Oil, vinegar and spice store Crescendo held their grand opening last Tuesday, bringing the unique German franchise to Canada for the first time. Proprietors and Revelstoke residents Elvira Brunner and Daniel Weber leapfrogged what many might consider more traditional test markets such as Vancouver or Toronto to their newly adopted home, saying it was a blend of lifestyle and future expansion plans that made the mountain location the right place to start.

Crescendo is probably best described as a high-end bulk food store that specializes exclusively in oils, vinegars, spices and spice blends. It’s all packaged together with a number of touches to make the products more accessible to those looking to experiment, including samples and recipes to go with all their products.

The list of organic oils is extensive, including more common straight oils such as flax oil, almond oil, peanut oil and a broad variety of regional olive oils from Italy, Spain, Greece and more. The varieties extend into kinds likely only familiar to the tongues of those who dabble in gourmet foods, such as Styrian pumpkinseed oil, thistle oil and apricot seed oil. A separate line of infused olive oils blend flavours such as lemon, peperoncino, porcini, tangerine and truffle with their selection of extra virgin olive oils.

The oils are located in ceramic containers affixed to the wall and are dispensed through a small tap. They also have a selection of health oils that are stored in a refrigerator in the shop.

As far as the spice selection goes, try wrapping your tongue around Hawaiian sea salt, Peruvian salt, chimichurri, wasabi powder, Szechuan pepper, and saffron. The spice section also contains a wide variety of blended seasonings and rubs that will help you whip up more exotic foreign dishes. A cross section includes Argentinean steak rub, pineapple curry blend, regional curry blends from Thailand, India and even England, Asian satay spices and more.

Spices can be bought in a variety of sizes, including as little as 10 grams. That’s a good thing considering a few of the higher end spices range up to $1,000 per kilogram. Don’t let that scare you away, as many of the common spices are priced comparable to other stores.

Their vinegar selection also somewhat parallels their oil selection, including classic regional Italian vinegars, and also vinegars flavoured with fruits like mango, grape, cherry and raspberry, as well as more unconventional varieties such as beer, fig and sherry-flavoured, to name a few. Many of the oils are aged in oak barrels.

You can buy refillable spice and oil containers at the shop, and they also have a variety of gift packages and can make customized gift baskets and more.

Each of the oils, vinegars and spices in Crescendo comes with a small recipe card that features a description of product on the front and a recipe on the back.

“A lot of people ask us, ‘Why Revelstoke?’” says Weber. In short, it was the lifestyle, and the people, they say.

The couple, who originally hail from Switzerland, purchased a home here about three years ago. Both are skiers and snowboarders and were attracted to the mountain lifestyle.

After retiring from previous careers, they were interested in getting into business for themselves, eventually settling on attaining the Crescendo franchise master license for Canada. They spent the past three years working to get the business off the ground. Crescendo, along with parallel business vom Fass (which also sells liquors) has outlets across Germany, Switzerland, other European countries, the U.S. and in Asia. The Revelstoke location is the first franchise in Canada, and Brunner and Weber have ambitions plans to open 10 shops in the next decade. Starting close to home and getting hands-on experience at the business will help them with their expansion. “It’s good for us to start slow,” says Weber. They also hope to win converts among the health conscious and plan to also target the tourist market.

Crescendo is located at 311 First Street West in the new Silver Bear building.