New Mich. Penzeys is open!!!!

[breadmama]

...in beautiful Beverly Hills, Michigan! It's been open for a week. Hours: M-Sat 10-6. Located at the corner of 13 Mile Road and Southfield, down the strip from Borders.

I checked it out today and it was great. Looking forward to spending more time and money there in the coming weeks and months!

Just wanted to share the good news.

[SooCookie]

Thanks, Laurie! I just may have to take a really long lunch one of these days and check it out. As if my shelves already full of spices are not enough...

[badunnin]

Oh my - and I have Friday off.

Natasha! Quick! Come visit!

[Schmee]

I have been stalking them for months and the week that I do not have time, they open! I will need to make a stop sometime this week since I have never been to one. Can't wait!

[cangoss]

Does this mean it's time for the long-delayed Michigan klatch?????

[Sarah]

Oh my - and I have Friday off.

Natasha! Quick! Come visit!

I'm a little hurt... but it sounds like I may have to plan a trip that way soon.

[badunnin]

I'm a little hurt... but it sounds like I may have to plan a trip that way soon.

Sarah - would you like to place an order? I'm headed your way soon enough as well! And if you come here, you have a place to stay.

[Natasha]

Oh my - and I have Friday off.

Natasha! Quick! Come visit!

Hmm... I'm taking Tuesday off Okay, guess that doesn't help because you'll be back at school by then!

Ahem, Sarah -- checked out the Supper Club board lately? Your presence is required!

[Sarah]

Thanks for the heads up. I would have missed the supper club thread.

As for an order, I need to get everything lined up for the church before what I really need. So, I'll let you know Bethany

[SandyM]

WORD OF MOUTH: Allspice and more

Food lovers flock to the new Penzeys store in Beverly Hills
September 20, 2005

BY SYLVIA RECTOR
FREE PRESS FOOD WRITER

They walk in and their eyes sweep every corner of the store; many have been waiting for this moment for months. Then the spicy, complex, almost intoxicating scent of the place hits them. And nearly every time, they inhale a little more deeply, smile happily and pull out a shopping list.

I've seen it happen over and over at the new Penzeys store in Beverly Hills, where cooks from all over southeastern Michigan and northern Ohio have been coming on spice-buying pilgrimages since the store opened in mid-August.

At the first Penzeys Spices store in metro Detroit, at the corner of 13 Mile and Southfield roads in Beverly Hills, Michael Rintz checks the catalog as clerk Ann Murphy helps him fill his list of 21 items. "I've been shopping from the catalog for years and years," says the Westland lawyer.

Penzeys is a Wisconsin catalog company whose name has been passed from cook to cook for more than 10 years as a source for fresh spices of almost every kind, available in quantities from tiny to large at prices well below those of most name-brand spices in supermarkets.

In the past few years, though, the company has begun opening retail stores -- shops that have an amazing moths-to-flame effect on cooks, especially those who already know Penzeys products.

"I came to see the store. I've been shopping from the catalog for years and years," attorney Michael Rintz of Westland said one morning last week, when I asked him what had brought him there. "I have my list," he said, showing me three sheets of notepaper listing 21 items.

"We've been waiting for them to open," added his sister, Sharon Rintz of Canton, a home baker who's also a longtime catalog customer. "I was never much of a cinnamon person until I tried theirs, and I've ordered all the cinnamons they have."

Penzeys, of course, has four kinds: Ceylon, China cassia, Vietnamese and Korintje cassia. Some are available in ground and stick forms. There are four kinds of whole black peppercorns, more than a dozen curry powders, 14 kinds of whole or ground chiles, four chili seasoning powders, four kinds of salt, and on and on. And because all the herbs, spices and blends are displayed in apothecary jars, you can sniff them to sense their flavor characteristics and differences. Spice sniffability is one of the store's main attractions.

Products are arranged by type and use -- dried herbs; herb blends for salads; spices and extracts for baking; savory seasoning blends for cooking fish and meats; sausage-making seasonings; an amazing selection of peppercorns and lots more.

None have added MSG, anticaking agents or preservatives.

Store manager Margie Simon of Royal Oak says the store has more than 250 items; most are available in at least a couple of sizes, and some come in three or four sizes. There are attractive gift collections (Spicy Wedding, for example) in boxes and crates ranging from $11.95 to $179, or you can make up your own.

So what are people buying?

"People really like the blends," Simon says, indicating items such as the Bicentennial rub for chicken, Northwoods seasoning for fish and chicken, Florida Seasoned Pepper with orange and lemon peel, and many others. They're appealing because it's easier to reach for one spice container rather than three or four to season chicken, add the right flavor notes to fish or give some personality to steamed vegetables, she said. It makes cooking quick and easy, especially if you aren't all that confident about which herbs go with which food.

"I'm also selling a lot of vanilla; our extracts are really good. And almost everybody who smells the smoked Spanish paprika buys some," Simon said. (I did; it adds a light smokiness without being too assertive.)

One more anecdote to show that Penzeys has special cachet: The first time I stopped in a few weeks ago, I ran into Melissa Clifford of Rochester Hills, Yvonne Womack of Milford and Carol Paul of Beverly Hills, shopping together like old friends. It turns out they had known each other for years through an online recipe club, but they had never gotten together before. After all that time, it took Penzeys' arrival in metro Detroit to get them into their cars to finally meet someplace.

The last I saw of them, each had a basket filled with jars and packets of spices, and they were talking about restaurants, recipes and where to go to lunch.

The shop is at 17712 W. Thirteen Mile, at Southfield Road, in Beverly Hills. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 248-647-6177.

[Schmee]

Thanks for the article Sandy.
I have not gotten there yet because I am still figuring out what I want to buy. I'm afraid if I walk in without some kind of plan, I will just go nuts and waaay overspend!

[breadmama]

I've been in there a few times...I'm in the "spread out the purchases to avoid sticker shock " camp. It's such a neat place. I am really glad it was featured in the paper. Thanks for posting, Sandy!

I, too, bought the Smoked Spanish Paprika, and the first thing we tried it on was hummus...mmmm. We kept adding more because people were scraping it off the top layer of hummus!

Anyone want to plan a rendezvous to compare notes and make recommendations to each other?