Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/523050
mom's version. In 2011 she teamed up with chef Sam Mason, whose pedigree includes top restaurant WD-50, to develop a recipe. The resulting line: mayo in 10 varieties, including Sriracha, ghost pepper, and white truff le. All are made in a 350-square-foot kitchen that doubles as a retail store, their headquarters since 2012. Most of the 4-ounce jars sell for $5 to $8 apiece, and they are avail- able online as well as at specialty stores including Dean & DeLuca and Whole Foods Market. "We use only natural, non-GMO ingredients, locally sourced when we can," says Valleau, who trained as a designer but has made the food business her fulltime job. The company has developed a strong following. "People at first said it was pretentious," she recalls. "Now they talk about how delicious it is." empiremayo.com HEATONIST Hot sauces from around the world can be found in one tiny storefront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Noah Chaimberg is the heatmeister behind this new hot-sauce emporium, which features a 250-square-foot front section selling more than 100 types of hot sauce from all over the world. "Hot sauce is a product that's generally only sold in a local geographic area and made by one person or restaurant," says Chaimberg, a former chef. "I wanted to create a store that brought the most flavorful varieties to a wider public that appreciates flavor and heat." These qualities are paramount to Chaimberg, as is selling hot sauce that contains only all-natural ingredients—none of the extracts, gums, or preservatives that are common to processed sauc- es. Most of his inventory sells between $8 and $12 a bottle, while rarer imported types like New Zealand's Firewater, made with the hottest chile peppers on earth, can be pricier. While his store is catching on with Williamsburg's foodie cul- ture, Chaimberg has plans to start holding events in the back section of his store. In a backyard area, he's planting a garden to grow chile peppers and experiment with his own house hot sauce. heatonist.com JONTY JACOBS This West Village shop features specialty South African meats. What looks like regular beef jerky behind the counter of this tidy shop is actually a beloved South African meat snack called biltong ("beef strips" in Dutch). The beef, which comes from top sirloin and other choice cuts, is sliced after being cured, not before, like traditional jerky. Biltong and droewors (dried sausage) are the two specialty products made and sold by Jonty Jacobs, opened last year by South African–born Monique St. Luce and her husband, Camran. "Biltong is air-dried in an off-site facility, with no preservatives or additives, then seasoned with salt, pepper, brown sugar, cloves, and our own spice blend," says St. Luce. Biltong comes in lean or regular, and customers can have it sliced thin or cut into chunky or tiny pieces. Prices range from $35 a pound to $85 a pound (or $10.99 for a precut 4-ounce bag), and it has a chewy, robust, but not overwhelming, steak-like taste. St. Luce never intended to be a food purveyor. But after moving to New York to work in finance and then becoming pregnant with her first child, she was hit by strong cravings for the meat she grew up on. Disappointed to find that it was unavailable in the United States, she decided to be the one to introduce it stateside. A year after opening her shop, she has plenty of enthusiastic and curious customers. Online sales are strong too, and a second location in La Jolla, California, should be open by summer. jontyjacobs.com "People at frst said it was pretentious," she recalls. "Now they talk about how delicious it is." SUMMER 2015 117