The Red Stick Spice Company is a place where you can taste artisan olive oils, buy offbeat spices at great prices and smoke out the latest in butt rubs. But this food-lover’s sanctuary, now more than a year old, isn’t so much the result of culinary passion as it is a consequence of keen awareness. Quite simply, Gloria and Lee Easterwood fell into spices and oils while creating resort maps. In the nineties, the Easterwoods had moved to Temecula, Calif., for Lee’s career with Bank of America. The Mississippi natives discovered the area badly needed an accessible resort map to guide newcomers and tourists through the thicket of regional wineries, shops and restaurants. “All we could find back then was photocopied sheets of paper,” recalls Gloria. The couple launched one, and in the process, sold ads to local farmers, wineries, culinary stores, olive oil and vinegar producers. Click here to read how they eventually came to Baton Rouge. To read previous Du Jour features on local chefs and other culinary experts, click here.
Du Jour: Lee and Gloria Easterwood, Red Stick Spice Co.
