Spectrum of flavor: Business sells range of unique spices

Foodies, weekend kitchen warriors and even once-a-year holiday bakers might find just the seasonings they’re looking for at The Spice Outlet, 6960 W. Warm Springs Road, Suite 150.

When hotel and restaurant spice supplier Al Dentes’ Provisions expanded its warehouse, distribution and packaging space in December 2013, there was finally room to act on an idea percolating in owner Paul Murphy’s head for years: a spice outlet open to the public.

“They’re getting everything that’s used in the hotels and restaurants here,” Murphy said. “All of our ingredients that we bring in for blends are available here in this store. There’s a lot of crazy things that people have never seen before — lemon juice powder, hickory smoke powder, vinegar powder, soy sauce powder, Worcestershire powder, and in the vinegars, there’s every flavor of vinegar. There’s malt, there’s rice wine, there’s balsamic — you can get it all in the powdered form.”

Manager Wendy Rusinski helps customers navigate the steel shelves packed with plastic jars of everything from chamomile flowers and Hungarian paprika to Chinese cinnamon bark.

“I just sold some beet powder,” Rusinski said. “It has the same natural health benefits as beets, but people will use it in red velvet cupcakes and red velvet cakes instead of using the artificial dye.”

A shaker with sample spices sits next to each jar so customers can smell it and shake out a sample. A sample station allows visitors to try out dip mixes and hot sauce blends.

Al Dentes’ general manager, Summerlin resident Matt McClure, said that while there are other places in town where people can shop for spices in bulk, The Spice Market is unique.

“We’re recipe-friendly,” he said. “At WinCo, you can’t walk in with a recipe and hand it to somebody and say, ‘Hey, I need just the bare amount to make this recipe one time.’ Can’t do it. They’ll laugh at you. Here, you walk in with your recipe, you hand it to Wendy and she’ll say, ‘OK, give me five minutes. I’ll knock all this out.’ Five minutes later, she has a little bag of each thing, she gives you a grand total of something like $4.95 and you’re out the door. For less than $5, you can put a new recipe through its paces vs. invest $30 in all the spices you need.”

Spices are sold by the smidgen, pinch, dash and ounce.

“We sold one individual clove to a lady one day,” McClure said.

“You can buy exactly what you want,” said Murphy, also a Summerlin resident, “because why waste all that jar when you’re not going to use it?”

McClure said the spice quality is better than standard offerings, too. He said most spices are grown in Third World countries.

“A lot of companies, even big companies, ship in spices direct without metal detection, micro analysis, allergen detection, none of that,” he said. “We hang our hat on our approved supplier program. That’s how we keep ourselves safe and our customers safe.”

Spices are shipped to the supplier whole, not ground, to ensure product purity, and they’re shipped shortly after harvest.

“Unlike a lot of big spice companies, we pack and blend to sell,” McClure said. “I don’t want to pack and blend to warehouse. Often times, what I get from my supplier was harvested within the last three months and processed within the last month.”

He said that by contrast, many grocery store spices don’t hit the shelves until more than a year after harvest.

Murphy, a culinary institute-trained chef, started Al Dentes’ about 13 years ago.

“I started as a little one-man operation, where I drove the truck, I made the deliveries and everything,” he said.

Working in his home kitchen, he developed spice blends such as Frank’s Frickin Rib Rub, a concoction named in honor of the mess it made when the plastic bag in which he was mixing it exploded all over his kitchen.

The business grew, moved to its current location about four years ago and now supplies restaurant chains large and small, distributors in California and Hawaii and Las Vegas resorts, from Station Casinos to The Venetian.

Murphy has a research and development lab where he cooks up new blends and “plays” with exotic ingredients, such as the Peruvian chilies that he said are hot right now.

“There’s new things coming out all the time because as we develop new flavors we bring them in here, so it’s ever-changing,” he said. “This is not stuff you’ll find in the supermarket.”

The Spice Outlet is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, visit thespiceoutlet.com or call 702-534-7883.

To reach View contributing reporter Ginger Meurer, email gmeurer@viewnews.com. Find her on Twitter: @gingermmm.