This week in New York, Olio Piro hosted a remarkable Market Night dedicated entirely to Extra Virgin Olive Oil at Travelers Poets & Friends —a gathering place for curious eaters, passionate cooks, and travelers of taste. The evening brought together a vibrant community to explore aromas, textures, and flavors in a guided experience that blended education, storytelling, and culinary artistry.
Guests enjoyed a rare opportunity to taste exceptional olive oils side by side, led by olive oil sommelier Christian Viti from Piro, who introduced the fundamentals of sensory evaluation and the hallmarks of high-quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Market Night Olive Oil Tasting: A Community Experience
Market Night at Travelers Poets & Friends is known for spotlighting ingredients worth celebrating—and this edition was no exception. With the room buzzing and glasses of olive oil warming in guests’ hands, the evening felt like an immersion into Italian culinary tradition.
Participants explored how olive oils differ in fruitiness, bitterness, pungency, and complexity, while discussing what makes an oil harmonious, clean, and well-balanced. It was an experience designed for:
- food lovers
- olive oil enthusiasts
- home cooks
- fans of Italian flavors and craftsmanship
Expert-Guided Tasting Class with Christian Viti
Christian opened with an essential reminder:
Flavor = taste + aroma
Taste buds alone detect only five sensations—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Everything else we perceive as “flavor” comes from retro-nasal aroma, the aromatic compounds released when the oil warms inside the mouth.
Guests learned how the three positive attributes of Extra Virgin Olive Oil—fruitiness, bitterness, and pungency—work together to create balance and structure. With Christian’s guidance, attendees identified the characteristics of early-harvest oils, high-antioxidant profiles, and the subtle herbal and fruity notes that define a premium EVOO.
Chef-Crafted Pairings by Chef Ricardo Orfino
The culinary storytelling continued with thoughtful tasting bites created by Chef Ricardo Orfino, designed to enhance and illuminate each oil’s identity. His pairings demonstrated how Extra Virgin Olive Oil can shape and elevate a dish—through lift, depth, brightness, or warmth.
The interactive format allowed guests to compare flavor progression, mouthfeel, and finish while observing how different oils behave in harmony with food.
Recognizing Defects: Learning What Makes an Oil Not Extra Virgin
Guests were introduced to the most common defects that immediately disqualify an oil from Extra Virgin status:
- Rancid – oxidation; stale nuts, crayons
- Fusty – improper storage; fermented, swampy notes
- Musty – mold contamination; wet cardboard
- Winey/Vinegary – aerobic fermentation; sour wine notes
Experiencing these contrasts side by side with high-quality oils provided clarity: freshness and purity are essential, and craftsmanship is unmistakable.
The Language of Olive Oil: Sensory Descriptors
With growing confidence, guests began naming the aromas they perceived:
Green notes: grass, tomato leaf, artichoke, green almond
Ripe notes: buttery, floral, nutty, stone fruit
Aromatic notes: citrus, black pepper, herbs, walnut shell
These descriptors helped transform the tasting from a simple comparison into a layered sensory exercise.
How to Taste Like a Professional
Christian guided guests through the formal tasting sequence:
- Pour & Warm — gently heat the oil to release aromatics
- Inhale — assess first impressions
- Sip & Aerate — allow retro-nasal aroma to develop
- Observe — track mouthfeel and flavor progression
- Evaluate — fruitiness, bitterness, pungency, balance, complexity, purity
This structure gave guests a professional framework they can use long after the event.
Market Night: A Celebration of Flavor, Stories, and Discovery
Market Night at Travelers Poets & Friends became an evening rich with conversation and culinary insight—a gathering where shared curiosity and passion for Italian flavors shaped a memorable experience.
Olio Piro was honored to guide this night of discovery and to share the craftsmanship behind exceptional Extra Virgin Olive Oil with the New York community.
