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

  • nachnamen herkunft

    I simply had to appreciate you again. I do not know the things I could possibly have used without the actual secrets revealed by you on such problem. Certainly was a very hard case in my position, nevertheless looking at your skilled way you dealt with that made me to leap for happiness. I am just thankful for this guidance and even trust you recognize what a great job you are doing training people thru your web page. More than likely you have never encountered any of us.

  • Gelatin Trick

    There are definitely plenty of details like that to take into consideration. That is a nice level to carry up. I supply the ideas above as common inspiration however clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where an important factor will likely be working in trustworthy good faith. I don?t know if finest practices have emerged around things like that, however I’m certain that your job is clearly identified as a good game. Each girls and boys feel the affect of only a moment’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.

  • Gelatin Trick Recipe

    obviously like your web-site but you have to check the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come back again.

  • Gelatin Trick

    fantastic put up, very informative. I’m wondering why the other experts of this sector do not notice this. You must continue your writing. I am confident, you have a huge readers’ base already!

  • Gelatin Trick

    certainly like your web site but you have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I will definitely come back again.

  • gelatin trick

    I’ll right away snatch your rss as I can’t in finding your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please permit me recognise in order that I may subscribe. Thanks.

  • Preparatório Instituto Federal PB 2025

    This is the proper weblog for anybody who desires to search out out about this topic. You realize so much its virtually laborious to argue with you (not that I really would need…HaHa). You undoubtedly put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, simply nice!

  • usahampo

    I conceive this internet site has got some real good information for everyone. “Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils but present evils triumph over it.” by La Rochefoucauld.

  • lgobento

    I will right away seize your rss feed as I can not in finding your email subscription hyperlink or newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly permit me realize in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.

Leave a Reply

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

error: Content is protected !!