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Posted on April 13, 2012 - by admin - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)

Wall Street Journal Spotlight: Where ‘Nonnas’ Know the Wine

Only two of the nine grandmothers, or “nonnas,” working in the kitchen of Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria actually live on Staten Island and there are probably about as many native oenophiles among the restaurant’s wine drinking crowd. “We get a lot of people from Manhattan—not many from Staten Island,” said Enoteca proprietor and Staten Island resident Joe Scaravella. “I don’t know why that is.” Read more>

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304356604577338111398106338-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwMzExNDMyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email

Posted on October 30, 2011 - by admin - 1 comment

Meet the Women of the Enoteca

Our women come from different regions of Italy bringing with them the traditions of their towns, people, and cooking. They often return to the old country to visit with family.

The current lineup:

Enza Damasco, Caserta
Adelena from Casola, Napoli
Carmelina from Marcianise, Napoli
Nina from Salerno, Campania
Rosaria from Chieti, Abruzzo
Rosa from Schio, Vicenza
Teresa from Agrigento, Sicilia
Giovanna Gambino, Sicilia
Loredana from Carini, Sicilia

Other grandmas who have cooked at Enoteca Maria:

Christina from from San Giuseppe Iato, Sicilia
Gaia from Milano, Lombardia
Valarie from Sciacca, Sicilia

Posted on October 7, 2010 - by admin - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)

Enoteca Maria on LX TV Live

LX TV spent a Friday afternoon at Enoteca Maria interviewing several of the grandmothers preparing their favorite recipes. On hand were Adelena, Carmelina, Rosaria, Rosa, Teresa, and Valarie. The ladies were interviewed and broadcast live between 5 and 6pm on NBC Channel 4 in New York. Afterwards, the LX TV crew enjoyed some of the homemade specialties cooked by the nonnas. Stay tuned for a link to see it online.

Posted on September 25, 2010 - by admin - 2 comments so far

Fox & Friends Have Breakfast with Grandma

Fresh off the heels of the New York Daily News article about Enoteca Maria, producer Eric Krasting contacted Joe about doing a live broadcast from the restaurant with all the grandmas for the Fox & Friends morning cable show.

At 7:30am the Fox crew arrived. Upon seeing the special menu the nonnas had prepared for the broadcast, the producers had a sampling of the food taxied over to the studio for the show’s hosts, Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade. The grandmothers dedicated a recipe to each of the three.

The show cut in live three times for a look at the grandmas preparing food and to interview Enoteca owner, Joe Scaravella. Visit the Fox & Friends website to see part of the broadcast!

The Fox & Friends Breakfast Menu.

Posted on September 21, 2010 - by admin - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)

Home cooking with grandmas in the kitchen

By Christina Boyle
Daily News Staff Writer

A Staten Island restaurant with no head chef and no set menu is replacing “Bon Appetit” with “Mamma Mia!” The 35-seat Enoteca Maria takes home cooking to a whole new level by bringing in genuine Italian grandmothers to cook for customers. Each night, one of eight nonnas ties on an apron, checks out the ingredients in the refrigerator and rustles up a down-to-earth meal.

The women are from different regions of the pasta-loving nation who have no problem cooking restaurant-style after years of feeding big families. Tired of their husbands nitpicking over their specialties, they jumped at the chance to slave over a hot stove for grateful diners at the St. George eatery.

Read the whole story in the Daily News!

Cook Teresa Scalici at Enoteca Maria restaurant in Staten Island. Photo by James Kaivon/Daily News

Posted on September 18, 2010 - by admin - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)

Figs and Wine in Staten Island

by Hannah Karp
The Wall Street Journal

On just a fifth of an acre, Mr. Scaravella’s garden overlooks the harbor, Brooklyn and the Verrazano Bridge. Every patch of soil is occupied by a wide variety of foods including arugula, watermelon-sized squash, peaches, figs and San Marzano tomatoes. Last year Mr. Scaravella found room to plant 30 Sangiovese vines; he spent much of this afternoon crawling up and down the hill weeding his little vineyard. Read the full story from the Wall Street Journal….