BOERUM HILL — Oil and water don’t mix, but what about olive oil and wine?
A new wine bar that also sells artisanal olive oils is opening in Boerum Hill this summer with tasting areas for both.
Brooklyn’s We Olive & Wine Bar, part of a California-based franchise, plans to open in July and will be the chain’s first east coast location, said owner Angelo Incorvaia who is opening the space with his wife, Patricia.
We Olive & Wine Bar at 116 Smith St. will sell olive oils, pestos, imported balsamic vinegars and tapenades as well as kitchenware and cookbooks at the front of the shop, formerly an Italian and Mediterranean restaurant called Lunetta.
The space will continue into a bar and tasting area that serves wines from the California and New York regions and small plates that will use many of the products sold in the shop.
Incorvaia hopes to educate people on the characteristics of the mostly California-made olive oil products with tasting sessions that will be similar to sampling wines, he said.
“A lot of people are really not up on olive oils,” he said.
The shop, which will also host regular events like cooking demonstrations, will go through the different flavors, from earthy to lemony or grassy, and even provide samplings of oils infused with herbs like rosemary or garlic.
High-quality olive oils can vary in price from $12 for a liter to $25 for bulk orders.
Incorvaia also hopes to make the space rentable for parties, to open a sidewalk café for customers on Smith Street and use the space’s backyard as an extension of the wine bar.
