Spice is the variety of life – The Savory Spice Shop

Smell – Also called Olfaction (also known as olfactics; adjectival form: "olfactory") is the sense of smell…. For air-breathing animals, the main olfactory system detects volatile chemicals, and the accessory olfactory system detects fluid-phase chemicals.
(From Wikipedia).

There are some specific locations that a person can identify with the sense of smell alone. Certain bakeries or Italian restaurants immediately come to mind. There is pork store on Arthur Avenue in The Bronx – Calabria's – that smells like no other place on Earth. The soppressatas hanging from the ceiling give it that ambiance which can never be taken away. The aroma hangs heavy in the air, and when you walk in, you are completely inundated by it. It is a cloud of happiness and the anchor of memories.

Bob and Cindy Jones understand the concept and know what it feels like. They are are the proprietors of The Savory Spice Shop in Lafayette Village on Falls of Neuse Road, in North Raleigh, which opened earlier this year. Along the walls are more than 400 spice products. If one could smell colors, this would be IMAX™ 3-D.

"I gave up my suit and tie for an apron," Bob said one recent Friday afternoon. "And I feel better about it." A former IT guy for a big multi-national, Bob faced an employment crisis after a large-ish merger landed in him in the cross-hairs of outsourcing. After much thought and some prayer, he and his wife Cindy decided to look into franchising. The results were predictable.

"My wife and I talked and we said, 'what are we going to do all day? Sit in an office and look at each other.'" Then came the Aha! moment. The Savory Spice Shop in Denver had just started to franchise and they wanted in. The results have been quite good.

"So far this year, we're working to plan," he said. "We really have been blessed"

"The spices are ground weekly," Cindy told me. "We order on Monday and we get them on Friday. Everything's fresh."

But that's just the business back story. The front story slaps you in the face when you open the door – the amazing aroma of 400+ spices and herbs that come at you. And the beauty is not necessarily in their spices but their spice blends, ready-made in jars that can turn simple ingredients into marvelous fare. No thinking required.

"The nice thing is that we're learning from our customers," Cindy said. She recounted a customer who had recently gone hunting and came back with venison. The raw deer was turned into Venison Vindaloo. "Our customers feed us."

Area chefs have discovered The Savory Spice Shop. But don't ask me who. It's a secret.

I asked Cindy the obvious question: how long had she been a foodie? She responded with a smile, and recounted travels in Italy when she was in her 20s, and that she grew up in New Jersey in an Italian family. It was the place, she said, where her mother and grandmother cooked all day. That's just what they did.

"It's is an extension of our home," she said. "It's all about entertaining, about gathering around the table for a meal. That's where families gather, at the table." She looked off for a few seconds, and then turned back. "It's a feel good place." I nodded in agreement. She's right.

As I left, I picked up some Cantanzaro Herbs – sort of an Italian answer to Herbs de Provence. I walked out of the shop, and the smells receded into memory. The regular world had returned and I was confronted with the normal smells of North Raleigh next to a five lane thoroughfare, such as that is. But it's okay, I brought a little bit of happiness home with me in a jar.

The Savory Spice Shop

Lafayette Village

8470 Honeycutt Road, Suite 108

Raleigh, NC 27615

TEL 919-900-8291


Cuisine: A World of Spices

Rating: *****

Prices: $

Atmosphere: Aromatic

Noise level: Normal retail

Open: MON. – THURS 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM; FRI: 10 AM – 7 PM; SAT 10 AM – 5PM; SUN 12 PM -4 PM

Reservations: Come on, it's retail.

Other: Ask questions. They've tasted everything in the shop.

We rank restaurants in five categories: Extraordinary***** Excellent**** Above average*** Average** Fair*