Restaurant Hires Grandmas to Cook Authentic Cuisines From All Over the World

Grandmas know best, especially when it comes to feeding us.

In Staten Island, there is a restaurant where grandmothers from around the world do the cooking to bring customers traditional and authentic meals.

It’s called Enoteca Maria and if you’re intrigued, hold your breath because there’s a waitlist for grandma’s cooking!

The establishment was founded by Jody Scaravella. He was born and raised in Brooklyn where he enjoyed and treasured his grandmother and her Italian cooking.

“Growing up I realized that my grandmother had been the repository of our family culture and identity,” wrote Scaravella. “And I found out that, like her, millions of grandmothers all over the world pass down their heritage to their grandchildren.”

Moved by his desire to share the culinary culture of his grandma and others like her, he opened Enoteca Maria nine years ago where grandmothers with roots from different parts of Italy were the chefs.

And then in 2011, he began working on the virtual, crowd sourced book Nonnas of the World where anybody can upload the story of their grandma, photos and a recipe, referred to as “a testament to culinary culture of common people from all over the world.”

In July 2016, he opened his kitchen to grandmothers from different countries — such as Liberia, Colombia, Belarius and Sri Lanka.

The result? A wonderful, homey melting pot of an eatery — as seen in Love What Matters’ video.

So what is next for Enoteca Maria?

“We pride ourselves on featuring every culture, every country on every day,” Scaravella told Your Daily Dish, touching upon the importance of diversity — especially during today’s tense political and social climate.

The restaurant only sits around 30 people now and he has no plans of expanding — physically, that is. Scaravella told Your Daily Dish that they are taking the brand of Enoteca Maria, along with Nonnas of the World, to the big screen. There will be a film released by a production company called Matador, as well as a TV show, based on the concept of what the restaurant made famous — international cooking grandmas.

And we can’t wait to see it!