The movie Nonnas came out May 9 only on Netflix. Nonnas reigns as the most watched movie of the month. People loved it! It is a comedy about how after losing his mother, a man wanted to honor her, so he risked everything. He decided to open an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers (nonnas) as the chefs. Vince Vaughn stars in it as Joe Scaravella. Susan Sarandon, Talia Shire, Lorraine Bracco, and Brenda Vaccaro play the chef grandmothers in the movie. The name of the restaurant is Enoteca Maria and actually exists outside of Netflix.
The Enoteca Maria was named after, the real, Jody “Joe” Scaravella’s mother Maria. He opened the restaurant in 2007 to honor his mother and grandmother, Domenica, the two Italian women who made him love cooking. The movie shows the true story about how Scaravella went from being a transportation worker to becoming the owner of a unique restaurant in Staten Island.
The real Joe Scaravella sees his business as more of a cultural exchange rather than simply a restaurant. Grandmothers work as chefs coming from all over the world. You don’t come to Enoteca Maria expecting repetitiveness. The menus change as grandmothers come and go, showcasing their beloved family recipes. Like the restaurant, the movie is heartwarming. It especially touches the hearts of people that grew up with Italian families, considering Scaravella’s personal cultural background. The aspect that most Italians love is that throughout the movie Vince Vaughn tries to recreate his grandmother’s Sunday Gravy but struggles to make it the same. He spends tons of time trying to find out her secret ingredient which us Italians can relate to because Sunday Gravy is the best when made by our mothers and nonnas.
A little about Scaravella himself is that before opening the restaurant, he was in a very dark mental state following the surprising deaths of his mother, grandmother, sister, father, and grandfather. He inherited their family money and wanted to use it to purchase a waterfront property in Staten Island. He ended up absolutely loving the atmosphere of an old colonial style house just a few steps from the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Before fulling getting his restaurant off the ground in the early stages, he was still working for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, working two jobs. He put out an ad to get true grandmothers to come visit and serve as his chefs. A ton of women responded and people loved the idea, so grandmothers traveled from all over the world which created a rotating line of chefs. This makes for an exciting and innovative experience for the chefs, customers, and Scaravella himself.
Scaravella has a passion for preserving authentic global cuisine. This restaurant is unlike any others, truly one of a kind. Another restaurant has never had this amount of authenticity and diversity all in one establishment.
I have never been to the Enoteca Maria, but it is definitely on my bucket list. If you haven’t watched the movie yet I would recommend that you do because it was funny, entertaining, and based on a true story. A very sweet movie, definitely worth the watch (or the visit)!