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.
The Nonnas of the World include:
- Pauline from Trinidad, West Indies
- Lucia from Brazil
- Yumi from Tokyo, Japan
- Carmen from Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Mariela from Vargas, Venezuela
- Nina from Brest, Belarus
- Rosa Maria of Medellin, Colombia
- Habiba of Oran, Algeria
- Mafuza of Bangladesh
- Zena of Kamishly, Syria
- Helena from Prague, Czech Republic
- Adelina from Casola, Napoli, Italy
- Zuleyka from Mao, Dominican Republic
- Carmelina from Marcianise, Napoli, Italy
- Nadezhda of Mezhdurechensk, Kazakhstan
- Rosa from Schio, Vicenza, Italy
- Christina from Bergamo, Lombardia, Italy
- Marita from Cuenca, Ecuador
- Ploumitsa from Chios, Greece
- Maria of Torella dei Lombardi, Campania, Italy
- Jolanta of Suwalki, Poland
- Monique of Chateauroux, France
- Luisa from Piacenza, Italy
- Rosaria from Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy
- Margherita of Casteldaccia, Palermo, Italy
- Hulya of Turkey
- Adriana of Spoleto, Umbria, Italy
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 reservations will be held on Friday, February 9, with Nonna Fardaus from Bangladesh.
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 their website here.