Santa Rosa is about to get a whole lot spicier.
Sonoma Spice Queen Wind McAlister has announced a second location for her hand-crafted spices, teas and rubs at 404 Mendocino Ave. downtown. And she’s well aware the space’s former tenant was the decidedly spicy Kozy Kar nightclub.
After renovations (and, perhaps, a thorough smudging), she’s aiming for a mid-June opening.
McAlister had been scouting Healdsburg and Sonoma when the Santa Rosa storefront became available. With the city losing both Savory Spice and Penzeys in recent years, she saw an opening for her small-batch blends.
“I figured it was just meant to be,” she said.
McAlister has been grinding whole spices and herbs by hand for more than 13 years and was among the first in Sonoma County to secure a Cottage Food Operator Permit in 2013, allowing nonperishable foods to be produced in a home kitchen. She now works out of a commercial kitchen.
Today, she offers more than 50 single spices — including saffron, paprika and cinnamon — along with dozens of housemade blends and rubs, each ground, mixed, packaged and labeled by hand.
Her bestseller is also the most labor-intensive: vadouvan French curry, a layered blend of nearly a dozen ingredients, including turmeric, ginger, coriander, garlic and curry leaves. Other global mixes include Middle Eastern za’atar, Ethiopian berbere and Lebanese sabah baharat, all available at her Petaluma shop, 9 Fourth St.
“We make everything ourselves, and we’re known for spice blends that are truly authentic,” she said. “It’s not mass-produced somewhere in the Midwest.”