Di Oliva Tasting Bar

“I’ve always wanted to have my own store — a food-related store, because I enjoy cooking. So I thought maybe a kitchen store, but there was something about the kitchen store that I just couldn’t jump into for some reason. When I walked into one of these olive oil stores in the States last year it just automatically felt like me. I thought to myself, ‘This is what I want to do. It’s really different,’” says Lisa Funaro, owner of Hastings-Sunrise’s only gourmet olive oil boutique, Di Oliva Tasting Bar.

Open since December 2014, Lisa funnels her passion for cooking into bottles of quality extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegars. Her shop almost looks like a brewery; the walls are lined with “kegs” from which customers can sample 22 varieties of olive oil and 26 varieties of balsamic vinegar.