Out with a drizzle, infused with a bang

Moscow’s new specialty oil and vinegar store promises all-natural product, all the time

With an invitation to give the gift of gourmet and the philosophy of having all-natural products with no artificial flavors, Ampersand Oil & Vinegar Tap House is a welcomed establishment in the Moscow community.

University of Idaho alumna Keely Garrity said her inspiration for Ampersand came from her love for cooking and her experience living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a couple of years, and on every corner was an oil and vinegar shop,” Garrity said. “I became really accustomed to high quality oils and vinegars.”

Garrity received her degree in Interior Design and Architecture from UI and was in marketing for her professional life, she said. However, her true passion was cooking, and she wanted to share her passion with Moscow.

“Someone asked me what’s holding me back to fulfill my dream, and I didn’t have an answer,” she said.

Garrity said on a visit to her hometown of Bozeman, Montana, she met the owner of Olivelle, a gourmet infused oil and vinegar store which was beginning to whole-sale their products. Olivelle now supplies all of Ampersand’s infused oils, vinegars and salts.

Other Ampersand products are supplied by vendors from across the country and around the world. Garrity said she does a lot of research and attends food shows with thousands of vendors in order to find the best products with no artificial flavors.

Garrity said coming up with the name for her gourmet store was no easy task.

“I was coming up with some really stupid names, and it was really kind of stressful because I’m a creative person and I wanted it to be something interesting,” she said. “I was sitting and thinking to myself, just repeating over and over, oil and vinegar, herbs and spices, salt and pepper and realized the common denominator of them was the ‘and’ and ampersand is the ‘and’ symbol.”

Since Ampersand’s opening last year, the response from the public has been positive, as people are excited about having an all-natural specialty oil and vinegar store in Moscow. Garrity said people continue to come back to the store located on Main Street, but 70 percent of the customers coming in today have never been in the store before and have just been walking by.

Garrity said she aims to enhance the consumer experience with her product, which allows her store to compliment other local stores such as the Moscow Food Co-op and Rosauers.

“I have a lot of really fun all-natural ingredients that will enhance anybody’s cooking experience,” she said. “It is all healthy. There is no artificial flavors, they are all naturally infused.”

In addition to Ampersand’s popular infused oils, vinegars and salts, the store also sells a large variety of products such as flavored sauces, syrups, cooking utensils and hand-crafted pasta from Italy. The store also carries gluten free pastas, Garrity said.

While customers flock to get their hands on the 35 different choices of oils and vinegars, Garriety said working with ingredients like pear balsamic vinegar and basil olive oil can be a little intimidating. That is why Ampersand offers 2-hour cooking classes throughout the week with local chefs teaching customers different ways they can use the store’s products. There is a large diversity of cooking classes offered with sessions from cooking Thai food, to traditional family classics to homemade pastas.

“The key to the cooking classes is that we are showing people how to work with the oils and vinegars, the infused salts that we have and the other ingredients that we have in the store,” she said. “You come hungry, so you’ll (be shown) a three to six course meal and you’ll get a nice healthy portion of each to eat while you’re watching the chef create other things using those ingredients.”

Garrity said Ampersand’s most popular products are the pear balsamic vinegar and basil olive oil, but the caramelized garlic olive oil is amazing and a very high seller. She also gave advice on a simple, yet delicious way to use the pear balsamic vinegar.

“Bake a brie,” she said. “Go get a brie from the Co-op or Rosauers, put it in the oven, let it cook for about 10 minutes and drizzle your pear (balsamic vinegar) over it and get a loaf of bread. It’s phenomenal.”

Ampersand is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Cooking classes are offered from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the week and are $35 including a meal, instruction and recipes.

For schedules and additional information about Ampersand, visit their Facebook page facebook.com/Ampersandoil

Emily Vaartstra can be reached at [email protected]