Our Story
Salute Santé! Cold Pressed Grapeseed Oil is The Chef's Choice Since 1994
It started with a Chefs question: why does America throw away the seeds of the wine harvest?
That question became Salute Santé! and more than 32 years later, it is still The Chef's Choice!
Our Story
It Started with a Chef's Question - why does America throw away the seeds of the wine harvest?
In 1991, Chef Jean-Louis Palladin, the youngest 2 Michelin Star Chef and one of the most celebrated chefs in America, had a problem. He had cooked with grapeseed oil for 25 years, but he could never count on it. Sometimes it was green, sometimes rancid, and sometimes it wasn't available at all.
After meeting Chef Jean-Louis, Austrian-born, European-trained chef Valentin Humer asked the simple question that started everything: why does America throw away the seeds of the wine harvest? Why not make it here, and make a better grapeseed oil, cold pressed, for the chefs who depend on it?
With Nanette by his side, and a taste panel of Jean-Louis Palladin, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud, that question became Salute Santé! in 1994.
Taste Panel Chefs
When we first began our journey to make the best quality grapeseed oil in America back in 1991, we were fortunate to meet Chef Jean-Louis Palladin. Valentin’s best friend was managing the Jean-Louis Restaurant in Washington DC and set up a meeting with Chef.
We discovered that Jean-Louis had been a devoted grapeseed oil user for the last 25 years – the problem was he couldn’t get it consistently! Sometimes it was green, sometimes rancid, or it wasn’t available at all! So Valentin proposed his ultimate plan to Jean-Louis: “Lets make it here in America but cold pressed!” Jean-Louis loved this idea!
Always eager to help small purveyors create the best ingredients for chefs, Chef Jean-Louis picked up the phone to call his chef friends in NY to let them know “I’m here with this Austrian guy who wants to make grapeseed oil here in America”. It was Chefs Jean-Louis Palladin, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud that selected the best grapeseed oil from various options that would become Salute Santé! Produced by an oil making family in Italy, they now utilize our cold pressing technology and still make our Salute Santé! to this day!
SOFI Gold
In 2023 we WON the SOFI AWARD- the Fancy Food industry’s HIGHEST HONOR!
All our years of hard work and our commitment to creating a GREAT tasting, healthy and high quality oil for YOU to enjoy – is acknowledged with this prestigious award.
We are over the moon with gratitude and had lots of fun sharing our Oscar with our super fabulous Chef customers.
