Who Needs Chefs When You’ve Got Nonnas (Grandmas) in the Kitchen

Send us Fan Mail It all started in 2007 when Joe Scaravella opened a unique Staten Island eatery. Instead of hiring trained chefs, Joe hired the best cooks he knew — grandmothers, or Nonnas. Today the restaurant is a bustling place featuring grandmothers from around the world, each cooking from their heart.  Joe’s story was turned into the 2025 Netflix movie “Nonnas,” starring Vince Vaughn, Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vacaro and Talia Shire. In today’s episode, Nancy Franklin talks with Joe at the restaurant, along with Sabbia, an Italian American Nonna who cooks what she learned in her grandmother’s kitchen. Here’s more about the Nonnas restaurant, where you can even make reservations when you’re in New York. But bring cash, please, they don’t take credit cards. If you haven’t seen the movie “Nonnas,” here’s a taste. Here are photos of Joe and the Nonnas in a recent Crows Feet newsletter. Support the show