Photo Credit: Jean-Gabriel Fernandez
Whether you’re looking for butternut squash pasta sauce, wild boar jerky or a utopia of hot sauces, Just Not Salt & Pepper (4162 S. 108th St., Greenfield) goes above and beyond common supermarket snacks and condiments. “This is the kind of store I wanted to open, with not the stuff you’d find at Pick ’n Save,” said owner Tim Novak, who operates the store with his wife, Gail, and daughter, Cassandra.
The 2,000-square-foot store stocks artisan products like popcorn, nuts, sausage snacks, cocktail mixes, old-time candy, oils and vinegars, barbecue sauces, coffee, seasonings and over 480 hot sauces. Just Not Salt & Pepper also has their own line of spices and flavoring extracts such as brandy, vanilla or lemon.
Novak began selling at 7 Mile Fair before moving to a brick and mortar location on 84th and Morgan in 2016. He outgrew that space and didn’t have much room to introduce new product. While dropping off items at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore location on 108th St., he noticed a neighboring space was available. He moved Just Not Salt & Pepper to their current location on Highway 100 this past July.
Hot sauce has become one of America’s favorite condiments, and Novak said that, until recently, people seemed to just want the hottest sauces they could find. Now his clientele includes hot sauce aficionados seeking all types of flavor profiles, so he’s got a wall of sauces to fulfill any cooking need, or to satisfy tastes ranging from mild, medium, hot or tongue-melting. For those fairly new to the world of hot sauces or who just want to try something new, Novak has many bottles already open for people to taste. “If somebody sees something on the shelf they want to try, and if I have two or more bottles available, I’ll open it,” he said.
Customers can find Pennsylvania-based Torchbearer Sauces’ Zombie Apocalypse, with 16 ghost chili pods in every bottle. Hellfire, out of Detroit, has a line that includes manzana, poblano or cherry bomb. The Queen Majesty’s red habanero and black coffee hot sauce features dark roasted coffee-infused vinegar, Bragg's apple cider vinegar and pure balsamic vinegar. Widow’s No Survivors or Ass in the Tub are just a couple more choices among the myriad of hot sauces. Badgers fans will appreciate Collegiate Hot Sauce University of Wisconsin Badgers, with Bucky displayed on the bottle.
Does Novak have a favorite? “I like a lot of them,” he said, “Queen Majesty has a lot of good ones that have a good roasted flavor. I also like Hellfire, and the Kentucky Straight Bourbon line is good.”
Barbecue and wing sauces include national companies as well as local favorites like Milwaukee’s own Speed Queen Bar-B-Q. The store also has an array of gourmet mustards; savory or fruit dip mixes; cheese ball mixes; and baking mixes. They’ve also got an assortment of honey, oils and vinegars. Bagged coffee includes Deadly Grounds or Wake the Fuck Up, with 25% more caffeine.
Just Not Salt & Pepper is not exclusively a grocer; they also have shields, swords and collectible knives available near the back of the store. Novak credits Cassandra with finding many of the products. “People are looking for something a little different, and if we don’t have it, I can usually get it,” she said. They hear about other products from current vendors and often add new items. Novak said they would soon feature Runamok Maple syrups aged in bourbon or whiskey barrels. Custom gift boxes will be available later this year.
For more information, visit justnotsaltandpepper.com.
