Archive for the ‘News and Press’ Category

Posted on September 25, 2010 - by admin - 1 comment

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….

Posted on September 9, 2010 - by admin - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)

Enoteca Featured on Rachael Ray Show

Enoteca Maria continues to attract significant media attention, this time from the Rachael Ray show. Her production crew visited the restaurant on a beautiful September Sunday while a 50th Anniversary dinner was in full swing. The four-person team taped various segments of grandmas preparing favorite recipes and later in the afternoon took their cameras to Joe and Val’s Numina biodynamic garden to check out the late summer harvest.

A few days later, Joe headed up to the Rachael Ray studios in Manhattan with five grandmothers in tow (Adelena, Nina, Valarie, Teresa, and Rosaria). Joe was interviewed by Rachael in front of a live audience while they rolled in the edited clip of the interviews from Sunday. The show aired on ABC TV on Friday, October 9 at 10am.

Check out the segment recorded at the Enoteca by Rachael Ray’s production crew on the Rachael Ray Daytime Talk Show site.

Posted on June 21, 2010 - by admin - 1 comment

The Real Italian Housewives

By Amy Cao
OFF MANHATTAN

To surprise New Yorkers who have tasted it all, sometimes it takes a leap of faith—and a trip to Staten Island—to experience a meal that warms the belly and the soul. At Enoteca Maria, six women chefs (five of whom are also full time grandmas) from different regions of Italy take turns firing up the stove. What’s for dinner? Depends on who’s cooking and which ingredients nonna finds in the fridge. Goodbye, Predictability. Hello, Iron Chef: Italian Grandma.

Read the rest of the review at Off Manhattan.

Posted on January 12, 2010 - by admin - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)

Our Bloggers Love the Enoteca

Cindy Zhou from Chubby’s New York Food Diary has good things to say about Enoteca Maria.

I know what your thinking, all the way to Staten Island for food? Totally understand, I never thought I would say this either, but I truly found this gem a ferry ride away. People who are lucky enough to have a Nonna (Italian for grandma) always brag about how great their meal was. I’ve always been jealous, and tried to invite myself to such dinners, unsuccessfully. But hey, their nonnas got nothing on me anymore, I found 6 nonnas who will cook for me any night of the week at Enoteca Maria…beat that! Love owner Joe’s concept of having a different nonna cook traditional local dishes from family recipes each night. Every nonna is from a different region in Italy and everything is made fresh from scratch.

Read Cindy’s full review here.

Adelena’s Gratinado di Pollo. Photo by Cindy Zhou

Adelena’s Torta di Ricotta and Nutella. Photo by Cindy Zhou