Glenside native turned expat and now bicontinental entrepreneur, Alexa Dombkoski, converted a pandemic pivot into a business venture. She has launched Bellecento Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a luxe first cold-pressed olive oil harvested last fall on a single estate in the Tuscan countryside.

After a study abroad semester in Italy and graduating from college in 2013, Dombkoski decided to leave her home in the Philadelphia suburbs. She grew up in the restaurant industry, courtesy of her father, Michael Dombkoski, an industry vet and former co-owner of the trailblazing restaurant, ¡Pasión! She then moved to Florence, Italy, nearly a decade ago.

Over the past nine years, Dombkoski worked various jobs in hospitality and tourism, serving in numerous bars and restaurants in Florence. She also offered tours of Tuscany on a fleet of traditional bicycles and Vespas.

Those excursions were halted by COVID.

Taking advantage of the connections she made over the years — and her knowledge of food and the Tuscan countryside — Dombkoski set her sights on Reggello, or as the locals call it, La Città dell’Olio (the city of oil). It is the fountainhead of extra virgin olive oil and birthplace of the newest premium cooking and dipping oil, Bellecento Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

“I’ve always said I wanted to build a bridge between my two homes, my birthplace in Philadelphia and my adopted home of Florence,” said Dombkoski. “And food has always been a vehicle of bringing friends and family together in Italian culture. I want Americans to have access to the same high-quality ingredients that Italians do, and if you ask any Florentine where their olive oil is from, they’re going to say Reggello. That’s where you go if you’re a local.”

The first batch of Bellecento was made in Fall 2021 during harvest season. It was issued from a single Tuscan estate located 21 miles southeast of Florence in Reggello, a location noted by the the National Association of Olive Oil, for its high-quality olive trees.

EVO Reggello oil has organoleptic characteristics and low acidity thanks to the altitude, the temperate climate, and a soil unique to Tuscany. The olives that grow there are imbued with flavor that results from the area’s very low content of limestone and high content of quartz.

Bellecento is an extra virgin oil, meaning it is first cold-pressed; the olives are milled only once in the extraction process, and the olives never exceed 80° F. The oil extracted from the first milling is believed to be the highest quality and purity. This method ensures that the oil’s acidity level stays as low, an important standard for premium extra virgin olive oil. 

“Seventy percent of the olive oil labeled ‘extra virgin’ on U.S. shelves is actually fraudulent, diluted with, at best, cheaper quality oil, and, at worst, sunflower oil that has been colored and scented with chemicals,” said Dombkoski. “It’s getting harder to find authentic 100 percent made-in-Italy olive oil. But I’m hoping to begin to change that one bottle at a time.”

Bellecento is intensely fruity and a bit peppery with notes of almond and artichoke, It is crafted with Frantoio, Leccio del Corno, Moraiolo and Pendolino olives.

This luxe oil can be used in cooking (i.e., risotto), baking (i.e., an olive oil lemon cake), mixing cocktails (i.e., an olive oil washed martini), drizzled on a salad or used for dipping with a crusty loaf of bread.

The Bellecento bottle pops with a lime green label and chic and unique white opaque vessel, shaped more like a bottle of alcohol than a typical bottle of olive oil, meant to be displayed on shelves and dinner tables.

“Bello means ‘beautiful’ in Italian, and Italy is often described as the bel paese or ‘the beautiful country.’ We chose belle instead of bello, which is the feminine plural because the women of Italy are responsible for carrying on the rich traditions of Italian culture through food and family.

“And, finally, olive trees can last hundreds of years, which is why we used cento. While the olive flowers are very delicate, the roots of the olive tree are near indestructible, and this juxtaposition between delicacy and strength is the perfect reflection of the oil,” she said.

Bellecento is available nationwide for $39/500 mL here, and on shelves at Local PHL Market on Pine Street in Center City, Philadelphia and Sweet Magnolia in Glenside, Pa. 

More information is online.