See & Be Kitchen

Chrissy and Ben Salif Traore’s bakery was just hitting its stride when the pandemic forced them to hit pause. The one-year-old business had become a kind of community hub for locals, who regularly packed into the store for bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches; almond croissants; and meat pies spiced with a peanut-y “Kan kan kan” sauce that brings Salif Traore back to his childhood home in Burkina Faso. The Brooklyn transplants and new parents weren’t going to let See and Be go belly up, especially not when they have been so deeply committed to supporting local nonprofits like the Greene County food bank. In the last year, through the store’s online Second Serving donation program, See and Be has raised $3,000 to feed 50 families. The couple (whose backgrounds include stints at Roberta’s, Bien Cuit, Pizza Moto, and The Dutch) have also helped their bakery stay afloat by offering to-go orders and supplying product to nearby farms and restaurants like Phoenicia Diner and Dixon Roadside in Woodstock. See and Be has also been collaborating with Black-owned pop-ups such as Alima’s West African Cuisine food truck and Hyphen Foods, where you can find chef Bruce Bryant slinging kimchi grilled cheese on See and Be’s delicious Arborio bread.
How to get there: Two hours by car