There are few things as comforting as food, especially when it’s cooked by the people who know and love us best. Most people only get to eat their family’s signature dishes on holidays, or whenever they’re visiting home. This is not the case in Nonnas, Stephen Chbosky’s heartfelt drama about a Staten Island restaurant that only serves food prepared by grandmothers. If you start to feel your stomach growl after watching the trailer above, you’re not the only one.
Nonnas follows Joe (Vince Vaughn), who, after losing his mom and grandmother, turns to their generations-old recipes for solace and direction. With the money from his mom’s insurance and a little help from his friends, he opens Enoteca Maria, an old-school Italian spot staffed by four grandmothers, or “nonnas,” from different cities in Italy, who share their dishes with the neighborhood.
For director Chbosky, Nonnas was just as personal as Enoteca Maria is for Joe. “This movie is a love letter to my wife [Liz Maccie], who wrote the film,” the director says. “Knowing my wife, knowing her family, knowing her Italian background, her childhood in New Jersey — I knew it was going to be a very special movie.”
Joe isn’t the only character craving the comfort of his family’s culinary traditions. He’s joined by Olivia (Linda Cardellini), with whom he reconnects at an Italian market years after standing her up at prom, and his best friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello), both of whom have experienced the power of a meal cooked with love. “I enjoy food and spending time with friends and family — [it’s about] connection, and sharing an experience with people you enjoy,” says Vaughn, of what drew him to the project. “It’s great to have the time with people. The family dinner table is an opportunity to laugh and to try not to argue.”
And although they’re on the other side of the dish, the four nonnas — Roberta (Lorraine Bracco), Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro), Teresa (Talia Shire), and Gia (Susan Sarandon) — are equally transformed by the restaurant, and the history and potential for rediscovery it presents.
Vaughn and Manganiello had just as much reverence for these legendary actors as their characters do for the nonnas around whom they build a business. Bracco describes overhearing a conversation between the two men: “The thing that I loved was that I overheard them saying, ‘Do you believe these actresses have been in some of the greatest movies that I’ve loved my entire life? I’ve seen them in these movies 50 times and do you believe we’re getting to work with them?’” says the Goodfellas and The Sopranos actor. “I thought there was something very precious about their enthusiasm to work with us old broads.”
As is the case for their characters, Bracco, Sarandon, Shire, and Vaccaro found Nonnas offered a chance for exploration. “What was exceptional and didn’t have to be,” says Vaccaro, “was Stephen allowed freedom. We could do anything we wanted to do almost. He let things grow and prosper organically. So I would get up in the morning and say, ‘I can’t wait to go to work!’ It was joyous.” Joyous, and also delicious, as Bracco adds: “I was always like ‘What’s up today, what are we eating?’”
Keep scrolling to learn about the true story that inspired Nonnas, and meet the all-star cast sitting around the dinner table in some first-look photos below. And once you’re done, Chbosky has some more advice: “Call your mother!” the director says. “The message is to love your family and honor your family’s past and traditions, however that love of family manifests itself, whether it’s for your family of origin or the family you choose. Life, for all of its complications, is about the love of family, traditions, food, and the wonderful eccentric characters that come with it.”
Susan Sarandon as Gia, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella, Lorraine Bracco as Roberta and Talia Shire as Teresa in Nonnas
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Lorraine Bracco as Roberta, Talia Shire as Teresa, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella and Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella in Nonnas
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Susan Sarandon as Gia in Nonnas
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Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella in Nonnas
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Talia Shire as Teresa in Nonnas
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Lorraine Bracco as Roberta in Nonnas
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Susan Sarandon as Gia, Talia Shire as Teresa, Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella and Lorraine Bracco as Roberta in Nonnas
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Susan Sarandon as Gia, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella, Lorraine Bracco as Roberta and Talia Shire as Teresa in Nonnas
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Lorraine Bracco as Roberta and Talia Shire as Teresa in Nonnas
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Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella and Joe Manganiello as Bruno in Nonnas
Drea de Matteo as Stella, Joe Manganiello as Bruno and Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella in Nonnas
Joe Manganiello as Bruno and Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella in Nonnas
Who’s in the cast of Nonnas?
About the Character
Born and bred in Brooklyn, Joe is stuck in a dead-end job at the MTA. After the loss of his nonna and mother, Joe turns to what has brought him comfort his whole life: Italian dishes homecooked by family, shared by many. With his mom’s insurance money, he opens Enoteca Maria — a restaurant in Staten Island serving food cooked by four nonnas — and finds a way to stay connected to the people he’s lost, rediscovering himself in the process.
Previously In
The Break-Up, Couples Retreat
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Linda Cardellini
as Olivia
About the Character
Olivia has known Joe since high school, when the two shared a disastrous prom night. Now a first-year law student living in Staten Island, Olivia recruits Antonella, one of Enoteca Maria’s nonnas-turned-professional chefs, and helps Joe with the legal side of his restaurant. No stranger to the healing salve of a nonna’s cooking, Olivia reminds Joe and the nonnas that it’s never too late to start over.
Previously In
Scooby-Doo, Brokeback Mountain
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Lorraine Bracco
as Roberta
About the Character
Joe’s mom’s best friend of 60 years, Roberta is the first nonna to agree to cook at Enoteca Maria. A proud Sicilian, she holds strong opinions about Italian food, including her generations-old recipe for capuzzelle, and isn’t afraid to share them — especially with fellow chef Antonella, who hails from a different part of the country. Working at Enoteca Maria, however, brings out Roberta’s softer, more flexible side.
Previously In
Goodfellas, The Sopranos
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Brenda Vaccaro
as Antonella
About the Character
A longtime frequenter of Staten Island’s Italian market and devoted neighbor to Olivia, Antonella is as feisty about her Bolognian roots as she is loyal to the people she loves. When she joins Enoteca Maria as the second chef, the widowed Antonella realizes she has a lot more life to live.
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Capricorn One, Midnight Cowboy
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About the Character
A former nun, Teresa is the diligent, quiet counterpart to Roberta and Antonella’s larger-than-life rivalry. Don’t let her timid demeanor fool you, however: Teresa claims a storied romantic history that the other nonnas help her process.
Previously In
Rocky, The Godfather
About the Character
Gia is the last nonna to come aboard to Enoteca Maria, as the restaurant’s pastry chef. Joe’s mom’s lifelong friend and hairdresser, Gia owns and operates her own hair salon. In addition to offering her baking skills, Gia reinvigorates and inspires the other nonnas with a refreshing approach to aging, beauty, and visibility.
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Thelma & Louise, Dead Man Walking
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About the Character
Bruno has been Joe’s best friend since they were boys. Although initially skeptical of Joe’s ability to run a restaurant without any prior experience or expertise, Bruno always supports his friend — whether in the form of a cutlet sandwich, or by lending his contractor skills to rebuilding the restaurant.
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Deal or No Deal Island, True Blood
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About the Character
Stella is Bruno’s wife, an outspoken neighborhood staple who helps Joe by designing the interiors of Enoteca Maria, and prompting him to see his mom’s death as a catalyst for positive change in his own life.
Previously In
The Sopranos, Assault on Precinct 13
Is Nonnas based on a true story?
Yes! After Joe Scaravella’s grandmother Domenica died in 1999, he missed her home-cooked Italian dishes. So in 2007, he opened Enoteca Maria, where Italian grandmothers like Domenica could share their culinary traditions and signature recipes with the rest of the neighborhood. It’s become a Staten Island staple ever since, and you can even order a few of the dishes devoured in the movie, such as the capuzzelle (lamb’s head). “There’s such a sense of nostalgia in all of those buildings because you can feel all of the generations of family that have lived there,” says Chbosky of location scouting. “I wanted to celebrate the 99% of New York that, for whatever reason, movies ignore. It’s not Wall Street, it’s not Central Park West, it’s not Williamsburg or Park Slope.”
At first, real-life Joe only hired nonnas from different regions of Italy. Starting in 2011, he toyed with the idea of including grandmothers who weren’t just Italian, extending the concept to other culinary cultures. This first took shape as Nonnas of the World, a crowd-sourced virtual recipe book. “My vision [was for] this book to become the most extensive collection of grandmothers’ recipes, their particular dialect and memories, a testament to culinary culture of common people from all over the world,” Scaravella describes in his statement on the Enoteca Maria website. A few years later, in July, 2015, he hired grandmothers from all over the world — from Japan, Paraguay, and Ukraine to Peru, Greece, and the Dominican Republic — who brought their recipes to life alongside the Italian nonnas at the Staten Island location.
According to the director, Scaravella is just as warm in real life as he appears onscreen. “He’s such a great, down-to-earth guy,” says Chbosky. Vaughn also spent some time with Joe before portraying him in Nonnas. “What really struck me about him was the joy of ‘doing.’ He was really enthusiastic about creating the environment and the opportunity for the nonnas to cook,” the actor says. “He was far less focused on the business or expansion side. He truly was engaged in the fun and experience of the process.” The real-life Bruno still visits his friend’s restaurant, and after all these years, Joe no longer makes him pay.
Can I visit the real Enoteca Maria?
Enoteca Maria, located on Hyatt Street on Staten Island, takes reservations by phone, and is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Call early, as Scaravella is very loyal to his regular customers. “At one point, I was doing some location scouting, and Susan Sarandon’s assistant called me asking if Susan could go to the restaurant the next day. Saturday I called Joe, and he said, ‘Ooh, I don’t really have a table for her.’ I said, ‘What?’ And he said, ‘Well, look, my regulars are coming, I’m booked. Let me see what I can do,’” says Chbosky. “He called back and said, ‘Can she come at 6:30?’ That’s who he is. He was not going to change. He was not going to sell out any of his regulars, even for Susan Sarandon, who by the way, he adored and loved in the movie.”
After all, for both Scaravella and Chbosky, it all comes back to the food, and the people sitting around the table enjoying it. “I will say, what I found most profound about the story of the food itself is something that I actually recognized in my own family,” says the director. “When they got here, they wanted to be Americans. And a lot of the customs went away. But what stayed was the food, and I always think: That’s the last thing to go in any immigrant story. And since I see Nonnas partly as a story of the descendants of immigrants. That was a very profound linchpin for me.”
Check the Nonnas calendar before you go to see what kind of cuisine is being served that night.
Who else is involved in Nonnas?
Chbosky, who wrote and directed The Perks of Being a Wallflower and 2017’s Wonder, directs Nonnas, and Liz Maccie writes the film. Madison Wells’ Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane and Matador Content’s Jack Turner produce, alongside 1Community and Fifth Season.
Jay Peterson, Todd Lubin, Leah Gonzalez, Stacy Calabrese, Amanda Morgan Palmer, Scott Budnick, Ameet Shukla, Jody Scaravella, Pam Kirsch, Christopher Slager, Dan Guando, and Vaughn executive produce.
Is Stanley Tucci in Nonnas?
Contrary to some fans’ belief, Stanley Tucci is not in Nonnas, but it wouldn’t be a far stretch to imagine so, considering that author and actor Tucci (Prizzi’s Honor, The Lovely Bones) has sat around a dinner table enjoying heaping plates of Italian food on-screen before — memorably so in 1996’s Big Night. The 1950s Jersey Shore–set film, which Tucci co-directed with Campbell Scott, follows two brothers (Tucci and Tony Shalhoub) who host a massive dinner for Italian American singer Louis Prima after they exhaust their other options to keep their restaurant afloat.
In fact, the Paris Theater screened Big Night as part of a series celebrating Nonnas and films centering food: “The Ingredients of Life: Nonnas and Other Appetizing Tales at the Paris.” It would have been wonderful to see Tucci’s Big Night character serving timpano alongside Enoteca Maria’s nonnas. Until that collab happens, at least we have Tucci’s cookbook to tide us over (and the Nonnas cast and creators’ own recipes).
Help: I’m not Italian. What do zeppole, capuzzelle, enoteca, and mutande mean?
From the dreamy opening scene, we learn how important zeppole is to Joe and his community — in a flashback sequence, his younger self orders 12 of the deep-fried treats, and — despite the shopkeeper’s warning — makes it home empty-handed save for a powdered sugar grin.
Capuzzelle is a little less sweet but equally delicious. Bracco’s Roberta introduces the dish — a Sicilian specialty made from either lamb or sheep’s head with the intention that no part of the animal go to waste — to Enoteca Maria, and while at first it causes an oven fire, it ends up being a crowd favorite.
Another of Roberta’s iconic lines introduces us to mutande, or underwear. “That’s like asking a woman to show you her mutande!” she shouts when Joe asks about the secret to his late nonna’s sauce. Luckily, he doesn’t make such a grave mistake again.
While enoteca translates to “wine shop,” it’s used to describe a restaurant where familial merriment typically will include wine. In Nonnas, it’s one half of Joe’s prized establishment’s name: Enoteca Maria.
When can I watch Nonnas?
Grab your family and favorite Italian dish, and queue up Nonnas, streaming on Netflix.
