. >> it is the first retail venture for lydia and her partners, son and renowned chef, mario ba tatalimight be the most successful empire. the three partnered with founder of original italy in turin. oscar forinetti. they hoped that a slice of italy in new york would generate some 60 million in annual sales. >> it was kind of an element of pulling together people, some with financial strength, some with prepared food strength, some with retail strength. the vision is close to the original vision, but it was molded to this space and to the energy of new york. >> you must make a lot of food here every day, every week. >> you need to listen, on a slow day, anywhere from 5,000 during the week, to 8,000 on a weekend. up to 12,000 people walk through this place. >> so you're making how much pasta a week? >> we make here, produce up to 2,500 pounds of pasta. 500 pounds just of the little raviolini. that's the favorite. i'll show you. >> these roots were planted in italy, following world war ii. >> and the area i was in, i was a little girl caught behind an iron curtain, with an italian cultur