Author Archive

Posted on April 16, 2009 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

Mille Fiori Favoriti Review

Pat from the millefiorifavoriti/blogspot writes a great review of Enoteca Maria complete with photos of the food her and her husband enjoyed. Here’s an excerpt:

No matter who is in the kitchen when you go, each meal at Enoteca Maria begins with a generous and complimentary tray of antipasto, selections vary each time. We had small tastes of broccoli rabe, roasted cauliflower and potatoes, marinated eggplant and onion focaccia.”

We were treated to another complimentary dish of a small bowl of beef stew, cooked in tomato sauce. My husband was in heaven, as it taste exactly like his mother use to make it, with big chunks of celery, carrot and potato….

Read the entire review at Mille Fiori Favoriti.

Posted on April 10, 2009 - by Enoteca - 16 comments so far

Biodynamic Garden on Staten Island

Something exciting and unexpected is growing on old Pavilion Hill, in Staten Island. Joe Scaravella, proprieter of Enoteca Maria, along with a group of like-minded friends, is developing a biodynamic micro-farm, located on a terraced hillside, a few short blocks from his restaurant. Responding to that same inner drive that inspired him to open the Enoteca, Joe is striving to bring his food to the next level.

The grandmothers of Enoteca Maria will reap the benefits of the harvest and use this bounty of herbs, vegetables, and fruits in their time-honored recipes. They have already begun using select herbs at the Enoteca.

This is the very first biodynamic garden in the five boroughs of New York City!

 

Posted on April 2, 2009 - by Enoteca - 1 comment

Featured Winemaker: Mazzolino

Situated in Oltrepo Pavese, Lombardy, close to the 45th parallel, the Mazzolino Winery’s 20 hectares produce Chardonnay, Bonarda, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Nero. The winery is owned by the Braggiotti Family. Oltrepo Pavese, which was once a part of the old Piedmont, had ancient ties with France, where the Braggiotti family has strong roots. In fact, they still speak French in the family and have brought Jean Francois Cocquard from the University of Burgundy to bring a French touch to Italy.

During a recent visit to Pavia, Joe had the good fortune of meeting the renowned wine maker Jean Francois. Of his Bonardo, Joe says, “Bonarda is a grape varietal that has been grown in Oltrepo Pavese for ages. It’s smooth and luscious with notes of blackberries, cinnamon and almond.“

The winemaker is Jean Francois Cocqard, who brings his experience from Burgundy to Italy, to produce a wine with soft fruit and earth. It is a perfect match for meat filled ravioli and hot antipasti.

Joe adds, “This grape is traditionally used to make Lambrusco style wines. The winemaker breaks with tradition to create an incredible still wine at an incredible value.”

At his Enoteca, Joe also serves the Mazzolino’s Blanc, cultivated from a a tiny producer in Oltrepo Pavese in Lombardia. Joe explains: “This Chardonnay is rich and complex with notes of hazelnuts, vanilla and citrus. A French winemaker combined French technique with Italian soil to produce an exquisite wine that is delicious when served with risotto, lobster, and creamy pasta dishes.”

When Joe visited the winery’s cantina, Jean Francois, the winemaker, swore he could see France from the hills of Pavia!

Read about Tenuta Mazzolino receiving the high honor of the Tre Bicchiere Award for their Pinot Noir!

Mazzolino BONARDA (Lombardia) 2007 $11/33
Mazzolino PINOT “NOIR” (Lombardia) 2003 $30/90
Mazzolino Chardonnay “BLANC” (Lombardia) 2005 $18/54

Visit the Tenuta Mazzolino website.

Posted on April 2, 2009 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

La Dolce Vita

With an appreciation of the good life, we have assembled a small list of resources where you can read and experience some of the finest and perhaps lesser-known wonders of Italian culture. Let us know if you have something special to share about food, history or the arts in Italian culture.

Posted on March 28, 2009 - by Enoteca - 4 comments so far

Rosaria from Chieti, Abruzzo

Rosaria Montaldo, a proud grandmother of two, has been cooking at Enoteca Maria since June of 2008. She was born in the region of Abruzzo in a small town in the province of Chieti. The region is known for its agriculture and producing wine, cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, olives, vegetables, fruits and dairy products. Traditional products are saffron and liquorice.

Rosaria remembers her grandmother’s cooking well, since she grew up living in the same house. Lamb is a popular dish in the Abruzzo region and Rosaria enjoys preparing Costolette d’Agnello all Griglia—grilled lamb chops. Her favorite pasta dish is Maccheroni alla Chitarra—macaroni pasta made on a guitar-like instrument—another staple of Abruzzese cooking.

 

Posted on March 20, 2009 - by Enoteca - 1 comment

Christina from Bergamo, Lombardia

Christina Carrozza was born in San Giuseppe Iato, just south of Palermo which lies on the northern coast of Sicily. Like many villages and towns in the region, its inhabitants rely on the production of corn, olives and grapes for their livelihood.

While she was still a young girl of three years, Christina’s family moved to Bergamo, an historical and oft-visited city north of Milan in the province of Lombardia where she learned how to cook from her grandmother, mother, and aunt.

One of her favorite recipes is Farfalle all Pescatore—bowtie pasta with mussels, calamari, and shrimp–a dish she not only enjoys preparing but also eating with her family. Christina is very grateful and proud of her Italian heritage. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her family.

Posted on March 5, 2009 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

Staten Island Advance – Dining Out Review

ENOTECA MARIA / THREE STARS
By Pamela Silvestri
March 5, 2009

After being totally spoiled by home-cooked meals while on maternity leave, this palate scoped out several restaurants for possible review: Only Enoteca Maria made the grade for a solid three-star rating.

This eatery certainly sets the bar for quality Italian food in the borough. In short, this is not your abodanza/gravy type of joint. Instead, Enoteca’s style translates to simple, tasty edibles that can be pleasantly rough around the edges. Indeed it has little hang ups – we’ll get to that later – but wholesome home-style cooking is the ultimate reward from this St. George kitchen.

Enoteca came to Staten Island in winter 2007 with a unique concept: Female cooks from various regions of Italy played chef with a different lady starring behind the stove every day. The idea turned out to be a winning one that whet the appetites of bloggers citywide.

It is still a little wine bar that serves dinners (no more lunches–boo!) and flavorful accoutrements on heavy robin’s egg plateware, an attractive backdrop for colorful food. Too bad these neat table settings make reasonably sized portions appear small, and plates typically are cool to the touch, something that pulls heat out of food.

Gifts from the kitchen–tasty amuse bouche like sundried tomato strips with pignoli nuts or garlicky cauliflower come with hunks of foccaccia – start the meal. Not so amusing for some patrons: They arrive after the food order is placed, hence no bread basket goodies on which to nibble.

Along with apps, entrees and handmade pastas, the menu features spuntino (small plates) like chick pea and grape tomato salad seasoned with oregano, an artichoke swollen with seasoned breadcrumb or quartered then marinated and grilled with balsamic vinegar. Polpette (meatballs) are intensely garlicked with distinct meat flavor, a nice chemistry that happens when few fillers clutter the meat mixture. Sliced mushrooms in “sweet tomato sauce” are very good, although the sauce looked unappealingly heavy with oil.

And pizza–as in the explosively flavorful four-cheese variety which melds gorgonzola, provolone, mozzarella and parmesan–is like no other pie on S.I., something perhaps a home cook might pull together in his own kitchen using top notch ingredients.

One recent evening, cook Adelina made gnocchi in a few shining flavors–sundried tomato, spinach and potato–turning out those steaming dumplings with pleasant pillowy-doughy texture. Vibrantly colored sautéed fresh veggies shared a plate with a fist-sized puff pastry pocket folded with floured chicken breast bits, oozing mozzarella and tangy orange marmalade, a seemingly simple combination that delivered sophisticated, contrasting flavors.

Zuppe di Pesce (housemade seafood soup) was thick with calamari yet shy on broth. Salmon with capers and olives featured a fish that was overcooked and devoid of flavor. Perfectly steamed whole Branzini bass came tucked in a crumpled mass of aluminum foil. Basted in its own juices with fresh garlic and herbs, it was thoroughly delightful despite a messy presentation. A few items listed on the menu teased but weren’t always featured, including capunatz (sheep’s head) stuffed with breadcrumb. With dessert, cookies were grainy and could be better. Biscotti, presumably a staple sweet in the repertoire, was notably absent on our visits. But an island of vanilla semifreddo (half-frozen gelato) floating in espresso was extraordinary.

Enoteca’s patrons have expressed mixed emotions on service, something worthy of mention.

Fans of the place enthuse over the relaxed atmosphere and the owner’s attentiveness. A server (or the owner himself for that matter) might replenish a beverage on the house, bring over a freshly prepared side dish for sampling or add fruit to an almost finished pitcher of house wine. Some find this behavior to be over-solicitous. Others, like myself, find the gestures to be unpretentious, incredibly warm and a sign of good service from one of the borough’s finer establishments.

Menu: Enoteca (Italian translation: wine bar) serves home-style regional Italian food cooked by several different female cooks straight from The Boot. The menu has a staple spuntino (a menu of small plates meant for sharing as appetizers), but for the most part offerings change nightly depending on the featured gal in the kitchen.

Atmosphere: Narrow storefront houses marble floors & tabletops, pearlescent subway wall tiles & caged glass bulbs making for a sophisticated industrial décor. Seats 30 (only two seats at the bar). Acoustics can be brash and loud but for some customers this is part of Enoteca’s unique charm.

Hours: Abbreviated menu of appetizers, salads & pizza Wednesday-Sunday, 3 to 5 p.m. Full menu starts at 5 p.m. and runs to about 11 p.m. Evening hours can be erratic so call before paying a visit.

Prices: Apps generally run under $10; most entrees under $20. Major credit cards accepted.

Drinks: Bellinis (seasonal fruit floated in wine), plus an interesting Italian wine inventory with all bottles offered by the glass. Oenophiles will love the proper vino stemware & the staff’s enthusiasm for allowing sample sips.

Specs: Street/meter parking is plentiful after 5 p.m. Municipal parking lot is across the street. Check the St. George Theater schedule: When shows are playing, neighborhood parking is tight. Wheelchair access is very awkward but doable at a few tables. Bathroom is too tiny for negotiating a wheelchair.

(Article reprinted with kind permission of The Staten Island Advance)