This new store in Fresno’s River Park has all kinds of gifts – especially for foodies

A new locally owned gift store in River Park has just about everything you could imagine putting in a gift basket.

There are candles, soaps, ornate notebooks, gemstones, jewelry, live plants and all kinds of glassware. But the food-related gifts are front and center here, especially the olive oil.

Zaytoona opened earlier this month, between Sunglass Hut and The Children’s Place, across from Macy’s.

No relation to the restaurant of the same name in Hanford, Zaytoona the store is named after the Arabic word for olive oil.

There are at least 14 kinds of olive oil packaged by a Yuba City company under the Zaytoona name. They include flavored olive oils like garlic, Thai chile, Tuscan herb, even vanilla, and butter-flavored olive oil.

Zaytoona is owned by Sumer and Jamal Taha, who also own Collect Coffee Bar on Campus Pointe by Fresno State. The two shopping centers have the same owners, Lance Kashian & Co., which made it easier to open a second business, Sumer Taha said.

Jamal Taha grew up picking olives and making olive oil in the Middle East.

His wife, born and raised and California, patterned the store after the boutiques her family liked to visit that had olive oil tasting in places like Carmel and Sausalito.

“Being Arab, it’s in our blood,” she said. “Anywhere that has olive oil instantly attracts us.”

The owners are waiting on a permit until they can do olive oil tasting, but customers can buy bottles of it now.

The store also sells several types of balsamic vinegar, (traditional and white raspberry, for example), pesto, crackers and unique dishes to serve it on.

The store sells fresh flowers too. A “do-it-yourself flower bar” is coming soon where customers can put together their own bouquets.

The store also has a kids section and a shelf full of copper pots used for making Turkish coffee.

Details: Zaytoona is at 85 E. Via del Oro in River Park. 559-492-2628. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays.