When our family gets together we enjoy good conversation and good food.

These are our passions. And it’s the same way we feel about our company, Little Village Spices. We want to open up a world of ethnic and exotic flavors and unleash them in your kitchen.

Elia was raised in the Midwest, where homegrown food is abundant and restaurants even more so. Elia’s mother and stepfather ran a produce business and the kids were in and out of restaurants, like other children visited playgrounds. Elia’s mother thought it was important to teach her four children the importance of good food by eating at diverse restaurants. By the age of 7, Elia was accompanying his mother to community center cooking classes.

The family’s wholesale produce supply business gave Elia and his siblings the chance to help their parents pack the orders and make deliveries. They often were rewarded with treats from the kitchens of local restaurants and they got to hobnob with the chefs. Over the years, they got a first-rate culinary education—learning about the time and effort that goes into cooking and the high quality ingredients needed to bring good food to life.

Coming from an ethnically diverse family, Elia says he’s always been interested in blending cultures and trying out new traditions. “It’s kind of like a fusion restaurant,” he says. “We’re a fusion family.”

Vy, Elia’s wife and partner, was born in Vietnam and grew up eating traditional Vietnamese foods—although the family moved to Wisconsin in 1975 when she was just one-and-a-half years old. “My mom did all the cooking when I was growing up. I didn’t learn how to cook until later.” Vy says.

“Later” came when she met Elia at the University of Minnesota. At the time, Vy was studying dance and theater. But soon enough she and Elia became a couple and ran restaurants together. One of seven children, Vy also came from a large family that loved to enjoy a great meal. They were very impressed when they met Elia, who already knew how to hold a pair of chopsticks.

Several years ago, the family purchased a spice blend business from a chef turned herb grower and named it Little Village Spices. Some of the blends were created specifically for certain restaurants, while others were designed to enhance the flavor of a particular dish. (The Cajun chicken is a particular favorite of Elia’s mother!). Elia and Vy decided it was time to make these spices available to retailers, and discerning home cooks like you. So we introduced www.littlevillagespices.com.

Our blend of ethnic backgrounds gives us the same satisfaction as our blended spices. It makes perfect sense in this foodie family that when our son was born, Vy went into labor right after eating a hearty Thanksgiving dinner. And recently, we've added a daughter to the mix. There’s something about good food that brings friends and family even closer together—whether it’s a holiday meal or an informal gathering. We hope you take pleasure in all the spice blends we offer and that you savor your next great meal along with the time you spend with your loved ones.

Best wishes in the kitchen,

Elia and Vy

Reach for your favorite Little Village Spices spice blend and sprinkle on some love.