Archive for the ‘International’ Category
Posted on January 22, 2015 - by Enoteca - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)
Italian Writeup for the Enoteca in La Cucina
Posted on December 22, 2014 - by Enoteca - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)
kite innepal discusses Enoteca Maria (Italian)
Posted on December 4, 2014 - by Enoteca - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)
Rai TV does a special on Enoteca (Bilingual)
Posted on December 3, 2014 - by Enoteca - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)
Restaurant Staffed by Italian Grandmothers to Reveal Secrets in Cookbook – DNAinfo reports
Link to Full Article Here
ST. GEORGE — When Jody Scarvella opened his restaurant Enoteca Mariain St. George, he wanted a way to bring Italian home cooking to people who pined for their grandmothers’ cooking.
The eatery at 27 Hyatt St. hired a different grandma as head chef each night — and got them to cook up specialties from the region of Italy they emigrated from.
“[People] come to the restaurant and that grandma who’s cooking for the night becomes everybody’s grandmother,” Scarvella said. “The restaurant was a way to have all these Italian women cooking and creating that atmosphere.”
Now, Scarvella is expanding his plan by releasing a cookbook — to bring his restaurant’s dishes into your home.
“Nonna’s House: Cooking and Reminiscing with Italian Grandmothers at Enoteca Maria,” set to be released next year by Simon & Schuster, will be a hybrid cookbook/biography featuring the dishes and stories of the 10 grandmothers who work in his restaurant.
“It’s going to be a biography of all these ladies and stories about growing up in Italy and moving to the United States,” he said. “And it’s going to have recipes sprinkled in.”
Scarvella said the book will feature 120 dishes ranging from meat and cheese lasagna to chicken alla capricciosa, with prosciutto and mushrooms.
While the book will have plenty of Italian recipes to try out, Scarvella said he was more interested in collecting the stories of his cooks, who came from parts of Italy like Naples, Palermo and Sicily and settled in New York.
“I had an idea for a biography more than a cookbook,” he said. “I don’t believe the world needs another cookbook.”
Even so, Scarvella said he was most excited about some of the poverty-driven dishes in the book, similar to the ones his Sicilian grandmother cooked up.
“Poor people were able to eat what was available to them, what they were able to afford, parts of the animal that nobody else was interested in,” he explained. “Dishes like the sheep’s head — which my grandmother used to make — pigs feet or chicken feet. That’s really the foundation of Italian cuisines.”
But it wasn’t an easy journey to get the stories or recipes down on paper, Scarvella said.
Since some of the women don’t speak English and his Italian isn’t great, writing down his chefs’ life stories was difficult — yet not as hard as pinning down recipes from matriarchs who cook by eye.
“They don’t follow any recipes,” Scarvella said. “If you ask them how long the chicken needs to cook they say ‘until it’s done.'”
Some of his chefs were also tight-lipped about giving up some of their best dishes, including a grandmother from Naples who refused to share the secret of her Nutella cheesecake for the book.
“If you ask her for that recipe, she’ll lose her memory right away,” Scarvella said. “She’s taking that recipe to the grave.”
Posted on December 3, 2014 - by Enoteca - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)
Enoteca, blogworthy foodie pics at FreshNYC
Rather than bring you genuine Italian food just like Grandma use to make it, Jody Scaravella is bringing you authentic Nonna’s food. Enoteca Maria features a rotating roster of Italian grandmas specializing in cuisines from different regions of Italy – Milano, Viscenza, Napoli, Palermo; each bringing their own unique specialties to their night showcasing dishes from their specific regions made with fresh ingredients and prepared traditionally in sizeable portions. One day you may find Nonna Teresa’s Sicilian specialty, lasagne agli prosciutto e melanzane or pasta con sarde. Another day, it could be Adelena’a rustic Neapolitan cuisine, her favorite Tagliatelle alla Mantavana (with Pumpkin, Sausage, and Chestnuts) or torta rustica with figs. With current line-up of 8 chefs, it’s like having 8 restaurants in one, each day brings new flavors, new experience.
The space is long and slim with exposed bricks and industrial style lighting keeping the atmosphere casual, comfortable and family friendly. Reservations are for a 2-hour block so you don’t want to be in a rush instead, this is a place to experience food and enjoy being with friends and family as you eat.
Posted on August 30, 2014 - by Enoteca - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)
Nonna’s House, Enoteca’s own Cooking Book is on Sale Now in Hardcover!
COMING APRIL 7, 2015
Now available for pre-order via the following links!
This beautiful collection of food and nostalgia features great traditions from the heart of Italy, with delicious recipes and colorful stories from the internationally celebrated grandmothers of Enoteca Maria—a one-of-a-kind Italian restaurant where a rotating cast of nonnas are the star chefs. Enoteca Maria takes great home cooking seriously. At this intimate, hospitable restaurant on Staten Island, all the cooking is done by ten nonnas (grandmothers), drawing on their own family recipes, handed down for generations, which reflect their regional traditions. Here are their delicious homemade pastas, risottos, desserts, and more, which have foodies from all over the world taking the ferry to the forgotten borough for an authentic taste of Italy.
Beautiful full-color photography captures the fresh, distinctive flavors of these surprising dishes. Nonna Cristina shares her beautiful Risotto with Strawberries, Black Pepper, and Parmesan; Nonna Margherita offers delectable Stuffed Peppers with Pine Nuts and Raisins; and Nonna Teresa shows off her prize-winning Meat and Cheese Lasagna. Nonna Elvira whips up her peerless Linguine with Cuttlefish and Ink; Adelina creates a savory Tagliatelle with Pumpkin, Sausage, and Chestnuts; and Rosaria makes handmade Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Cherry Tomatoes and Porcini Mushrooms. Nonna Carmelina shares her classic Potato Pie with Ham, Salami, and Mozzarella; Rosa confides her nonna’s secret recipe for Rabbit with Sage; and Nina sautés Chicken alla Capricciosa, with prosciutto and mushrooms. Nonna Francesca launches the book with advice on the time-honored art of preserving everything from olives to soppressata.
With its utterly delicious tastes of grandmother’s kitchen, Nonna’s House is a legacy of flavors passed down through generations, now captured here forever. Restaurant founder Jody Scaravella says it best: “If I have a choice between a three-star Michelin chef’s restaurant and Grandma’s, I’m going to Grandma’s. I’m going to the source.â€
Posted on June 5, 2014 - by Enoteca - (Comment * FaceBook It * Send to Friend)
Il Secolo XIX in Italy gives the Enoteca international ink!
