Let the owners of this Italian-inspired market do the cooking for you. DeSarno’s is dishing up a variety of home-cooked, take-and-bake offerings so that families can eat together — without the stress of having to pull together a meal at the end of a business day.

Longtime friends Karen DiMezzo and Kit Caron have invested roughly $200,000 in that venture. It is located at 6420 Rea Road, next to Trader Joe’s. The seed for the business was planted when Caron moved to Charlotte from New Jersey. She soon found that the delis, Italian markets and eateries she was used to were nowhere to be found.