BARE Olive Oil Location: PortugalIn the salad game, excellent olive oil is the holy grail. Sure

BARE Olive Oil 

Location: Portugal

In the salad game, excellent olive oil is the holy grail. Sure, the shelves are packed with consumer options, but like wine, oil is complex, and speaks volumes about the the people who make it and the land from which it came. But, unlike wine, olive oil does not improve with age, so Chopt Founder, Tony Shure, traveled to Abrantes, Portugal to procure this year’s newest harvest of olive oil from a small producer called BARE. Like…we are are trying to tell you, he went to visit the olive farm, and bought-up every last drop of the oil they produced this season for all of our Chopt locations. That’s a baller salad move.

You might be wondering: why Portugal? Why BARE? The Portuguese consume 85% of the world’s extra virgin olive oil, so they know a thing or two about the subject. BARE’s owner, Rui Abecassis, also the producer of our favorite vino verde, Obrigado Vinhos, explained to Tony that the smaller the production, the better the oil. His olives are hand-harvested, and non-irrigated, meaning they are pampered from day one by actual people, as opposed to machines. The madural, verdeal, and cobrancosa varietals of olives are pressed within hours of the harvest, and kept at a cold temperature. This keeps the oil fresh and clean, and is the reason why it comes out kryptonite green in color. This level of care ensures that our oil maintains its intense grassy flavor for longer than the mass-produced oils. Go taste it for yourself: BARE extra virgin olive oil is  now featured in every Chopt locations.