About

Some stories begin quietly—around a kitchen table, on a weeknight, when no one’s really paying attention.

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Ours began on a Thursday, when Mike started hosting sandwich nights at his house. Friends came, word spread, and before long, those simple gatherings became something people looked forward to all week. But maybe, our story started generations ago, when both our families left Sicily for New York, bringing with them the kinds of recipes that don’t live in cookbooks, but in muscle memory and tradition.

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In early 2023, Mike’s friend Andy handed him a folding table and a tent and said, “Now you’ve got no excuse not to share these with everyone.”

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Meanwhile, just down the street, Gab was hosting pasta dinners every Sunday—each one a little bigger than the last, the pasta shapes a little more intricate, the table a little more full.

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Mike met Gab when she was managing Leveller Brewing and invited AVL’s Finest to do a pop-up at the taproom. What followed was a natural partnership built on a shared love for good food and spaces that make people feel at home.

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Finest is a neighborhood deli. But for us—and maybe for you, too—it’s also a continuation of something older. A way of honoring where we come from by feeding the people around us, one sandwich or bowl of pasta at a time.