Classically trained and world-traveled, Chef Lior Lev Sercarz has been making his signature spice blends under the La Boîte brand since 2006. Lior grew up in Israel at a time when the country boasted over seventy different ethnic groups, introducing him to a wondrous variety of bold flavors and spice-centric foods. Educated in France and traveling throughout Europe, South America, and Asia, he spent years training with spice mentor Olivier Roellinger as well as Daniel Boulud before founding La Boîte in NYC.
New York-based La Boîte is a global spice brand for professional chefs, culinary enthusiasts, and home cooks featuring single and crafted spice blends sourced from the highest quality farmers and producers from around the world. La Boîte works to inspire how people think about, cook, and experience food and its unique, premium spice blends transform any dish from every day into unforgettable.
Lior has collaborated with culinary icons and artisans known as the “Spice Masters” to create unique spice blends and products, each telling its own story and designed to take the culinary experience to new heights of deliciousness. From crafted blends and single-origin spices, to specialty pantry items and culinary gifts, Lior and the La Boîte team are continuously crafting and curating products to inspire and transform.
With a desire to help introduce spices into everyday recipes, Lior has authored four cookbooks: The Art of Blending; The Spice Companion; Mastering Spice, which was named one of the “best cookbooks of the year” by The New York Times Book Review; and A Middle Eastern Pantry, launched in June 2023 and designated by Food & Wine as one of the “best new summer cookbooks” and recognized by the International Association of Culinary Professionals as a finalist for the prestigious “2024 IACP Awards”.
Lior is also the founder and owner of Spice Brothers, a high-quality, fast-casual shawarma restaurant on St. Marks Place in Manhattan’s East Village, recognized with a two-star “Critics Pick” review from The New York Times, which also ranked it among “New York City’s Best Sandwiches.”
Lior believes his mission is to inform people about where spices come from, how they grow, what they look like in their natural environment, and ultimately, how to be inspired by them in the kitchen. He is happiest when he and a client engage in dialogue and explore their cooking styles, guiding him to make that “just right” spice recommendation.