This is an essential vinegar ingredient you always want to have on hand. 

Everyone is shocked at how good this is! The usual response after tasting is to check the bottle and then say "that is nothing like any apple cider vinegar I have had before!"

It’s Vinegar Worth Drinking!



This Katz Gravenstein Apple Cider Vinegar is a revelation, a vision, a lightning bolt of amazement! Yes it’s just vinegar, but a little sip with just your lips and you can taste the sweetness, the shape, the roundness of the apple; you can taste the apple! 



It makes you realize that you don't need to have industrial grade cleaner apple cider vinegar in your body. 



The Gravenstein apple has played an important role in the history and culture of California's western Sonoma Valley since the 19th century. This richly flavored cider vinegar is redolent of baked apples, honey and sweet spice balanced with a solid backbone of acidity. Very versatile in the kitchen.

Ideas for uses for Katz Gravenstein Apple Cider Vinegar
:

First of all - anything pork! Braised pork chops with leeks and apple cider vinegar is a favorite.



* Makes a mean coleslaw or braised cabbage



* Salad Dressings…simply terrific - just add a teaspoon of mustard, a shallot (finely minced) and your favorite extra-virgin olive oil



* Perfect complement for walnuts, smoked turkey, and goat cheese salad

* Makes the best Waldorf Salad



* Pan-roasted chicken breast with a splash of cider vinegar, sautéed apples and a bit of chicken stock 



The Gravenstein Apple 
in the Sonoma Valley hit its peak planting in 1945, when over 14,000 acres of the area's gently sloping hills were covered with the trees. Today, there are far fewer, as thousands of acres have been replanted with grape vines - another crop we love, but we still believe in supporting those remaining Gravenstein growers. Slow Food has declared the Gravenstein apple to be a "Heritage" food that should be protected from further encroachment.

The fruit has long been sought after by chefs for its culinary uses and its elegant balance of sweet and tart flavors. Gravensteins' dense texture makes them perfect for sauces and pastries, and they also make the most gorgeous apple crisp imaginable - and some of the best cider around.

This cider vinegar is made from hard cider from late-ripening Gravenstein apples when the sugars are naturally high, and then the cider is carefully and slowly converted to vinegar in 55-gallon oak barrels. 



A Little Vinegar Lore 
Vinegar's long history includes uses other than culinary.

Apple cider vinegar has been a folk remedy used for hundreds of years. Claimed benefits have included: aiding in digestion, lowering blood pressure, helping with weight control, improving memory and even relieving arthritis.

Although we can't vouch for any of these, we know folks who've taken to making up an afternoon "tonic" of one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, one tablespoon of honey and one of warm water…who knows what benefits it may bring! A mouth joy for sure!

Walnut oil and cider vinegar are a natural pair, and they are taken to new heights by the honey. This honey-apple cider vinegar dressing is particularly good over salads of hearty or bitter Spring greens. Try it on a combination of watercress, mâche, arugula, and radicchio with some chunks of caramelized apple and toasted walnuts as a garnish.

In 1634, out of concern for the quality of its mustard, the city of Dijon imposed the first statues on the mustard-making trade. Even before this date the region was well known for the quality of its mustard.

The 18th century discovery of verjuice - juice from grapes harvested in Burgundy - put the finishing touch of quality to this fine product. Adding verjuice to the brown mustard seed and grinding the mixture using traditional grindstones - so as not to damage the heat-sensitive paste - helped to earn French stone ground dijon mustard a worldwide reputation for quality.

For more than 150 years, La Tourangelle has carried on the French tradition of roasting walnuts before pressing them, creating an intensely fragrant oil that tastes unmistakably of the nut itself.

Walnut oil has a wonderful history because it is one of the old European farmhouse oils—made not from an imported crop, but from the walnuts growing around the villages and farms.

For centuries, small oil mills along the Loire Valley in France pressed walnuts and other locally grown nuts into oil. Walnut oil was both a cooking ingredient and a way for farmers to make use of a crop that could be stored through the winter. The traditional method was to crush the walnut kernels, gently roast them to develop their flavor, and then press the warm nut paste to release the oil. La Tourangelle traces this tradition back to the Middle Ages and its own mill to 1867.

What makes the tradition interesting is that roasting isn't simply a step in extracting the oil—it is what gives walnut oil its character. Raw walnuts can produce a relatively mild oil; roasting brings out the deeper, almost buttery walnut aroma and flavor.

Walnut oil has been made in France for centuries, particularly in the countryside where walnut trees were part of the landscape and small mills turned the harvest into oil.

The traditional method was simple: walnuts were crushed, gently roasted to develop their flavor, and then pressed.

La Tourangelle grew out of this tradition. When I met the company's founder, he told me that he moved from France to California because there was an abundance of raw material to continue making the many different oils he wanted to produce while allowing him to bring the French tradition of small-batch oil making with him.

Today, La Tourangelle's Roasted Walnut Oil is with a process remarkably close to the one used in France.

The walnuts are selected, washed, sorted, dried and shelled before being crushed and slowly roasted in cast-iron kettles.

The roasting is an important part of the process: the degree of toast brings out the deep, warm walnut aroma and flavor that distinguishes the oil. The roasted walnuts are then pressed mechanically, rather than chemically extracted, producing a fragrant, richly flavored oil that is lightly filtered through cotton to remove particles while retaining its character.

The result is an oil that tastes like what it is made from—deeply walnutty, lightly toasted and wonderfully aromatic.

It isn't a refined oil that has been stripped of its natural character; the flavor comes directly from the walnuts and the careful roasting that has been part of the tradition from the beginning. Roasted walnut oil was the oil that started La Tourangelle, and more than 150 years later, it remains at the heart of what they do.

I love these nuts! And though I eat them out of hand every day, I am really enjoying them the most in baked goods.

Just lightly baked and they make the perfect bite and crunch, and the flavor is just that much more than raw.

Probably the most beautiful walnuts you've ever seen--with a buttery taste to match. All the health benefits of walnuts (Omega 3 fatty acids) with the addition of red polyphenols to match. The California organic red walnuts are a perfect upgrade to our recipes.

A wonderful simple dish using walnuts, walnut oil and apple cider vinegar

I remember the little lemons my Mom had in her garden in Pacific Grove. Tiny, they were like candy when you picked them off the tree. You could pop them in your mouth so easily and each one was sweet with a twist of tang. Each was different, some would curl your eye lids up from the tart (acid) bite, but all would have a unique sweetness like a tangerine! Their thin skinned made them easy to eat like a candy treat. Like you want your lemons to be.

I also remember some 25 years ago when I first had a just pressed olive oil from the Abruzzo region of Italy. It was an eye opening, a PHD forehead slapping (“Why didn’t I think of that?”), moment! It was the moment that me and my buds realized that not all things we preconceive to be the same are indeed not the same at all.

Sometimes, we have to wait for great things to come together. In this case, crushed together. Olives and citrus are a wonderful combination, a fractal relationship if you will.

The smell of this magical combination will first fill your nose with a delightful citrus sweetness. Fill a big spoon and every whiff thereafter is a pleasing fill. On the first “tip” of the spoon the oil coats the lips as the tongue dips in. The aroma fills the void above the tongue and the lemony snippets at the sensors around your teeth.

When you finally squeeze the lemon oil to the back of the mouth as your tongue presses to the roof, there is a tingle and sometimes a poke at the back of the throat like any good olive oil from Italy will.

The Sorrento lemon is a wonderful match with the this Abruzzo Olive Oil, where the lemon is allowed to shine through.

Filled with goodness with claims of cleaning gallbladders and livers and destroying gallstones, may be overhyped and without proof, we do know it is good for the mind because it makes you feel happy!

Taste it once and you will want a bottle for your own. Like a great bar of chocolate, you might feel compelled to hide it from your family, to only pull it out in the darkness of night to drizzle on your small plate of Mori and sea salt.

If you do feel like sharing, start with a citrus salad of orange and grapefruit. Then take your best grilled pheasant (or chicken), your veggies and drizzle over to finish your plate!

You will love this oil because it can be gentle with your lettuce salad and join the heat with a wonderful fish. Blend with a long spaghetti and calamari and garlic and you will have a bit of heaven.

This Sorrento Lemon Olive Oil is one of our all time favorites and ranks as essential for your pantry!

What's Happening in the Store

A Garlic Lover's Open House - Aug. 29, 2026 - 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT

This late-summer harvest brings us a collection of organic hardneck garlic grown on a small farm in Snohomish County, Washington, with varieties that differ in everything from clove size and color to heritage, aroma, flavor, and the way they behave in the kitchen.

August 29th, 2026
Friday & Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm
ChefShop Retail Shop, 1425 Elliott Ave West, Seattle

To make preserved lemons is easy. Salt, lemons, time.

Preserved lemons are a wonderful go-to addition to any recipe. Use them as a topping, an ingredient, or as a taste-changer. Anywhere you would use a regular lemon, you can use a preserved one for more punch and flavor. This intense concentration of flavor goes beyond just a lemon; it releases an explosion of flavor in your mouth!

The combination of salt, lemon, and time creates a flavor bomb when combined with chicken, for instance, bringing out the best in your poultry. Similar to sardines, another flavor enhancer bomb, it might not immediately appeal to all your senses, but once you incorporate a preserved lemon into your next dish, you might just discover a new love.

We like the Belazu Beldi Preserved Lemons because they are small, whole, and round like little globes. Smaller than a golf ball, they have a very thin skin that is easy to cut and chew. When used as a garnish, they look cute and gorgeous, elevating the presentation of any dish!

Use preserved or cured lemons, instead of fresh lemons.

This beautiful blue/green mottled lentil originated in the le PUY region of France - and is now grown in the Palouse region of Washington State - the lentil-growing capital of our world.

Its distinctive appearance is matched by its excellent flavor and smooth texture.

Throw in its fine cooking qualities and ability to hold its body, and it is easily understood why the exquisite DU PUY LENTIL is preferred by gourmet chefs in Europe.

Highly recommended as an ingredient in broth-based, herb soups and gently flavored hot or cold salads.(Cooking time:20 to 30 minutes)

Delectably thick and creamy, this silky-smooth concoction has a rich mouthfeel and a deep, dark caramel flavor that's not too sweet. It's the milk that makes it special!

One of the most delicious ways to enjoy it is to warm it and pour it over vanilla or coffee ice cream . . . heaven!

Alternative to dry active yeast. No need to adjust the amount, just substitute one for one. No need to pre-activate in water. Just add directly to the mixture at the beginning of the process.

Gold formulated instant yeast is used primarily for making sweet breads and other doughs that have a lot of sugar. Sweet breads are notoriously slow to raise due to the fact that the sugar in the dough is absorbing much of the available water and not leaving enough for the yeast. The Saf-Instant Gold instant yeast is formulated to combat that problem, and results in a shorter raising time for sweet breads.

This bottle holds 4 times the amount of La Vecchia Despensa 10-yr balsamic, and normally it is only offered to restaurant chefs.

This relative youngster is oh so much more versatile than any balsamic made with wine vinegar - regardless of age or price.

It has a refreshing level of acidity, despite the fact that it is made solely from cooked grape must. Sweet and sour act in harmony toward a slow, dry finish. This is one of our favorite, all-purpose balsamics - its depth of flavor gives it a versatility that is perfection.

The practice of stuffing olives dates back thousands of years. The exact origin of stuffed olives is difficult to pinpoint, but they have been enjoyed in Mediterranean cuisine for centuries. The ancient Greeks and Romans were known to stuff olives, and various fillings were used, including herbs, cheese, and other ingredients.

The earliest documented evidence of stuffed olives comes from ancient Greece. In the 5th century BCE, the Greek playwright Aristophanes mentioned stuffed olives in his comedy play "The Knights."

Stuffed olives have been a culinary tradition in Mediterranean cuisine for a long time and have spread to various parts of the world. A Habanero stuffed olive is perfect to addition to a martini! Or bloody mary!

Total of 1.5 lbs. of garlic - 3 varieties (Spanish Roja, Killarney Red and Chesnok Red)/1/2 pound each - which varieties will vary depending on availability as the selling season progresses.