Quintessential Gourmet

Happened to see this place after going to Pike Place. I am usually more of an olive oil lover – than balsamic vinegar connoisseur, but I loved the vinegars here. I tried a peach flavored vinegar here that I am pretty sure would go well on waffles as a syrup, vanilla ice cream, and ANYTHING else that is edible! The vinegars have such a variety of taste – some sweet, some not, but all with nuanced favors. I WILL come back with more monies.

We were walking down the street and decided to stop in for a beer… WOW we had no idea what a wonderful place we stumbled upon… We could have spent the rest of our vacation her… we learned so much about olive oil and how to use it in sooooo many new ways… Who knew you could drink beer and taste olive oil at the same time. The flavors we experienced were unbelievable. Before we left we placed an order and had it shipped home to Ca. Our shipment was here the day after we arrived home. I will forever now order my oils and never purchase them from a grocery store again.

This is a really nice low-​key place to grab a light lunch, have a local glass of beer/​wine/​cider, or just to taste oils and vinegars. I had their pasta and they break out a hot plate and make it right there at the counter! Very cool. The people working there are really helpful when it comes to the pairings of oil&vinegars and just really friendly overall. When I’m back in Seattle I will be coming here again :)

Excellent customer service, drinks, and experience! I will definitely be coming back. We stumbled upon this little restaurant/​store on a walk and walked in. They offer food, drinks, and nano-​brews. Very knowledgeable and kind staff!

This place is a gem. We visited two days in a row. The staff is very friendly and informative. David from Chicago is great. Lynn the owner makes you feel at home. They paired our wines with the most delicious flavors of balsamics. We bought a bunch of the bottles to give as gifts. So come visit this place and enjoy.

This place is simply great. I usually come here to enjoy a 22 oz happy hour beer whenever I’m down shopping by the market. I haven’t tried their food but I can applaud their beer selection. Also the the sparkling wine with mango balsamic is pretty kick ass. I highly recommend the raspberry balsamic. You can put it on practically anything to kick up the flavor.

This was our first stop in a Seattle establishment ever, besides the airport, train and our hotel. After checking in to our hotel we started walking the town. Soon enough we saw a «wine tasting» sign and decided to walk in and give Washington wine a try.
QG and and the staff were very welcoming. Lynn, the owner was informative, knowledgeable and generous. We sampled and purchased a bottle of local wine to enjoy with our popcorn and a variety of oils. After a few minutes we decided to have a panini and it was something right out of Italy. We brought home some oils and are waiting for the right time to have with a bottle wine, cheese and bread.
We miss Seattle.

Awesome section of infused olives oils and balsamic vinegars. Very helpful staff who who will help you try things and make recommendations. I suggest picking out your favourite balsamic and mixing it with lemonade. The prices are very reasonable. Grab a couple of the smallest (40mL) sizes of your favourites. A little goes a long ways with this stuff.

My husband and I took one of the food tours in Seattle. This was the final stop. I absolutely LOVED it. The owner was there and he gave us some samples of items the vinegars and oils could be used in (a lemonade and some cookies) as well as answered every one of our questions. The shop was clean and well lit, and had a very nice ambience. The prices were reasonable and they even packaged it up for us to take home on a plane — baggie and all. Loved it and highly recommend a visit.

Located just off Pike’s Place Market, this gourmet olive oil and balsamic vinegar store really has it figured out.
They have several different infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars. My favorite combination is blood orange olive oil with chocolate balsamic vinegar. The employees will let you tasted different combinations and will make recommendations based on what you like.
The owner is also very friendly and willing to chat with you about her products or about cider and beer.
One thing that really stood out is the prices here can often be below «market» making Quintessential Gourmet a true pillar of the community, spreading an understanding of fine olive oils and balsamic vinegars and opening doors to cooking that are typically out of reach in the home.
Keep it up, your store is awesome!

Store located at the end of Pike’s Public Market which is a major plus! Why? It’s away from the massive crowds, you get to peruse the store at a leisurely pace, and get educated on the many varieties of olive oils and vinegars.
You walk into this place and can easily get overwhelmed with all the offerings. By then, a friendly staff person greets you and helps you get around the store. I learned the difference between fused (item pressed with the olives and more concentrated) and infused oils which was helpful along with vinegar and oil pairings.
The wonderful gentleman (Lucky O) that helped us gave us some samples and just wowed us.
Sample #1: coconut balsamic with organic persian lime olive oil… burst of flavors and had creative thoughts of what to use with it… shrimp, fish, perhaps a cake…
Sample #2: Wild Mushroom and Sage Balsamic with Bergamont Lemon — flavor explosion
Sample #3: Chili Oil with Chocolate Vinegar… scents of chocolate with a sweet and slow heat… the possibilities!
After sampling a bunch, i realized i could only buy 6 — 50ml bottles for the plane trip back to CA. Darn! Well, QG is well prepared and packages your bottles into quart-​sized zip locs along with the receipt… in case you get questioned! This was a big plus in customer service to let us know ahead of time of what we were allowed… Highly recommend this place! You’ll leave with olive oil and vinegar knowledge along with wonderful recipes! Will be ordering full-​sized ones to ship to CA soon!

I absolutely LOVE this store!!! The first time was last year when I was visiting Seattle and I got a bottle of the chili oil. I love how you can purchase mini 5oz bottles which are very airport friendly! You can also taste all the oils and vinegars. The people working here are super helpful and give great recommendations. On my most recent trip I was looking for a balsamic vinegar. I thought the original one was too sweet and they recommended the espresso one. It was so tasty! I bought that and I love putting it on smoked salmon and can’t wait to try it on steaks. I will always stock up anytime I’m in Seattle. It’s just a few steps from Pike’s Market! Foodie heaven! Also, ask for recipes when purchasing oils/​vinegars.

We found this place by accident and we’re so glad we did!
The staff was friendly and welcoming. They had a fantastic selection and took the time to help us explore and try our new flavors and types we may not have looked at on our own.
If you love to cook (as we do), then this is a place you have to visit.

Seriously, this place is a gem. The lemon olive oil is like the most versatile topping I’ve ever used. It goes on pasta, salads, marinades, everything. I’m looking into finding an olive oil cake recipe I can use this in since I recently woman-​ed up and bought the wine bottle size of this lemon.
I’ve sampled all the crazy concoctions they’ll make for you and I loved every one of them! They are super creative and really run this place like a tasting room. Really, they make you feel welcome. They get their product from a vendor in Oakland, so I’m really happy to know that if (which is really looking like when) I move back, I will not lose this lemon olive oil. The recently opened Queen Anne Oil store also gets their oil from this vendor, but Boyfriend thinks their prices were a bit higher than Quintessential Gourmet.
I will be back and continue to bring guests. Brought Boyfriend’s mom here and she dropped a couple bills. Definitely want to see this place succeed.

When I got to Seattle I had the goal of finding gourmet olive oil and this place delivered! From the moment we walked in, the staff was incredibly friendly, recommending more combinations of olive oil and balsamic than I could imagine and always coming up with more things for us to try. The unlimited samples were definitely fun, especially since I’ve never seen this many flavors of oil and balsamic in my life! They have a convenient pairing chart for oil/​vinegar as well which was fun to use to come up with my own pairs to try.
Quality is unbelievable. I started out wanting just to look at olive oil, and there was certainly a great selection of that, but the balsamic was actually what surprised me. The variety of flavors was completely amazing and I can’t wait to get home to use them on salads and bread.

I came here upon the recommendations of the guy at the pasta shop inside the Pike Place Market.
The store is clean and spacious. You are welcome to sample all of the products. The woman working was extremely helpful and informative and even showed me a couple blends that worked very well together. I ended up getting a hostess gift for an upcoming holiday party and also a tasty treat for myself!

Really enjoyed discovering this place.
I am a huge olive oil and balsamic vinegar fan and consume both pretty much on a daily basis as a salad dressing.
I went in and was greeted immediately by the guy working there. He was very friendly and explained how it works. You get a little cup and are free to taste everything you want.
I told him that I wanted something that would be good on a salad as I usually just pour some vinegar and oil over it as a dressing.
He made a recommendation of a Cranberry Pear White Balsamic and Terragon Infused Olive Oil combo and made up a taster of it. It was great and after walking around and tasting I ended up buying his recommendation and was very satisfied.
The prices aren’t unreasonable either.
Unfortunately I live in Canada and can’t make it back otherwise I would be sampling them all over time.

Forget Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Whole Foods; this place is the sample-lover’s promised land. It’s full of every flavor of olive oil and balsamic vinegar you can imagine, and you’re free to try them all, though it’ll take you quite a while.
We passed a number of shops touting gourmet olive oils in and around Pike’s Place, but this shop, just a couple blocks beyond the most heavily trafficked strip, put them all to shame in sheer number of offerings. The flavors here are a ton of fun, and staff will help you mix and match oils and vinegars so you can really make the most of your sampling extravaganza.
There’s plenty of options whether you’re looking for savory or sweet (dark chocolate balsamic vinegar with fig olive oil?!), for salads or cooking or baking or cocktail-​enhancing. The sampling is self-​serve, but the staff are on hand to offer interesting suggestions about blends and recipes, without making you feel awkward for helping yourself to 50 tastes.
It’s a great place for affordable yet classy gifts, especially since they sell small bottles that fit airplane restrictions for carry-​on liquids. I got a white truffle oil that we gave to my mom, who immediately added it to the clam chowder and mashed potatoes she’d made, with lip-​smacking success.
Highly recommend stopping in if you’re around Pike’s Place! Super fun way to kill a half hour or so, grab a free snack, and possibly leave with something delicious for just a few bucks.

Talking about fruity olive oil!!!
YUMMY!
I was looking into purchasing some olive oil around the pike place market. I visited several stores and tried samples, but did not really like any of them. Then I turned to Unilocal and saw this place.
This place is located near the pike place market but you need to walk up north for like literally 2 minutes. Once I walked in, Phil the manager greeted me and offered a small «tour.» He asked for personal preferences and offered different samples, including fruity olive oil.
I immediately fell in love with it when I tried the samples. What a brilliant idea to have fruity olive oil!!! It is very different from what I normally have only even more delicious.
It seems like Phil really knows his products and the supplier. He was super friendly and patient.
A small bottle (60ml) is $ 5 each. For 200ml it is $ 13. And then 350 ml bottle is around $ 20 I think.
I cannot wait to come back here again!

Don’t be afraid to mix the flavors, you will feel like a delicious scientist!
This place has great prices!