Something spicy for starters, made by expert (4)
I believe the answer is:
mace
'something spicy' is the definition.
(mace is a spice)
'starters made by expert' is the wordplay.
'starters' suggests taking the first letters.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'expert' becomes 'ace' (ace can informally mean very good).
The first letter of 'made' is 'm'.
'm'+'ace'='MACE'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for mace that I've seen before include "Spice; ceremonial baton" , "Spice; heavy club" , "something fragrant" , "Came to find ceremonial staff" , "Came to get nutmeg spice" .)