Chef Interviews,  DC,  Food

Local DC Chef Launches a New Food Brand to Get Us Back Around the Table

Et Oliva inspires a connection and reconnection with food and each other.

Travel often introduces us to new adventures, new cultures, and new foods. A smell or taste can transport us back to our favorite travel memories. Patrick Karsu, a chef of 15 years, is of Irish descent, but his partner is Turkish, and the inspiration for et Oliva. After many trips throughout the Mediterranean, Patrick and his partner longed for fresh food and bright flavors but couldn’t find them at home. Patrick took matters into his own hands in November 2021 and launched et Oliva pronounced (et OH- lee-va). Et Oliva offers flavors of the Mediterranean in the form of olive oil, jams, spreads, and Turkish lavosh crackers. For Patrick, it is all about pure flavors and reconnecting with family and with friends.  

Et Oliva is Latin for “and olives.” Their Cretan olive oil is seasonal, harvested using olives from several families in a small village. Every October is the olive harvest. The olives are harvested from family farms, brought together, and pressed on the one press in the village. The spreads and jams are not simply crushed figs, olives, and peppers, but complex combinations of fragrant spices like laurel, coriander, thyme, and star anise. 

Like many entrepreneurs, Patrick learned that when you run your own business you get to do something you love every day, something you are passionate about. But with ownership comes many hats, and Patrick is gaining an understanding that “When you’re working in the business, you’re not working on your business”. 

Patrick Karsu owner of et Oliva

Patrick secured et Oliva’s place by reaching out to people and asking, asking them to try his crackers, and pounding the pavement to make it happen; he was not afraid to advocate for his business. Working toward a Master’s in Business Administration, along with his time in corporate, taught Patrick how to have a diverse mindset for business. When launching et Oliva Patrick started cooking and creating the brand from Union Kitchen. After getting his feet wet, Patrick began working with Pod Foods, which helps emerging brands distribute their products. He now works with a firm specializing in consumer product goods, Rodeo, to assist him in building the foundation for his operational support. 

Beyond his life as a chef, Patrick was drawn to the nonprofit world, from working with wildlife organizations to studying food waste in hotels. He desires to build bridges in communities with the philosophy that, “You can’t just take, you have to give back.” He is registered with the LGBT Chamber of Commerce with aspirations of becoming B Corp certified to leverage his success with et Oliva in order to serve the community. 

Patrick is making connections and investing in the foundational operations of et Oliva to achieve a thriving business. For small business owners, he advises that “it is still your business whether you are making stuff or not”, solidify your operations and “pay yourself first.” 

Patrick wants all of his customers to know that Et Oliva is true Aegean food that is close to nature, filled with flavors of the sun. It is essential to share food and experiences with people, the act of eating is very intimate. We can leave behind the time when having a meal was a mindless activity and get back to living and celebrating with food.

The et Oliva line is available in stores like MOM’s Organic Market, Foxtrot, Broad Branch Market, Each Peach, Dent Place Market, and others. 

et Oliva Turkish Lavosh Crackers

Discover more from Flights and Foods

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

4,844 Comments

  • bluetooth vape

    Hello there, I found your web site by way of Google at the same time as searching for a related matter, your website came up, it appears great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.

  • Sari Ivans

    Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My blog site is in the very same niche as yours and my visitors would genuinely benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Appreciate it!

  • mp3juices

    Wow, incredible blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is great, let alone the content!

  • BEASTFORCE REVIEW

    Man is said to seek happiness above all else, but what if true happiness comes only when we stop searching for it? It is like trying to catch the wind with our hands—the harder we try, the more it slips through our fingers. Perhaps happiness is not a destination but a state of allowing, of surrendering to the present and realizing that we already have everything we need.

  • long distance moving company

    I loved up to you’ll obtain carried out right here. The caricature is attractive, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you would like be delivering the following. sick indubitably come further before once more since precisely the same just about very often within case you defend this hike.

  • Mitolyn

    Thank you for every other informative site. The place else could I am getting that type of info written in such an ideal way? I’ve a venture that I’m just now working on, and I’ve been on the glance out for such info.

  • Glyco Shield

    You actually make it appear really easy along with your presentation but I to find this matter to be actually one thing that I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and extremely huge for me. I am looking ahead for your next publish, I’ll attempt to get the dangle of it!

  • EchoXen

    This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your wonderful post. Also, I have shared your site in my social networks!

  • primeboime

    5 stars
    Appreciating the commitment you put into your website and in depth information you provide.
    It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same out of
    date rehashed material. Fantastic read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding
    your RSS feeds to my Google account.

  • BeastForce

    Hey there, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, great blog!

  • iptv canais assinar

    Great beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your site, how can i subscribe for a blog site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error: Content is protected !!