By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HELL'S KITCHEN — Ninth Avenue newcomer Merilu Pizza al Metro takes its name from a Brooklyn-based mom, but its flavors come all the way from northern Italy.
The little pizza shop situated on Hell's Kitchen's restaurant alley, located at the intersection of 53rd Street, is just two months old.
But for owner Merilu Granato, 44 and formerly a stay-at-home mom, it's the culmination of two-decade-old dream.
A native of Turin, Italy, Granato started to imagine opening a restaurant after she had the first of her four children — each of whom now works part-time at the restaurant.
"I used to cook for everyone — my children's friends and families," Granato said. "I always had a lot compliments."
Now Granato is using her family recipes for pastas, soups, pizzas and sandwiches at the eatery, which focuses on using fresh and homemade ingredients and adding oil, butter and salt only in moderation.
"She uses the same passion she uses at home," said Granato's daughter, Meggie, 25, who works as the restaurant's manager.
In particular, Meggie Granato recommends the penne al pesto and Rustica pizza slices (featuring fresh mozzarella, sausage and bell peppers and tomato sauce).
For her part, Merilu suggests the soups, such as chickpea and minestrone, made with seasonal vegetables and sea salt.
These are among the meals she remembers her own mother toiling over during her childhood in Italy. Her family, she said, always made a habit of preparing two healthy, hearty, delicious and homemade meals a day.
"I try to do the same thing for the customers," Merilu Granato said.
Merilu Pizza al Metro is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at 791 Ninth Avenue.
