
In search of Grandma’s cooking? Well this NYC restaurant employs Grandma’s from all over the world to work in its kitchen. Through cooking, Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria has been serving handed down recipes, cooked by nonnas from every country to hungry customers.
Brooklyn-born Jody Scaravella founded the restaurant with a mission to share his grandmother’s Italian culinary culture. Originally, he hired a few Italian grandma’s to serve their own rotating menus. However, he eventually opened the concept to all cultures of various heritages.
The restaurant consistently serves a menu spanning regional Italian cuisine, in addition to a secondary menu featuring dishes made by grandma’s from all around the globe. These incredible women hail from Trinidad, Brazil, Belarus, Argentina, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Syria, Bangladesh and beyond.
His virtual book compiled with recipes from grandma’s and their native countries titled Nonnas of the World went live in 2011, before Scaravella invited them into the Enoteca Maria kitchen in 2015.
As a customer, it’s important to note the establishment only accepts cash or Venmo. It’s open at 27 Hyatt Street Friday – Sunday with seatings at 2:30pm, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm.
The next reservation schedule is as follows:
- Friday, October 25 Nonna Fatma from Turkey
- Saturday, October 26 Nonna Habiba from Algeria
- Sunday, October 27 Nonna Hakima from Morocco
- Friday, November 1 Nonna Helana from Egpyt
- Saturday, November 2 Nonna Fardaus from Bangladesh
- Sunday, November 3 Nonna Dolly from Sri Lanka
Beyond just serving heart-warming food, Enoteca Maria also offers classes taught by working grandmothers to share a variety of global cuisines with aspiring chefs or interested learners. The classes are free, you just don’t get to select which nationality the dish you will be learning comes from.
Learn more about this unique restaurant on its website here.
📍 27 Hyatt Street
📆 Friday – Sunday with seatings at 2:30pm, 5:30pm, and 7:30pm