NONNAS, a 2025 comedy-drama film streaming on Netflix, directed by Stephen Chbosky and starring Vince Vaughn. The Movie follows Joe (Vaughn) is a man adrift after the loss of his beloved Nonna and mother. Left with a sense of emptiness and longing, he decides to honor their memory in the best way he knows how—through food. Using his mother’s life insurance money, Joe sets out to open a restaurant in Staten Island. Though he’s a decent cook, he needs help bringing his vision to life.
He turns to his late mother’s best friend, played by Lorraine Bracco, a tough, traditional cook with years of experience. Soon, he recruits two more spirited grandmothers (Brenda Vaccaro and Talia Shire) through Craigslist, and rounds out his team with a glamorous pastry chef played by Susan Sarandon.
Together, these four women breathe life into Joe’s dream, turning the restaurant into a warm, bustling space. As they share meals and memories, they also rediscover purpose and connection. Joe, surrounded by the maternal energy he lost, slowly begins to heal. While the film delivers laughs and emotion in equal measure, many are left asking: Is NONNAS based on a true story?
NONNAS IS BASED ON THE TRUE STORY OF JOE SCARAVELLA AND ENOTECA MARIA
The film Nonnas is firmly rooted in reality, inspired by the life of Joe Scaravella, a Brooklyn-born Staten Island resident who founded Enoteca Maria in 2007. After suffering the back-to-back losses of several close family members—including his father, mother, grandmother Domenica, and sister Mariana—Scaravella sought a new beginning. Using his inheritance, he bought a property on Staten Island and opened a restaurant in memory of his mother, Maria.
Scaravella’s deep connection to food came from watching his Sicilian grandmother Domenica cook with passion and fearlessness. Her influence stayed with him into adulthood, eventually becoming the foundation for his restaurant’s concept. Domenica, a spirited woman who passed away just shy of 100, was unapologetically bold in everything—including her shopping habits. Scaravella fondly remembers her taking bites of produce at Italian markets and discarding them on the floor if they didn’t meet her standards. “If it was on the floor, it belonged there,” he recalls.
Wanting to recreate the love and authenticity of his grandmother’s kitchen, Scaravella put out a newspaper ad looking for real grandmothers to cook in his restaurant. The response was overwhelming. Women from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds reached out, each bringing her own set of recipes and culinary traditions. As a result, Enoteca Maria became a unique culinary hub, offering dishes from Italy, Mexico, Greece, Uzbekistan, and beyond—all under one roof.
FROM SCREEN TO REALITY: THE WOMEN WHO INSPIRED THE CHARACTERS
In Nonnas, Scaravella is joined by a cast of colorful women who bring their own stories and flavors into his restaurant. These characters are fictionalized for dramatic effect but inspired by the real grandmothers who helped launch Enoteca Maria.
Susan Sarandon plays Gia, a former hairdresser who cared for Scaravella’s mother and becomes one of his first chefs. Talia Shire stars as Teresa, a former nun who left convent life after falling in love. Lorraine Bracco portrays Roberta, an old family friend escaping the monotony of life in a senior home. Brenda Vaccaro plays Antonella, a widow who finds new meaning in her later years, thanks to her neighbor Olivia (played by Linda Cardellini) encouraging her to apply for the job.
The real-life women behind these characters are just as compelling. They include:
Carmelina Pica, the fourth of 14 children and a former sewing factory worker, known for her legendary appetizers on Staten Island.
Adelina Orazzo, engaged at 13 in a small town near Naples, who found new joy in the kitchen after answering Scaravella’s ad. Born and raised in a small village near Naples, Italy, Adelina learned to cook from her mother and grandmother, mastering rustic, peasant-style dishes like pasta e fagioli and ricotta lasagna. Her cooking is deeply rooted in her upbringing, reflecting the simplicity and authenticity of traditional Italian cuisine. In 1990, Adelina moved to Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and his brother, who took jobs as waiters.
Fifteen years later, in 2006, her niece spotted an advertisement seeking Italian grandmothers to cook at a new restaurant on Staten Island. Adelina applied and was hired immediately by owner Joe Scaravella, becoming one of the first nonnas in the kitchen. Since then, she has been a cornerstone of Enoteca Maria, running the fixed Italian kitchen and preparing beloved dishes such as veal braciola, four-cheese ravioli, and eggplants stuffed with rice. Beyond her culinary contributions, Adelina’s story and personality have inspired broader cultural recognition. She is featured in Scaravella’s cookbook, Nonna’s House, which profiles the grandmothers who have cooked at the restaurant over the years.
Teresa Scalici, who grew up in Sicily and came to work at Enoteca Maria at age 60, carrying her grandmother’s handwritten recipes.
These nonnas didn’t just cook—they shared culture, family history, and a piece of their soul. Scaravella describes it best: “They’re taking what their mother taught them, what their grandmother taught them. Every time these ladies are in the kitchen, culture comes out of their fingertips.”
A RESTAURANT THAT’S MORE THAN A RESTAURANT
Scaravella insists that Enoteca Maria “walks like a restaurant, smells like a restaurant, talks like a restaurant, but it’s not a restaurant.” Instead, he views it as a cultural exchange—a place where recipes, stories, and human connections are passed down, plate by plate.
What sets Enoteca Maria apart is its refusal to modernize in certain ways. Reservations can only be made by phone—Scaravella proudly refuses to use OpenTable, Resy, or delivery apps like UberEats. For him, putting food in a takeout box diminishes its value. “I’m not chasing a dollar. I’m chasing a dream,” he says.
To this day, the restaurant hosts rotating menus based on the heritage of the nonnas cooking that weekend. From Uzbek plov to Greek spanakopita and Mexican mole, diners get a world tour without ever leaving Staten Island.
Scaravella even offers free cooking classes, where participants can learn directly from these master home chefs. He hopes to someday launch a digital archive where people can upload and share their own family recipes, keeping traditions alive for generations.
SOME MOMENTS IN THE MOVIE REALLY HAPPENED
The idea of turning Scaravella’s life into a film came after production companies Madison Wells and Matador Content bought the rights to his story. Screenwriter Liz Maccie adapted it into the heartfelt script that became Nonnas.
The film captures both the challenges and joys of opening a restaurant centered around tradition, memory, and diversity. In one emotional scene, Shire’s character Teresa drops to her knees to pray for a successful health inspection. Scaravella confirms this moment is based in truth—he once had a friend pray to Padre Pio, and soon after, the restaurant began to thrive. A portrait of Padre Pio now hangs proudly on the wall of the real Enoteca Maria.
Even the interpersonal tensions portrayed in the film have real roots. The nonnas, while loving and passionate, occasionally clashed. Scaravella recalls times when tempers flared—“I’ve seen a frying pan raised,” he jokes. But behind the occasional kitchen feud was always deep respect and mutual admiration.
The movie introduces Olivia (played by Linda Cardellini), a young neighbor who encourages Antonella to cook at Enoteca Maria. She develops a spark with Joe. While this particular romance is fictionalized, Scaravella has indeed dated women he met through the restaurant. Today, he is in a relationship with one of the current chefs, Yumi Komatsudaira, who brings Japanese cuisine to the table.
The film highlights the protagonist’s struggle to make Enoteca Maria a success amidst challenges, particularly during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, when concerns over the health of elderly staff arose. However, the restaurant quickly gained traction thanks to its unique concept. As owner Scaravella noted in an interview, Enoteca Maria is not just a restaurant, but a “cultural exchange,” setting it apart with its nonna-hiring policy. This approach, which began in 2015 with nonnas from diverse cultural backgrounds, brings authentic dishes from various heritages, turning the restaurant into a hub of tradition and creativity.
THE LEGACY OF NONNAS AND JOE SCARAVELLA
Beyond food, Scaravella’s story is about resilience, reinvention, and rediscovery. After enduring profound personal loss, he built something meaningful—not just for himself, but for countless others. Enoteca Maria has not only become a Staten Island landmark but also a symbol of global unity, where the common language is food.
Today, Scaravella continues to run the restaurant with passion and care. His partner, Yumi Komatsudaira, one of the restaurant’s rotating chefs, now shares the kitchen and his life. Together with the nonnas, they keep the spirit of family and tradition alive with every meal served.
Netflix’s Nonnas isn’t just a feel-good movie—it’s a heartfelt reflection of a real-life dream built on memory, love, and the strength of women. The true story of Joe Scaravella and Enoteca Maria proves that some of the most powerful culinary journeys begin not in celebrity kitchens, but in the humble homes of grandmothers who carry generations of wisdom in their aprons.
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Make a reservation. Sit down. Take a bite. And you’ll know: the nonnas aren’t just making dinner. They’re telling a story—one dish at a time.
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