Taste: Eat This Now: Olive Oil at Mercato

It reads like a wine list — “amazingly vivid color,” “aromas of apples, fresh-cut grass and hints of banana,” “smooth, buttery finish” — but BYOB Mercato isn’t selling vino on the sly. This is the city’s first olive oil list. Here, elegant bottles are filled with throat-tingling, peppery Njoi “Blue” from Australia, luscious Portuguese Azeite de Moura, and limited-edition Italian Raineri “Silver Perla.” Served in petite wineglasses—the better to allow evaluation of their color, viscosity and aromas — these oils are an under-$2 addition to a seasonal, Italian-accented meal, and the first opportunity many diners have had to compare the nuances of high-quality oils. To look like a pro: First, warm the glass bowl in your hand. Then cover the rim with your palm, swirl the oil in the glass, uncover, and inhale the fragrance. Finally, taste the olive oil with the slender spoon. Or forget sophistication, and use the rustic Faragalli’s Bakery rolls to sop up the liquid gold.

Mercato, 1216 Spruce Street; 215-985-2962.