Julia Sayers Gokhale

Criss Smiley is the kind of guy who will do anything to make his community happy—including bringing raw steaks out to customers' cars so they could still choose their speciality cut when the restaurant's interior was closed during the 2020 lockdown. His corner shop in Pelham, Smiley Brothers Specialty Foods, offers butcher-cut meat, an extensive cheese and wine selection, and other gourmet foods like crackers, jellies, and sauces. But these aren't your run-of-the-mill condiments. The team makes several of the items in house, including tomato jam, pickles, salad dressings (they sell their ranch by the bottle), fermented hot sauce, and pimento cheese made with peppers grown just for Smiley Brothers.