You wouldn’t suspect that dips for chips would be the source of a full-circle, life-affirming moment in a person’s life, but for Bailey LaMarca-Zamora and Stephen Zamora, that’s exactly what Lamora Salsa represents.
A combo of their last names, the Southampton-based couple officially launched Lamora Salsa in 2024, but the idea began long before that.
“When I was eight years old, my dad passed away. He was in the process of starting a beef jerky company in the late ’90s, so he was definitely ahead of his time! I remember him pulling and selling beef jerky from the trunk of his car, and just watching how lit up he got by doing that, and it really inspired me,” says Bailey.
The loss of a parent at any age is tough, but at such a young, impressionable age it is profound in its effect. It left Bailey with a yearning to both connect to and honor her dad; an urge that never left her through her childhood, teen years and into her adult life. And when she connected with Stephen, she found a more-than-willing partner and advocate in finding a way to finally close the circle.
Her memories of her dad and the sense of community and love that he brought to the table through his work with food played a large role in how Bailey wanted to manifest something of her own.
“This was sort of the discussion of starting a food company. It was a mood board. It was late conversations in our studio apartment in New York City. It was this sort of back and forth, not really knowing what it was going to be, but knowing that we wanted to create some sort of food product,” she says.
It was a bit of a journey to get there, though; one that would weave from New Jersey to Brooklyn to New Mexico to New York to Southampton to Miami and back.
Stephen grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., which is also where Bailey’s mom was from. Bailey was born in New Jersey and raised in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, but after the death of her dad, the family yearned for a fresh start and moved to New Mexico — and that’s where Bailey and Stephen met and fell in love.
For Stephen, his mom’s salsa has long been a delicious source of inspiration, and he was often making it for friends and tooling around with other recipes.
“Starting a food company comes from her side; the salsas come from mine. I originally came from New Mexico and I think for me these flavors are more familiar. The take on our red salsa is definitely an iteration of a salsa I used to make consistently with my mom,” Stephen says. “[Bailey and I] had just been cooking these flavors out here in the Hamptons and we had a community that really liked it and told us, ‘You should jar these!’ And we did exactly that.”
The two moved to the East Coast for college and careers, and discovered the Hamptons on weekend trips that eventually turned into a full-on move to Southampton (and a marriage proposal in Montauk). They discovered farms and farmers they loved, created relationships with them and, through that, found the ingredients for their trio of salsas: Grounding Green, a salsa verde using tomatillos, Sun Gold, which uses heirloom sun gold tomatoes and has a sneaky, growing heat that’s irresistible, and the Ruby Red. Each are $18 suggested retail price for a 16 oz. jar.
Sourcing can change with availability, but the couple has been working with Green Thumb, Share the Harvest, Balsam and Stone’s Throw.
Currently, Lamora Salsa can be found at Provisions Market in Sag Harbor, Farm & Forage in Southampton, Green Thumb Organics in Water Mill, L’Epicuriste in Bridgehampton, Share the Harvest Farm and Farm and Forage Outpost in East Hampton, Gosman’s Fish Market in Montauk and Lumber & Salt in Jamesport on the North Fork, as well as select farmers markets in season.
While they still have their day jobs — Stephen’s in health technology and Bailey’s as a meditation and yoga instructor — the brand’s quick growth and popularity has been a pleasant surprise. As the business is growing, the Zamoras are looking to scale the brand, and this this winter are heading to Maimi to partner with some East Coast growers in Florida, with plans to shuttle their operation back to the Hamptons next growing season.
“Lamora became a blending of the two of us, of the past and present,” says Bailey. “For us, it’s heart and soul with a lot of spice.”
Check out Lamora’s website to learn more about their salsas and where to get them here.
