Nonnas

At Solari, Catherine and Joseph Farrell often talk about the importance of “preserving the culture”—and as the movie Nonnas charmingly reminds us, that includes celebrating culinary culture and traditions.

Nonnas is based on the true story of Brooklyn native Joe Scaravella, who in 2007—with no prior restaurant experience—was inspired to create “the most unlikely of in-the-know New York restaurants,” called Enoteca Maria, as a way to pay tribute to his then recently deceased parents and grandmother (nonna is the Italian word for “grandmother”). The concept was a restaurant that would let Italy’s marvelous food traditions shine by featuring Italian grandmothers as the chefs.

In an ad placed in a local Italian-language newspaper, Scaravella invited grandmothers to “audition” for a chance to become a chef at his 30-seat Staten Island restaurant. About the audition day, Scaravella told CBS, “I had a house full of people following me around with plates of food that they wanted me to try. It was like a Fellini movie, it was an amazing time.” In the movie, Vince Vaughn plays Scaravella, with the delightful cast of grandmothers played by the likes of Susan Sarandon, Talia Shire, Lorraine Braco, and Brenda Vaccaro.

In 2015, Scaravella broadened the menu to feature “foods of the world,” inviting grandmothers from other countries and regions to join his rotation of chefs. Inspired to “honor the wisdom, culture, and enduring spirit of grandmothers everywhere,” Scaravella is now working to create a non-profit called Nonnas of the World as a further vehicle for grandmothers to share their culinary heritage. He has also written the cookbook Nonna’s House.

But best of all, from Solari’s point of view, Enoteca Maria is not just cash-friendly but cash only!