While we love selling spices online to home chefs, we will never forget where we started — in person, with restaurants. What began as a few wholesale spice orders to restaurants in the Rocky Mountains has grown to more than 400 restaurant partners across the country. We’re inspired by these chefs every day, so we figured it’s only fair to share them with you so you can be inspired in your own kitchen too.
Chad Nelan, Chef & Owner — Elevation Meats
Although Chad started his career as a butcher behind the counter at Tony’s Market, he has been making charcuterie in his home for more than a decade. For the past two years, with his business partner Alex Windes, he runs Elevation Charcuterie and Artisan Meats. It’s become known for its creative flavors that are changing the way you think about salami.
Why do you choose to work with The Spice Guy?
I’ve been working with Zach for about a year now, and there’s a few reasons we decided to switch to The Spice Guy. First, they keep their inventory tight, so we can always count on things being really fresh. We’re all about quality, so that’s a big deal for us. He can also customize – so if I need something like a very specific smoked black pepper, he can make it happen. And, finally, as a small, local business, we get the struggle. We want to do what we can to help other businesses like ours.
What TSG products do you incorporate into your dishes? Do you have a favorite?
We get almost all of our spices from The Spice Guy. We directly import a few things, but I’d say 95% are from them. I love everything from the Calabrian chiles to a simple salt. Oh, and I can’t forget about the ancho chiles (whole or powder).
What do you wish more people knew about using herbs and spices?
To be honest, I don’t cook a whole lot. But I do feel like there are some underrated spices, like my favorite — fennel pollen. It’s versatile and still has the fennel flavor without it being overpowering.
Interested in fennel? Try our fennel seed here.
What are you most excited about right now?
I’m most excited about how excited other people are about our products right now. We’re focused mainly on wholesale, but it’s growing as well as online sales. People are really loving our loving the Calabrese and Mexican Mole Salami.