CORRECTION: Note this version of the story includes updated information about the availabilty of Certified Angus Beef retailers in the area. Pine Valley Market, Roberts Grocery and The Butcher of Brunswick also are listed as certified retailers, according to the Certified Angus Beef website.
Kymberlei DiNapoli, owner of Taste the Olive and The Olive Café and Wine Bar, has always envisioned her business as an interactive experience for the food lover.
After Taste the Olive outgrew its initial space in The Forum after just one year, she moved the business, now in its fourth year, to a larger space within the same shopping center. When the space next door to the store became available, DiNapoli decided to expand yet again, this time creating the Olive Café and Wine Bar in early 2013.
“I had no intention initially of opening a full-scale restaurant,” DiNapoli said. “But the new space was so large that it ended up becoming just that.”
DiNapoli explained that as part of the interactive experience she wanted to offer small plates and the chance for customers to enjoy wines, cheeses and dishes featuring her olive oils and vinegars as well as other specialty products carried in the retail store.
But while the store and the restaurant are connected, she found that many of the customers frequenting the café had never been inside the store and vice versa.
“I really wanted to create the complete epicurean experience for my customers. That has been my vision from the start,” DiNapoli said. “And I am just floored when I talk to customers and realize that they are missing the connection between the café and the store.”
So in order to create the kind of experience that she wants her clientele to have, DiNapoli has decided to move Taste the Olive into the café, which will now be called Taste the Olive & Café.
The extra virgin olive oils and vinegars which are stored in fustis - stainless steel tanks crafted in Italy specifically for storage and dispensing - will occupy the area at the entrance to the café. The retail area will also feature a cheese counter and specialty items such as salts and spices and imported Italian olives and pastas. There will also be a selection of North Carolina-made products.
DiNapoli said her eatery would be a Certified Angus Beef retailer. She will bring in prime cuts of beef that have been cut to order for the shop. Another new offering: some of the café’s signature sauces such as Balsamic Bacon Onion Jam.
“I want to be the kind of place where customers looking to make a special dinner can come in and grab five to 10 items to take home and create an awesome meal,” DiNapoli said.
Those dining in the café will now find it a little cozier, with the tables a little closer together, DiNapoli said. An area previously used for private parties will now serve as a wine cave where customers will have the opportunity to select bottles to be poured at their tables, again increasing the interactive experience. Those wines will also be available for carry out at a 10 percent discount. The wine bar will continue to serve wines by the glass as well.
DiNapoli hopes that by placing the retail shop within the café she will be one step closer to her vision of creating the complete epicurean experience. Diners will be encouraged to browse and taste while waiting for their food; shoppers encouraged to get a glass of wine to sip while they sample.
“I believe that making the whole thing one cohesive unit will really enhance the business overall,” DiNapoli said. “It will be a work in progress. We want to continue to grow and provide the best quality gourmet products in the region.”
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