Inside a quaint New York restaurant, a customer wells up with tears just moments after walking in.
“I just cried with nonna because she reminds me of my grandma,” said Soleil Sabalja, a high school teacher in Manhattan.
Three days a week, Enoteca Maria, an Italian wine bar on Staten Island, has a rotating roster of nonnas in the kitchen, who prepare dishes from around the world using recipes that have been in their families for generations.
Watch the grandmas who run this New York kitchen in the video above
Like some of the other visitors to the eatery, Sabalja says she lost her grandmother recently. And coming here, where grandmothers are the cooks and greet people at the front of the house, is comforting.
“I feel so connected to the mission and the story and what they’re doing,” said Sabalja, whose own grandparents were immigrants as well.
From Ecuador to Egypt, Turkey to Trinidad and Tobago, each nonna — the Italian word for grandmother — cooks menu items from their native countries and welcomes patrons with conversation and hugs.
88-year-old Maria Gialanella, who’s one of them, makes her way around the tables to introduce herself.
“People, when they see me, they all want to make a photograph with me!” said Gialanella, who’s originally from just outside Naples, Italy.
She poses for pictures and asks people where they’re from, chatting about her “fresh cavatelli and zucchini parmesan” as she holds their hands.
“I don’t live close to my grandparents, so the feeling of Maria greeting us as we came in just made me feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s like my own grandmother,’ said Sarah Frierson, snapping a selfie with the nonna.
Owner Jody Scaravella says he came up with the concept as a way to cope with his own grief after losing his grandmother and parents. The restaurant, which has been around for 16 years (“in the restaurant world, that’s counted in dog years,” he jokes) is named after his own nonna.
“It was a great therapy for me, having the nonnas in the kitchen,” said Scaravella. “The people who come in, many of them have lost their grandparents and somehow, some way, it’s relatable. It’s very relatable, you know? So once you get that connection going, and if the food is good, it works out.”
Behind the glass leading to the kitchen, Sahar Amien, 59, is laying out pieces of eggplant for moussaka, stirring a ground beef tomato sauce and keeping a close watch on her calamari. Originally from Alexandria, Egypt, she says food in so many cultures is like a love letter to family and friends. And while her own family will say “thank you” for the meals they’re so used to receiving from her, she says she gets to watch customers’ faces light up when they taste her homemade cooking.
“Here, I feel like I made something new and they appreciate it, this food,” said Amien. “I am here so happy when I come here. It’s a different day in my life, like, they give me power.”
Empowerment is a key ingredient, according to Scaravella, whose ultimate goal is to showcase the pluralism of culture and identity while also encouraging people to slow down and taste each flavor on the plate.
As servers bring out trays of dishes, no one seems in a rush — a rare sight in the city. A handwritten sign on the front door says the restaurant is fully booked for the evening.
“Just nonna, coming over and holding my hand,” said Sabalja. “What restaurant are you ever going to go to where the (chef) is going to come and hold your hand and hug you, and tell you her personal story? It’s only a place that a grandma would run.”
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