Author Archive

Posted on June 5, 2007 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

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.

Posted on May 20, 2007 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

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.

Posted on May 10, 2007 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

Dining Out: Raising The Wine Bar

A quintet of chefs from different regions of Italy deliver a stellar new addition to the North Shore dining scene.

By Pamela Silvestri
Staten Island Advance

Enoteca Maria in St. George created ripples in the borough when it opened three months ago. At the time, Denise and Jody Scaravella’s concept seemed so romantic, perhaps even far-fetched: Every day women from different regions of Italy would take turns in the kitchen preparing lunch and dinner.

In practice, the idea is brilliant. At the very least, it’s a unique endeavor that is orchestrated quite well. So far, Enoteca Maria has been blessed with some good people management and the bonus of a warm, passionate staff. By the way, “enoteca” means “wine bar” in Italian. Maria is Mr. Scaravella’s late mother’s name.

Lunch and dinner menus are updated daily like clockwork before meal times on the restaurant’s Web site. That’s just outstanding! It makes Enoteca Maria the only Staten Island restaurant to take advantage of the Internet in such a way.

Beyond a glass curtain wall, the Enoteca’s dining room can best be described as laid back, industrial environs. Metal fans hook into a jet black ceiling and light comes from caged glass bulbs. Marble floors and gray marble subway tile contribute to a modern, Roman look.

Somewhere in a downstairs kitchen, the Italian ladies hand-craft potato gnocchi, ravioli and Pappardelle ribbons. They bake herbed focaccia and neatly fold cookies with jam and nutella. They produce rudimentary layer cakes out of fresh cream, liquor-soaked sponge cake and fruit.

Teresa, Caterina, Argentina, Nina and Patrizia – the cooks who respectively hail from Palermo, Torretta, Marche, Salerno and Rome – may leave their post behind the stove to check on customers’ reactions.

Not to worry, ladies! Clams in Vongole di Salsa Piccante – Littlenecks bathed in slightly spiced, thin red sauce – were plump and fresh. The Pasta Girasole was an absolute thriller with tubes of fine quality penne tossed in an electric orange sauce made from tomatoes, roasted sunflower seeds and the essence of rendered sweet sausage. Paninis – sometimes tucked with smoked salmon, sometimes with grilled veggies – are made with awesome bread.

Slices of bread topped with anchovy butter and fresh mozzarella (croustini con alici) for lunch one day was simple and fabulous. I think about that item once in a while and the memory makes me salivate.

Bay leaf or thyme-tinged stews cooked separately with oxtail, veal, rabbit and lamb were outrageous. Farro made an unbelievable presence in an already stunning minestrone soup. At one point, Ms. Scaravella offered artisanal cheeses, a wonderful thing to see in a wine bar. Customers weren’t adventurous with such treasures and, alas, those cheeses have gone by the wayside. (Oh, please bring them back.)

Four little treats – like an amuse bouche – with focaccia arrive prior to the meal on miniature square plates. These are always a delightful surprise. See the occasional appearance of Gaeta olives and parsley flecked, vinegar button mushrooms or fresh (yes, fresh!), tender artichoke hearts. Occasionally catch sun-dried tomatoes dotted with vibrant green pine nut pesto or corn (fresh-shaven from the cob) tossed with fennel and carrot discs. All food is presented on matching turquoise platters and mini-plates.

Yes, there is a downside to such fluid menues: Favorite dishes may never be featured again unless the staff is given a few day’s notice. And fussy eaters face a menu limited to about a dozen items. Could Enoteca Maria be extending the best selection of wines by the glass we’ve seen so far on Staten Island? I say yes.

Oenophiles will appreciate how wine is handled in general. For instance, Ms. Scaravella gingerly plucks stemware from an overhead rack with a soft cloth. Hence the customer receives a crystal clear, fingerprint-free goblet. (Note that these are the kinds of goblets a foodie would find in first-class Manhattan restaurants.) Carefully chosen Italian wines are offered by the glass, bottle and even by the flight. Jody Scaravella frequently pops new bottles, enthusiastically offers a taste to guests and asks their opinions. The gesture certainly wins friends.

While Enoteca Maria is fabulous in the wine department, there is just one teensy criticism due to the realities of properly storing its vast inventory: Red wines are sometimes a bit too chilled. Other quibbles include the matter of paper napkins. The high-quality, disposable kind or real linen ones are much more dignified when eating such great food. I also felt that sugar packets tucked on espresso and cappuccino saucers were a diner-esque touch. Surely there’s a more graceful way of handling the condiment.

A remarkable restaurant requires a complete package, one that features honest food, superior ingredients, sincere hospitality and proprietors who are totally into their work. No doubt, Enoteca Maria has all of that. My great hopes are that it can sustain its momentum and that Islanders will see the value in supporting such a unique Island restaurant.

(Reposted courtesy of The Staten Island Advance)

Posted on March 6, 2007 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

Turning Tables Food Blog

Notes on Enoteca Maria (Fresh and Fabulous)
Posted by Pamela Silvestri/SI Live

My fingers can’t type fast enough with the excitement over Enoteca Maria.

This is a wonderful addition to Staten Island and an ideal spot on the North Shore. Hooray for the borough! We are very lucky to have a spot like this. If you’ve been to Italy or highly regard good, clean, simple Italian food, you’ll totally love what this kitchen turns out.

We have sampled Enoteca Maria’s brief menu at lunch. The offerings change daily but I’ll tell you about our experience today. Now, remember, the restaurant has only been open for less than a week. That being said, Enoteca Maria is certainly off to an excellent start.

Note also Enoteca Maria should receive their liquor license momentarily and, in the meantime, it is NOT BYOB. It is a very small restaurant open only for lunch on weekdays. This is probably an ideal situation since it takes a lot to get the food part of an eatery launched and they’ll probably be the better for it in the long run. Also, there’s a tad bit of roughness about the decor (looks like they’re putting finishing touches in the dining room after all the construction, understandable) and they’re still getting inventory into the space (perfectly acceptable to me at this stage in the game).

ANYWAY, hospitality was excellent. Young, soft-spoken Italian women are simply delightful servers. After placing your order, a woman will shuttle a pale blue colored, china platter to the table carrying three room temp relish dishes — today’s little tastes: caponata; Gaeta olives with fresh corn kernels, fennel dices and carrot discs; freshly roasted red pepper slivers with sautéed onion and pignoli nuts — presented with squares of focaccia. (The focaccia baking is that smell that smacks you in the face when you enter, by the way).

The cooks—who obviously take a lot of pride in their food—will come out to check on their nicely crafted food. We met two women today: One from Rome, the other from Sicily.

I don’t want to spoil the surprises at this place but, briefly:
Vegetable minestrone had a delicate layering of flavor and perfectly firm farro (!!!) served with freshly grated pamesan cheese in a square ramekin (!!!) It was $6 for a generous bowl.

Insalada Verde was just ehh, with crude chops of romaine, pale tomato wedges, black raisins and a battonet of carrots. Really good olive oil-based dressing, though. $5.

On AWESOME, crisp, sexy, warm (did I say awesome?) bread, the following:
Panini con salmone with lemon, oil and smidgeon of vinegar in a ramekin for dipping. Smoked salmon came on the warmed bread with shreds of iceberg. Heat from the bread cooked the salmon a bit, but overall a good sandwich. $8

Panini con Arugula and Bresaula with a pile of good quality, thin slices of bresaula and a dipping sauce of olive oil dotted with vinegar. $8

AND THE BEST DISH OF THE DAY……
Crostini topped with melted mozzarella cheese spread with anchovy butter!!! 
Ahhhh, simple and absolutely fabulous but a little pricey at $8.

Not sampled but definitely eyeballed for another time if offered:
Trippa alla Romana — $10.
Pennette con Funghi and Speck (Speck!!! Speck!!! They’re serving speck!) Possibly underpriced at $10. We’ll see.

Posted on October 31, 2004 - by Enoteca - 1 comment

Adriana of Spoleto, Umbria

My name is Adriana Busti Carioti, I was born and raised in Spoleto, Umbria (central Italy).

In the years of my youth I learned cooking from my mother, who would often cook for celebrations like weddings, first communions and confirmations and other events.

When I was 19 years old I moved to the United States where I settled in Washington D.C. and I got married with a fellow countryman who used to work for the Italian embassy. We had 5 sons, so I had countless opportunities for cooking my mother’s recipes (and more) and for following her tips and advises in the matter.

The idea of cooking at Enoteca Maria comes from one of my sons, Steve, who once told me “Mom, you love cooking and everybody loves your dishes, why don’t you give it a try?”

I followed his advice and now I travel from Washington D.C. to New York by bus to cook at Enoteca. And I enjoy doing it anytime!

I love Enoteca’s people, its atmosphere and style, and plus … I love New York!

Posted on June 15, 2004 - by Enoteca - Comments are off for this post

Luisa from Piacenza

I was born and raised in a small town in the province of Piacenza, the westernmost city of  Emilia Romagna, half an hour south of Milan.

Our town is located in a corner in the Appennino Emiliano, not too far from the Ligurian, Tuscany, Piedmont and Lombardy borders

I grew up in a large, extended family of 14, including a grandmother who was the boss and let everyone know it, a great aunt, mother, father, brothers, sister, an uncle, aunt, and cousins.  On the farm we raised just about everything, all kinds of animals, and vegetables.  We all did chores outside and inside the house. My grandmother and the older women all shared the task of teaching the young ones how to cook using ingredients grown on the farm.

I came to New York in the late sixties to join my sister who was already living here and my passion for cooking continued, learning all different cultures and food.At the Enoteca I cook the peasant food I grew up with and I am always a bit surprised when people of all cultures and food background enjoy it.

Posted on March 28, 2003 - by Enoteca - 5 comments so far

Rosa from Schio, Vicenza

Rosa Lievore Turano was born in Schio, a provence of Vicenza located in the northern region of Veneto. She and her family moved to the United States on July 3, 1956, where they joined her father in Weehawken, NJ. Among her earliest food memories are her nonna preparing gnocchi and tortellini from scratch.

Rosa comes from a long tradition of food and recipes being shared and passed along from generation to generation. Though she remembers her nonna’s cooking, Rosa says that she actually learned to cook from her mother. As a child, Rosa would help her mom prepare pasta con Sugo di Pomodori e Tonno on Friday evenings. She also learned to make Fegato all Veneziana (calf’s liver) and her older sister showed her how to cook Osso Bucco.

Today, Rosa is grandmother to seven grandchildren. She shares her love of cooking with her two oldest, Briana and Nicholas. Rosa loves being able to share her family’s recipes with the hungry customers at Enoteca Maria.