes that are delicious and always a crowd pleaser.

Discover a new world of flavor prepared with old world traditions in our San Marzano Tomato Sauces available in 4 flavors; Marinara, Seafood Marinara, Artichoke and Garlic with Zucchini Flower

Our pastas are made by an expert artisanal pasta maker and contain wheat germ in the semola (bran) that the large commercial pasta makers are not able to use, giving our pasta an extraordinary, unique taste. The pasta is slow pressed, laid out by hand and slow dried at a low temperature to capture the fresh tastes. Available in traditional, squid ink, garlic & basil, saffron, tomato, truffle, lemon & pepper, salmon and chili pepper.

Here are some customized recipes for your enjoyment, come visit Oil & Vinegar for some of these ingredients:

Papardelle Pasta Salad
Cook 1 bag of Tomato Papardelle Pasta according to the package directions, drain, rinse with cold water and mix with a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to keep the pasta from sticking together. Add 1 ½ cups of diced vine ripe tomatoes, 8 oz package, drained of boccocini mozzarella, or 1 large fresh mozzarella, diced, 1 ½ Tbsp Miscuglio spice mix, ¼ cup Bonsecco Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp Garlic Olive Oil and 1 Tbsp series 7 balsamic vinegar. Mix well and serve cold

Seafood Tubetti
Cook 1 package of Tubetti al Limone e Pepe Pasta according to the package. In another pan sauté in Extra Virgin Olive Oil 3 cloves of crushed garlic together with 2 stalks of chopped celery and 4 ounces of fresh tuna. When the tuna is fully cooked add ½ glass of white wine and 2 Tbsp of Muscat Vinegar. Puree the mixture in a blender until creamy. Return the mixture to the pan, add 1 can of tuna fish and 6 Pomodori Sunpomo, cook until hot. Mix the sauce well with the Tubetti al Limone e Peppe pasta.

Tagliolini with truffle salsa
Lightly sauté two sliced cloves of garlic and 4 chilli peppers finely chopped or 2 tsp of crushed chillies in extra virgin olive oil. When the garlic begins to become transparent, remove from heat. Cook the tagliolini in plenty of boiling water with sea salt, ‘al dente’. Drain the pasta and add it to the oil, garlic and chilli, add one jar of truffle salsa and draw the oil mixture and truffle salsa through the pasta until evenly coated. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

The World of Balsamic Vinegar (Part Two)

Well, now that it is clear to us what actually is recognized as balsamic vinegar, here are a few more questions that Claudio clarified for us:

D: Sometimes we see Balsamic Condiment on a label; what is the difference between a Balsamic Vinegar and a Balsamic Condiment?

C: Actually, there is no such thing as a Balsamic Condiment. Remember, the only recognized Balsamics are those we discussed before. Using the name ‘condiment’ is for marketing purposes because the producers are not allowed to label it as vinegar unless they follow the rules we talked about. Often the acidity level is lower than the required 6% for a balsamic.

D: How can a consumer know if they are buying a quality aged Balsamic Vinegar?

C: No one can tell you how aged a Balsamic Vinegar is. In fact it is prohibit by law. If it is from the consortium you will know it is high quality, if it is not, the consortium has created a classification with ‘leaves’ for other balsamics. It is rated from 1 to 4 leaves (4 is the maximum). So the more leaves the higher the quality; you can assume the higher the number of leaves the more aged, but no one can indicate it.

D: We see ‘white’ balsamic in the market, yet have heard that there is no such thing. What is it?

C: White balsamic is an unaccepted denomination that is supposed to be less and less on the market since the IGP will make more controls. Technically it is a condiment which is white as the must is “decolorated”, filtered. There is no connection to the fact that white grapes are used, in fact white grapes are the grapes for normal Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, they become black because the must is cooked and therefore becomes black. It is possible that a “white condiment” tastes like balsamic, but it is not recognized as balsamic and there are no rules to the making of or ingredients of the “white condiment”.

So there you have it. As you can see, balsamic vinegar is such an interesting subject and we could probably talk about it for weeks!

There are a few things I would like to add from my own experience with balsamic vinegar. First of all, because there is such a wide variety of qualities and flavors out there, the most important thing is that you enjoy the taste.

Remember that traditional balsamic vinegar is extremely expensive and used for special occasions, or for special uses, such as an aperitif, drizzled on fruit or on ice cream. There are no rules, but I wouldn’t recommend a traditional extra vecchio balsamic for salads!

Keep in mind that balsamic vinegar is made from grape must, so read the label. You can find anything from pure grape must, to white wine vinegar with caramel additives and just a small quantity of grape must. Be wary of super inexpensive “aged” balsamics, as we learned, there is no such thing, and you get what you pay for!