The Story of SMÁLÀ

After exploring cuisines from around the world and moving to back to New York City (for the 3rd time) we were inspired by the idea of the fusing Chinatown and Little Italy; two distinct neighborhoods who define the Lower Eastside.  The thought came after eating at a local Italian restaurant and trying Calabrian chili oil for the first time. It was smooth and we drizzled it out of a bottle. The idea came to mind, "The two cuisines are so similar but why don't Chinese people have this?" 

With the help of our friends at Create With Cura, we teamed up with a Greek-Italian kitchen and started our journey. After almost 14 months of trying different versions, tasting it with friends & chefs, experimenting with different bottles, we finally nailed the recipe.  

We describe SMÁLÀ as a cross between Sichuan and Calabrian chili oil.  It's designed with a special blend of aromatics, spices, followed by a smooth mala numbing buzz (basically it's umami + flavor + kick). We made sure not to skimp on the quality of ingredients as we pride ourselves that foodies and professional chefs alike have said "it doesn't taste cheap". 

We encourage you to generously drizzle it onto pasta, dumplings, pizza, sandwiches, tacos, noodles, rice, (insert fav carb)! You can even mix it into mayo, ketchup and honey to SMÁLÀ up your favorite condiment.

Thank you for coming along with us on this journey through our first food product.  Our goal as content creators and sauce makers has always been to deliver something thoughtful. Hopefully SMÁLÀ is it.

BTW here's a video at the factory where all the magic happens!

Andrew is stirring the aromatics hmmmm