(The Cut)
I have loved olives for as long as I can remember — thanks, mom.  I have had most every variety at some point or another.  Also, if you stuff a soft cheese into an olive invite me over.  But it was not until five or six years ago that I had sauteed olives at a little wine bar in the Sea-Tac Airport.  As this article suggests, I too discovered I had never really eaten olives optimally until that moment.