Deli owner vows, 'If you taste it, you'll be back'
Husband and wife open Granito's in South Brunswick
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

(L-r) Lori Granito, employee James Talbot and Phil Granito show off the fresh breads at their new Italian specialty shop, Granito's, in South Brunswick.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - Phil and Lori Granito have gone from Wall Street to fresh meat.

The proprietors of Granito's opened their new catering and deli business on Jan. 16, offering a variety of Italian specialties such as eggplant rollatini, broccoli rabe and sausage, and a variety of stuffed breads and subs. The shop, located on Davidsons Mill Road, has long been an aspiration of Phil Granito, who, before opening the business, was a broker on the New York Stock Exchange for 28 years.

"It's like a dream, you know, to open up our own Italian specialty shop. We found a good location and we went for it," said Phil Granito.

The Granitos, who are residents of East Brunswick, said that they chose South Brunswick because there were no other businesses in the area offering what they were selling: fresh Italian foods with quality ingredients. The pair began the process of getting their business in order around August of last year, putting together the entire shop from the ground up.

PHOTOSBY CHRIS GAETANO

According to Phil Granito, everything in there, from the refrigerators to the kitchen equipment, is completely new, while the store had been an "empty shell" before they moved in. He said that he could have opened the store a little bit before Christmas, but he wanted to make sure everything was perfect before the first customer came in. Now the walls are painted a soft green and as one walks in, almost the entire shop and its contents are visible, from the cold cuts in the deli counter to the rows of bread in the front. To the right stands shelves with jars of roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts and a staggering variety of pastas.

Lori Granito, who does the cooking, is a stickler for what does and does not go into her dishes, insisting that all foods she makes have only fresh, high-quality ingredients.

"Nothing but the best ingredients. I cook as if you're coming to my house for dinner," she said.

"We use fresh garlic, fresh parsley. We don't use packaged stuff. We don't cut corners," Phil Granito added.

The recipes Lori Granito uses have been passed down from generation to generation. She said that she has been cooking for as long as she can remember, having started by helping her great-grandmother strain tomatoes in Brooklyn. She said that preparation has been the most difficult part of the day so far, because everything is cooked fresh, but that this has paid off in the end.

"I cook every single day because I like fresh food always in my case, so preparation is the biggest part, and you run out of things quite quickly, which is good because it means people are buying it," she said.

The store has already been doing brisk business, because it's in a location that people often pass through.

"I pass here every day and I saw it here," said Jane Edwin, of South Brunswick. As for how she liked it? "It's nice."

The Granitos hope they'll really get to know their customers as their business grows. Ideally, to Lori Granito, they will know the first names of everyone who comes in, since both love talking to people. Phil Granito said that if all goes well, he hopes that he'll be able to open up another location. He implores people to give his business a try.

"If you taste it, you'll be back," he said.