Carrying everything from fresh groceries to wine, coffee and tea, to deli sandwiches, Blue Olive Market is a one-stop shop for enjoyable munching. It opened in early 2013, and by the time we got there nearly a month later, it seemed to have already attracted quite the following and was buzzing during each of our visits.
One day, I had the pleasure of sitting down with manager George, an incredibly amiable man ready to talk at length about the business and just what a pleasure it was to be running Blue Olive. "We're a market," he explained, "but we don't do a lot of marketing." Instead, the food speaks for itself. The emphasis is on Greek food and the benefits of a Mediterranean diet, one that is as rich in flavor as it is in health. He is quite proud of their two salad bars. The first is what a New Yorker would expect, whereas the other offers classic Greek salad that simply includes vine-ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives, feta cheese, peppers and a drizzle of their in-house olive oil. In keeping with tradition, there is no lettuce combined in this mixture.
Olive oil and citruses rule the day. In fact, Blue Olive presses their own olive oil in Greece and imports it right to their door on 41st. In addition, the market has a number of infused oils, including lavender, thyme and a variety of rich fruit flavors. Customers can use these on their salads, or fill an empty bottle to take home. A hot kitchen serves beautiful lamb shanks, grilled fishes, chicken confit, spanakopita, moussaka, soups and a host of other dishes, complementing the sandwiches fit for Olympus. A bar full of wines and beers tranquilly serves patrons stopping by for an afternoon or evening drink.
The coup de grace, though, is the frozen Greek yogurt. George was contagiously enthusiastic when speaking about his wacky production process. Plain Greek yogurt is taken and blended with a flavor -we chose raspberries on one occasion and "baklava" on another (honey and pistachio nuts) -and then the base yogurt is blasted with liquid nitrogen (-326 degrees!). This process does two things: (1) instantly cools the concoction considerably, leaving no ice crystals behind and producing a luxurious, velvety texture; and (2) as the nitrogen sublimates, it turns to a thick, cold steam that bubbles up and oozes out of the bowl of frozen yogurt, snaking across the counter and looking like a mix between magic spells and a mad scientist's experiment. The outcome is rich, creamy and tart with the delicious flavorings folded in. George is so pleased with the reaction that customers are having and is thrilled with the lines that are forming now that the weather is warming up enough to entice people to want to indulge in frozen yogurt. He recognizes that although this was his original concept, others will soon be attempting to replicate this amazing dessert.