Enoteca Maria

Author: Enoteca

  • Maria, Campania

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    Maria was born in the small hill town of Torella dei Lombardi outside Naples in the Campania region of Italy. When she was fourteen, her family bought a local cafe, and Maria became instrumental in helping her mother Teresa run the family business. There, she learned how to make the perfect espresso, cappuccino, and homemade spumoni. The cafe was a place for the townspeople of Torella to come together and swap stories over a good cup of coffee (or grappa).

    Maria came to America in 1961 to start her new life in Brooklyn, New York, and she brought her love of good food and warm hospitality with her. Known to throw together delicious multi­-course dinners for the family within a couple of hours, Maria is passionate about cooking, especially for her 6 grandchildren. Her specialties include zucchini parmigiana; stuffed artichoke pie; crocchette di patate; and spaghetti in fresh raw tomatoes with capers, olives, parsley, and garlic.

    This Nonna is happiest when people are gathered around the table eating her delicious food­­ — and even happier when they ask for seconds.

     

  • The Feisty Foody

    Opinionated Food Critic Blog by Yvo

    We were greeted enthusiastically and happily by the hostess, who remembered StB from her unique name and reservation call the day before, and were promptly seated. The cozy restaurant seats no more than, I would stab in the dark, about 20 people, but didn’t feel crowded despite being filled to capacity when we left. We had a clear view into the open kitchen and were delighted with the exposed brick; debating what other city we felt we were in. I chose Baltimore; she chose DC. We settled on somewhere in between. Read more on The Feisty Foody.

  • New York Magazine

    November 2007

    Owners Denise and Jody Scaravella had their own version of the Field of Dreams mantra: If you build it, they will cook. It seems they were right, as the lynchpin in their twice-daily (sometimes more) changing menu is the half-dozen, give or take, rotating women chefs designing menus inspired by the delights of their home regions of Italy. One day, you might take a seat in the slim, urban-sleek dining room and find Sicilian specialties, like a frittata made with fresh artichokes, or pasta con sarde. Another day, you may be presented with a Marche meal of panini draped with sharp arugula, olive oil, and cured beef. Every day is a lovely surprise, as is Jody’s all-Italian wine list, filled with little-known varietals and regional better-knowns like the plummy Lacryma Christi. Read the full review in New York Magazine.

  • NYC Nosh Review

    Grandmothers United: Enoteca Maria
    by Hungryman
    October 28, 2007

    Six Italian grandmothers of St. George, Staten Island have got this whole restaurant business all figured out. By taking turns at the stovetop, each nonna gets to rule the kitchen one day each week, and no one has to work more than a few weekly lunch or dinner shifts. Everyone gets a chance to cook and nobody collapses, exhausted in the gnocchi–it is a win-win arrangement. But really, it’s the lucky residents of St. George who are perhaps the most fortunate, as they get a glimpse into regional home cooking from a different part of Italy nearly every night of the week. As should already be clear, this is not your typical Italian restaurant: this is a place where meals are punctuated by frequent appearances from a well-proportioned older Italian woman who, in halting English, inquires at every table whether everything is “bene.” And the only real response is: “Si.”

    Read the rest of the review on NYC Nosh.

  • Prodigal Borough Review

    I Know Longer Go To Manhattan To Eat. I Go To Enoteca Maria
    by Uwe Kristen
    August 2, 2007

    Every Wednesday morning Teresa drives from Staten Island to Brooklyn, to an old warehouse beknownst only to her and a handful of other adepts. The men in the building know her. Without wasting many words they load a heavy 100-lb bag on her pick-up truck. Then she drives back to Staten Island and parks the truck in front of the Enoteca Maria on Hyatt St.

    In 2006 Denise and Joe, the owners of the enoteca, started placing ads in Italian-language newspapers of the New York City area, looking for Italian women with a passion for traditional Italian cooking. They were not looking for credentials from culinary institutes but for regional recipes that had been passed down through generations. After several months of test cookings they finally hired Caterina, Teresa, Nina, Patrizia and Argentina – and opened Enoteca Maria in February 2007.

    The five women, who come from different regions in Italy, cook on alternating days. Thus the menu changes daily. Even the lunch menu differs from the dinner menu each day. The focaccia and pastries are made from scratch and baked fresh daily in the restaurant, a detail Denise insisted upon. After several visits to Enoteca Maria I am particularly impressed by the consistent excellent quality of the food, be it the rich Baccala, the wonderfully tender organ meats or the subtle bacon-infused risotto, which is cooked in small batches in order to retain its bite. Enoteca Maria now also offers a very interesting selection of artisanal cheeses imported from Italy.

    The wine list offers almost 40 different wines, thoughtfully selected from different regions in Italy. Most of the wines are from small producers with a focus on traditional winemaking. Every wine on the list is also sold by the glass, a fine opportunity to try something new without having to order a whole bottle. And Joe takes it upon himself to ensure that all wines are served the way they should be. He slowly pours the wine into large goblets, allowing the wine to fully unfold their aromas. He slightly chills his red wines before serving them, a small but important detail since red wine all too often is served too warm. A decanter is always at hand for the likes of Barolo and other wines with a firm structure, that need to breathe for a while in order to show their full complexity. Enoteca Maria also offers a fairly extensive selection of Italian beers.

    The idea of bringing genuine Italian cooking from different regions into one small restaurant is a wonderful concept. Once I tasted Teresa’a apple pie I began to understand why she drives her truck to Brooklyn every Wednesday. Not that Enoteca’s flour is of inferior quality. But she insists on using the flour that her mother and grandmother have used before her. The crust of the pie is so heavenly flavourful that I picked every single crumb that was left on my plate while sipping the amber-colored Vin Santo at the end of my deeply satisfying meal. And I didn’t even have to take the ferry afterwards to get home.

    Reprinted from The Prodigal Borough

  • Grandmotherly Italian, All Over the Map

    By Mark Hokoda

    The idea behind Enoteca Maria is brilliant—and dauntingly difficult to pull off: A rotating lineup of five cooks from around Italy is turned loose to prepare daily-changing, market-driven menus of dishes from their home regions.

    Yet it seems to be working. First posts from this four-month-old wine bar and restaurant, a short walk from Staten Island’s ferry terminal, describe delightful and surprising food, made with care. Miss Poste, who went when a cook from Palermo, Sicily, was in the house, loved her bucatini con sarde (with raisins, pine nuts, and briny sardines). Also delicious: clams in spicy red sauce, and cheesy, aromatic veal spiedini (skewers). Other recent Palermo menus included lasagna with chopped meat, peas, mozzarella, and tomato sauce; pasticcio (baked pasta) with sausage, shrimp, cabbage, eggplant, mozzarella, pine nuts, and raisins; and, for dessert, cakes with house-made ricotta.

    Read the full review on Chow.

  • Chowhound Review

    Enoteca Maria, Worth the Staten Island Ferry Boat Fare
    by Phantastic

    So, I finally went to Enoteca Maria, the new buzz in Staten Island. (For nay sayers so far, read no further, we’ll never convince you.) First, the concept is brilliant. Denise and Joe (proprietors, bar tenders, wine stewards, chatters) decided to open a traditional Enoteca (essentially a wine bar) with little Italian bites to keep you thirsty and satisfied. They didn’t want cooks, or worse yet, chefs. (This is their place, sharing the concept with an ego (or even just another) wasn’t in the cards.) They wanted your little old Italian grandmother; loves to cook, great ideas, used to cooking for a crowd. What they got was a bevy of wonderful Italian women who alternate night and make the menu often twice a day based on what’s in, what’s fresh, what’s within their individual repertoire. Read more on Chowhound.