A Friend Returns to Share

You may recall that just about a year ago in the early days of GoodStuffNW, I had a foodie moment extraordinaire when I met John Cancilla and his lovely wife, Ana, when they dropped in at Foster & Dobbs on their way to the airport just as I was walking by with Rosey. The sweetest people you could ever hope to meet, they're sales reps for the Marqués de Valdueza olive oil estate in Spain and had been here as part of a sales trip to introduce their new Merula brand of estate-bottled extra virgin olive oil.

Since that afternoon John has been my Spanish pen-pal, an avid reader of the blog and a valuable source of feedback for my attempts at making paella. And now you can meet him in person and talk about his favorite subject (aside from, but related to, food and his family) when he and Ana come into town to do a tasting of their olive oils at Foster & Dobbs. They'll explain and share the elixir of the Arbequina, Picual, Hojiblanca and Morisca olives, and pair them with Jamon Serrano, Spanish cheese and dark chocolate. If you ask, he'll even recite the full name of the Marqués himself, no small feat. At the least, you'll come away with new ideas for using olive oil and, just maybe, a new friend.

Details: Tasting of Marqués de Valdueza olive oils at Foster & Dobbs with John Cancilla. Noon-3 pm; free. Foster & Dobbs Authentic Foods, 2518 NE 15th Ave. Phone 503-284-1157.