The Chilli Shop: Leeds 'Chilli King' on his store's hot success and creating an experience for spice lovers
Frank Jay is turning up the heat on Leeds with his beloved hot sauce store.
It's hard to miss The Chilli Shop tucked into Merrion Centre in Leeds, especially if you're familiar with the online sensation Hot Ones. The show, where A-list celebrities tackle fiery wings while answering tough questions, has put hot sauce culture on the map—and Frank Jay is taking it even further.
The shop’s vibrant yellow neon "Hot Ones" sign lows invitingly from the window, while inside, bespoke shelves display a collection of sauces made famous on the show. The display is flanked by graphics and photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Pedro Pascal, and Gordon Ramsay, who’ve braved the heat in their respective episodes.
But Frank’s journey to become Leeds “Chilli King” wasn’t a straight path. A former advertising professional, Frank was also the host of England’s first chilli festival before opening his hot sauce haven - now a featured stop on Leeds Food Tours.
A foodie since birth, he was introduced to flavours from around the world via his grandfather, a banqueting chief at the Savoy. The idea for a shop dedicated to chillies and hot sauces came after he started a vegetarian farmers market in Brighton.
"My first stall holder was a chilli store," he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. "And he said: ‘Frank, you're amazing. You just come up with ideas and do them. Could you do a chilli festival?’ And so I did, with no money."
The event was a hit, drawing 10,000 attendees over two days. But as the festival grew, Frank noticed a troubling trend: “A lot of the boutique-quality stallholders were going bust because they had nowhere else to sell. So I opened the first chilli shop.”
Recognising that the UK’s best chillies and hot sauces came from unexpected places like Halifax, Leeds, Sheffield and the Lake District, Frank relocated on Leeds in 2014, setting up shop in the Merrion Centre.
Today, The Chilli Shop has become a cultural fixture, attracting everyone from Leeds locals and students to touring musicians - recent visitors including Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine and Slipknot’s crew. The shop has also appeared on ITV's This Morning and on Big Zuu's Big Eats.
So what makes The Chilli Shop a success? Frank credits the store’s location and creative marketing strategy.
He said: “In the city centre, you’re at the hub of everything, with all the transport links.
“Every event at the arena sends cars past the shop. The ‘Hot Ones’ sign in the window catches their eye.
“Plus, we make custom sauces for smaller bands playing at venues like the Key Club or O2 Academy. When they post about it on Instagram, their fans around the world learn about us.”
The shop’s inventory is as eclectic as its clientele. Alongside Hot Ones staples, it boasts unique sauces from Canada, Laos, the US and beyond - including the infamous Pepper X, the world's hottest chilli. But Frank’s custom-made football sauces are among his top seller.
He explained: "When I was 10, I won a competition at school to design the school football kit because I love football. [Now] I’ve come full circle, designing a range of football sauces. I designed the labels so each sauce tastes like the club."
Some crowd favourites include Liverpool’s "Salah Dressing", Manchester City’s "Stay Humble", Arsenal’s "Set Piece FC" and Leeds United’s very own "For Farke's Sake".
For Frank, The Chilli Shop is about more than just selling hot sauce. It's an experience. Every month, he hosts sell-out Hot Ones challenges at Hooyah!, where brave participants face the same fiery gauntlet as their favourite celebrities.
Frank has also launched a YouTube channel, Scoville Nation, featuring weekly sauce tastings and updates. His vision for the future? A chilli-themed pub where guests can enjoy food, drinks, and live chilli challenges broadcast on screens across the venue.
"I see the experience growing,” Frank said. “I see this shop here, right? And there's a bar over there, and we own it, and there's being sold food there.
"So people go and have a sit-down, and there's a challenge pit there where you sit down and it's been videoed, and there's giant screens around where people can do their own ‘Hot Ones’ show.
"And there they are, the entertainment live on the screens, and we can replay that around the screens every day."