Last year, I shared a story that really stayed with me about the Nonna’s at Enoteca Maria, a unique restaurant in Staten Island, New York, where grandmothers from around the world take turns cooking their authentic family dishes each week. I love everything about this! The heartwarming origin of the restaurant, the celebration of traditions, and most of all, the way it honours these incredible women by giving them a space to share their food, culture, and joy with a room full of happy diners.
At the time of sharing I did not know a movie was being made (with actors, not the actual Nonna’s) and it is now available on Netflix. Last week I watched the movie, it’s not as authentic as one might like, but it was an enjoyable watch.
Read below to find out more about this wonderful story.
Click here to watch the movie trailer.
Does your Nana, Nonie or Nonna have a special recipe to share that has been handed down through generations? In New York there’s a lovely restaurant, Enoteca Maria, in Staten Island that has grandmothers from around the world creating their authentic family dishes every week. Enoteca Maria has two kitchens on site so there’s plenty of space for the traditional Italian menu alongside each Nonna’s diverse recipes.
This is such a lovely idea, it would be amazing to have something similar here in New Zealand – with our culturally diverse communities surely there would be a lot of Nonnas with skills and recipes to share.
Online there is also a virtual recipe book made up of entries, submitted by the public, of grandmothers and their favourite recipes from around the world.
Nonnas of the World Virtual Book
Culture is a resource worth preserving. After all a tree can’t grow and change without its roots. To uphold this mission we have pioneered a virtual book project that collects the recipes and stories of grandmothers from around the world called Nonnas of the World. Plans are in the works to turn the book into a fully interactive online community. Stay tuned!.
About the Restaurant
At Enoteca Maria we celebrate cultural diversity by serving cuisines from around the world, but we do it in the most uniquely authentic way possible. Real grandmothers from every country across the globe are invited and hired as chefs to cook the recipes handed down to them that they cook at home for their families, that make up the fabric of the culture they were born and raised in. We aspire to build cultural connections through the universal language of cooking, and one way we can do that besides eating it, is teaching it! We hold classes where aspiring chefs can get the opportunity to learn from the nonnas in the kitchen.
How it all came about ….
Joe Scaravella, proprietor of Enoteca Mariawas born and raised in Brooklyn.
From Joe ….
Both my parents were hard workers, seldom home. De facto the head of the household in our family was my mother’s mom, Nonna Domenica. She is the one who passed down to us her culture with, at its very heart, her culinary traditions.
I remember her going to the market everyday bringing her shopping cart. She stopped at the vegetable shops and bit a peach or tasted a cherry, and if it good she bought them otherwise she spit it on the ground with a disgusted expression on her face. I was amazed that nobody ever complained about it but after all everybody there knew her.
Growing up I realised that my grandmother had been the repository of our family culture and identity. And I found out that, like her, millions of grandmothers all over the world pass down their heritage to their grandchildren.
Nine years ago, moved by the wish of sharing Italian grandmother’s culinary culture I opened a restaurant, Enoteca Maria. At Enoteca several Italian grandmothers from different Italian regions cook their own menus on a rotating schedule.
In 2011 I started flirting with the idea of extending the concept to other culinary cultures. I began working on the creation of the virtual book Nonnas of the World. A crowd sourced recipe book where anybody around the world can upload their grandmother’s short bio, 3 photos and a recipe (written in their native language). My vision’s for this book to become the most extensive collection of grandmother’s recipes, their particular Dialect and memories, a testament to culinary culture of common people from all over the world.
Next natural step, in July 2015, was inviting grandmothers of different countries to cook at the restaurant.
Restaurant Hours of Operation
Friday, Saturday & Sunday open at 2:30 pm. Our seatings are 2:30pm, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm.
Here are some of the Nonna’s that have created beautiful dishes in May 2025
Saturday, May 3 Nonna Kathy from Uzbekistan
Sunday, May 4 Nonna Kozeta from Greece
Friday, May 9 Nonna Jolanta from Poland
Saturday, May 10 Nonna Wen from China
Sunday, May 11 Nonna Oxana from Ukraine
Saturday, May 17 Nonna Carmen from Argentina
Sunday, May 18 Bubbee Melanie with traditional Jewish cuisine
Friday, May 23 Nonna Dolly from Sri Lanka
Saturday, May 24 Nonna Fatma from Turkey
Sunday, May 25 Nonna Rosa from Peru
Friday, May 30 Nonna Shireen from Bangladesh
Saturday, May 31 Nonna Ploumitsa from Greece
Sunday, June 1 Nonna Hakima from Morocco
*Note that the restaurant only accepts cash
About The Author: Katie Brooks
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