This New York restaurant is run by grandmothers.

[TdeV]

The menu at the Staten Island restaurant is made by a rotating group of international women, most of whom are matriarchs.

After all the food is served at this New York restaurant, customers clap for the grandmother who cooked it. It’s not scripted, but it happens every night.

The Staten Island establishment, run by women known as “nonnas of the world,” is as much a celebration of the people who toil in the kitchen as the places they hail from.

It’s become so popular, you can’t just walk in for a meal. Getting a table requires a reservation several weeks in advance.

There are about a dozen women who cook regularly at Enoteca Maria, a casual 30-seat Italian eatery. Its menu is made and executed by a rotating group of international women, most of whom are matriarchs.

The nonnas — the Italian word for grandmothers — include Maria Gialanella, 88. She has amassed such a following that some customers come only on nights they know she is in the kitchen. She even has her own Instagram page.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/01/24/staten-island-nonna-grandmothers-restaurant/

[Maison Rustique]

That is way cool!!!

[TdeV]

I want to go!

 

I wonder if there are other restaurants like this. I would be happy to go on a tour of them across the country. 😀

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Pino Luongo created a NYC restaurant on this model, Le Madri, some 40 odd years ago.    A rotating group of Italian mamas.    I don't recall how long it lasted but was popular and memorable.

[Rickbern]

Le Madri ran for maybe 5-8 years. It was in a one story building with very high ceilings, something like a decommissioned power station, some real estate developers couldn’t leave well enough alone, there’s some generic condo there now. 

[Rickbern]

Almost forgot. This was one special grandma, rather than a rotating cast of Hollywood extras. I’m pretty sure she’s no longer there, but I remembered this article from 2011

 

place was called gradisca on 13th street

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/dining/mama-in-the-restaurant-kitchen.html

[TdeV]

Sadly I could only read the first paragraph, but Caterina Schenardi sounded like a great cook!