The Staten Island Eatery With Food Cooked Exclusively By Grandmas

If you remember some of your grandmother's cooking as the best meals you've had, you're not alone. This warming blend of nostalgia and comfort is what has helped fuel the success of Enoteca Maria. The Staten Island establishment has landed Michelin's Bib Gourmand label, and the ever-changing menu keeps guests and regulars alike coming back for more.

Owner Joe Scaravella opened the restaurant in 2007 after losing his own grandmother. Though the original restaurant concept relied on the culinary wisdom of Italian cooks alone, Scaravella understood that there is, indeed, such a challenge of having too many cooks in the kitchen. He decided to invite grandmother chefs from the global community and combine shifts of nonnas from different nationalities. The mixing of cultures and cuisines was a hit. The nightly menu is now dependent on who is in the kitchen that day, as grandmothers, affectionately dubbed nonnas (the Italian word for grandmother), make up dishes as they choose. As a result, culinary dishes from all over the world surprise restaurant visitors. 

Enoteca Maria's nonnas hail from Trinidad, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, Turkey, Colombia, and beyond, and meals reflect the background of the day's presiding chefs. For instance, Lina may whip up a celery root salad with Ukrainian stewed beef and potatoes and meatballs, while Yumi cooks up a roasted red pepper and feta dip, whipped feta cheese, eggplant dengaku, and yakitori. A set house menu includes salads and classic Italian fare like burrata, plates of beef and spinach lasagna, chicken cacciatore, and grilled zucchini.

Should you want to sample the grandmothers' cooking for yourself, Enoteca Maria has 30 tables to accommodate diners. The last seating occurs at 7:30 pm so the nonnas can get home at a reasonable hour. Alternatively, the cookbook "Nonna's House: Cooking and Reminiscing with the Italian Grandmothers of Enoteca Maria" will bring some of the eatery's most cherished dishes into your own kitchen. Expect to serve up cauliflower and cod, eggplant and chocolate, and crostata made with figs and nuts in addition to more traditional plates of gnocchi, risotto, and polenta. You, too, may make a lasting impression with your dishes.