03/30/2014
It's Your Business: Olive oil shop moves to Champaign
Sun, 03/30/2014 - 7:00am | Don Dodson
If your salad is looking a little naked, you can find not just dressing but a whole wardrobe for it at Olive Oil International.
The new store at Market Place Mall sells 18 types of infused olive oil and 22 kinds of balsamic vinegar, according to store owner Samudrika "Sam" Weeraratne.
The store opened March 18 in the Bergner's wing of the mall, between Jewelry Lab and The Illini Shop.
Weeraratne said that until earlier this year, her brother operated Olive Oil International at Eastland Mall in Bloomington.
But when her brother moved, Weeraratne decided she would return to Champaign-Urbana — where her son, Gajaba Naraddage, is a freshman at the University of Illinois — and open Olive Oil International at Market Place.
The extra virgin olive oil is available with several flavors, including chipotle, blood orange, mushroom sage and black truffle.
Not to be outdone, the vinegars also come in a variety of flavors, including juniper berry, cucumber-melon, white coconut and black currant.
Folks who want to sample the olive oils "can come in and taste them with fresh bread," Weeraratne said. "They can taste the vinegar too."
Using the olive oil and vinegar, people can make their own vinaigrette. But Weeraratne said they can also use the vinegar over strawberries and other fresh fruit or pour it over ice cream.
Vinegar can also be used as a meat tenderizer or a marinade, she added.
Stainless steel containers — known as "fusti" — for the olive oil and vinegar are also available at the store.
Olive Oil International is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. The phone number is 356-4610.
Weeraratne said she expects the store to hold a grand opening in mid-April, featuring Frantoia extra virgin olive oil from Italy.
