Savory Spice Shop in Denver’s South Platte River Valley neighborhood is the kind of place where I could spend hours and lots of money, if I allowed myself. It’s the kind of place that tells me, Yes, Beth, you can be a great cook. You can arrange dinner parties for 10 people and make the main course for the first time that night, and it will be perfect. And to do so, you need to buy this salt,

and these two (comparison and contrast-ion are necessary to achieve perfection)

and some of these chiles.

And you might want to read all these books first (except the one on Colorado place-names). And after that, try the salad dressing mixes and the stocks and the lobster mushrooms and the curries and the BBQ powders. And the “Italian herbs” containing French thyme, Greek oregano, and California basil. (I got a kick out of that.)

What usually happens in stores like these is that I buy far too many herbs and spices (this picture was taken from the cash register), and they sit in my spice drawer and lose flavor. For example, the main reason I went to the Savory Spice Store in the first place was that I checked the date on my dried onions, and it was 2006. The date on the mustard was 1991.

On Sunday, however, I restrained myself for once. I bought the “Toasted Onion, Sliced,” because the clerk said it would add brightness to chicken stock (and I actually have a chicken in my fridge waiting to be cooked in the crock-pot and then turned into stock), and the Summer Savory (also called “Bohnenkraut, or the “bean herb”) because I have never used it before.

Check out the recipes on the Savory Spice Shop website. The sweet potato bisque sounds decadent.

Speaking of decadent, one of the best things about this store is the fact it wraps around the back of Wen Chocolates, which you peek into through that window.

In this picture you can see Wen’s taupe awnings just next door. Of course, I couldn’t resist Wen, but more about that on Thursday.

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  1. Catherine January 20, 2010 at 7:46 am - Reply

    I’ve not been in savory but have benefitted from their offerings. I like that you can get just a little. Need a little saffron? Okay. Just two vanilla beans? Okay.

  2. Beth Partin January 20, 2010 at 10:05 am - Reply

    Yeah, and they say they grind the spices fresh every week. I don’t know if that applies to everything in the store–I assume it doesn’t apply to the salts and peppercorns and stuff that’s already packaged.

  3. NPT January 20, 2010 at 10:03 pm - Reply

    I have especially missed shopping for dried peppers at this little store; your photos capture the enchantment of the place perfectly. Well done!

    btw — I highly recommend the Himalayan Pink.

  4. Beth Partin January 20, 2010 at 10:19 pm - Reply

    NPT, I like your photographs and wanted to leave a comment but was unable. I have also taken many photos of the Millennium Bridge, but they’re not as good as yours.

  5. […] I was relieved during my visit to Denver’s Savory Spice Shop in the South Platte River Valley neighborhood on Sunday to find Wen doing a brisk business. The […]

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