Born and raised in Bed-Stuy, Kai Avent-deLeon became a third-generation business owner when she opened Sincerely, Tommy, a boutique run out of a brownstone, in 2014. In a neighborhood that’s rapidly gentrifying, shopping at Avent-deLeon’s clothing shop supports a locally owned black business as well as emerging womenswear brands.

It started as a busy lunch spot. And then, as the neighborhood changed over the years, owner Marvin Cochran shifted the focus of the store started by his father-in-law from a confectionery to a hobby shop. Unassembled kits of anything with a motor are stacked from the floor to the ceiling, while vintage planes are suspended from strings above.

During the five and a half years Kulwinder ‘Jani’ Singh worked for Yellow Cab, he came to appreciate the importance of a place where drivers could take a break, grab something to eat and use the bathroom. In 1994, he opened Punjabi as a vegetarian, 24-hour deli and grocery in order to service the community of cabbies in need of a respite.

Peppa’s bills itself as having the No. 1 jerk chicken in NYC. While this type of puffery is not unusual in a city with at least 2,000 “best slice” pizza places, this unassuming Caribbean spot lives up to the hype. Owner Gavin Hussey, affectionately known as ‘Peppa,’ grew up in St Andrew Parish, Jamaica, where he honed his culinary chops cooking alongside his mother as they prepared meals for his 11 siblings.

The first thing you notice about this Italian bakery is its vintage-style signage separating it from the newer businesses on Bushwick’s Knickerbocker Avenue. Circo’s has been serving up pastries since 1945 and has been owned by the same family, a father and his two sons, since 1973.

Named after a town in the Sacred Valley, this Peruvian restaurant is cozy and dimly lit from inside arched window dressings, making it a great spot for date night. While there are a ton of other Peruvian restaurants in Jackson Heights that specialize solely in rotisserie chicken (pollos a la brasa), Urubamba offers a wider menu that includes not only a great roasted chicken but delicious Peruvian ceviche and jalea (fried fish), too.

The Bronx’s Little Italy resides along Arthur Avenue and is considered more authentic than its Manhattan counterpart. Opened in 1993, Casa Della Mozzarella not only has the best mozzarella in the neighborhood, it has been rated the best mozzarella in New York City by Zagat for more than a decade. The mozzarella is handmade each day by the father-son combo of Orazio and Carlo Carciotto; Orazio emigrated from Sicily without a word of English in his vocabulary.

More than just a café, Mottley Kitchen is a neighborhood restaurant in the South Bronx that also hosts community-focused events, private dinners, a gallery space and a farm stand. The menu features coffee, pastries, breakfast, lunch and dinner options with fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

Following a visit to El Kiosko Boricua, his favorite empanada shack in Piñones, Puerto Rico, Empanology owner Jason Alicea decided to reinterpret the Latin snack staple by experimenting with creative fillings. “Bite-sized pockets of love” is how he bills his flaky pastries, which come in 46 different flavors including banana bread, Thanksgiving bite and chopped cheese.

What’s better than Grandma’s cooking? Answer: A team of nonnas (the Italian word for grandmothers) preparing meals from around the globe. So far, Nonnas of the World has featured recipes from Bangladesh, Belarus, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Japan, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Pakistan, Poland, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela and of course Italy, among others. In July 2015, owner Joe Scaravella had an epiphany that his grandmother was the keeper of traditions within his family.