Warmly Tossed Olives

Last Thursday, I went to a new wine bar called "Spoke" in Davis Square. They serve - in addition to wine - all these cute plates and snacks. It wasn't a big surprise that one of the snacks were garlic marinated olives - although serving them in a bowl made of olive wood was a nice touch. Anyhow, the surprise came when I put one of them in my mouth. They were warm! In all my times a trying appetizers and small plates at cute little restaurants and wine bars, I had never come across this before. It's just something you don't anticipate - sort of like when you expect to be drinking coffee, but somehow get cola instead - it's a shock.

The warmness brought out the flavor of the olives even more. It seemed that the oil was warmed with garlic as there were a couple pieces of softened whole cloves on the side. The experience was simply magical.