Mediterranean Restaurant To Open Daytona Location
Oliv Epicurean Grill, a Mediterranean restaurant, opened Aug. 3 at a new location on LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach.
Dan Moon, the owner, conceived the idea when Olive was in college when she made a deal with her roommate Sam to cook if Mr. Moon bought food. This will be the catalyst for this inventive restaurant.
“Sam was an exceptional cook, his mother taught him everything she knew, and since college I’ve eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world and I’ve never met the caliber of his food,” Mr Moon said. So he called on a longtime friend and the creation of Oliv Epicurean Grill was born. The concept is simple; fresh, healthy, high-quality food at a fast pace.
“There was nothing there and I knew a kitchen like this would be perfect in this situation,” Mr Moon said.
Born and raised in Chicago, he opened his first location in Holly Hill in 2014, and the location became so popular that it drew people from all over and helped revitalize the city.
According to Mr. Moon, the Holly Hill location will become an emergency location. Olive has always been known for its cleanliness, but they have temporarily closed Holly Hill for a good cleaning and renovation. It will reopen in early September with a limited menu.
In 2018, Mr. Moon decided to try his hat in Palm Beach and spent about a million dollars to open a healthy food concept.
“We couldn’t win that market, organic and hormone-free didn’t seem that important, and then came Covid,” he said. “Because of the prolonged Covid, we had to make a very difficult decision and we had to leave. It was very difficult, but the right decision.”
After the market stabilized with the pandemic abating, he wanted to try to expand again. It has agreed with Unicorp National Development to use the LPGA property in 2019.
“It was a forest back then, but it looks like it’s going to be a trust area,” Mr Moon said.
Olive is about the only stand-alone restaurant in the area surrounded by national chains, and it’s thriving. They don’t plan to stop there, he said, and are actively considering expansion, and some areas of interest include Port Orange, Durham Park, Ponte Verde and Jacksonville.
“The LPGA location is bright, happy and a good environment and the customers love it! We give them the option to choose a pre-made meal or pick things up for themselves,” said Jordan Hannun, a server at the restaurant. “We have fresh vegetables chopped daily, vegetarian options, falafel, grilled vegetables and fresh meat to go with it. We don’t use a lot of salt and it’s a healthy… energizing type of food.”
Mediterranean cuisine is a diet inspired by the eating habits of people living near the Mediterranean Sea. It was originally formulated in the 1960s; he used the cuisines of Greece, Italy, France and Spain and incorporated others such as Turkey, the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa and Portugal.
“We were told about Olive by word of mouth,” said customer Stacey Finnelli. “We love this type of food for its health benefits and great flavor and spices.”
Evidence suggests that this diet reduces the risk of heart attacks and is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, cognitive impairment and depressive disorders.
Olive’s menu consists of things like Tabouli; Fattoush, Caesar and Greek salads; Lemon and red lentil soups; and Coconut, Granola, Peanut Butter and Tropical Fruit Acai Bowls. Bowls and wraps include vegetables, chicken, steak, Kefta (ground beef and lamb), Al Pastor (prime beef), chicken shawarma and lamb.
“I like that they cook the meat right in front of you instead of some stranger and the meat comes out the back,” said Tonya Logan, a new Olive customer. “We like something useful, good and fast, that’s why we’re here.”
Some of the popular original items are Baba Ganoush, Toom, Kibbe, Falafel Taboli, Falafel and they offer Dairy Free Kito and Sugar Free.
“We have a lot of resources around us, so we’re working with local farmers for meat and produce,” Mr Moon said. “This is premium food and we start with premium ingredients. We use organic and local products whenever possible, but if there are not enough local ingredients, we don’t.”
The blueberry, red velvet and carrot cake is keto, vegan, dairy-free and sugar-free, and they also offer New York cheese, sea salt cheese and baklava.
“We have two brick-and-mortar restaurants and a food truck that is our mobile restaurant,” he said. “We use it for special events. We recently had a Walmart Employee Appreciation Day and B. We’ve been to events for Brown Factories and we also provide food trucks for weddings, proms and parties. On Labor Day, we will be located on the beach behind the Hilton Oceanfront.”
Oliv Epicurean Grill is located at 2071 LPGA Blvd., Daytona Beach and Suite 300 at 701 Ridgewood Ave., Holly Hill. For more information, visit olivgrill.com.