Meet Nonna Gracie and Tony Cash NYC
Reporter Jeanne Muchnick chats with internet stars (and Westchester residents) Nonna Gracie and Tony Cash NYC, Aug. 27, 2025. Tania Savayan/lohud
At 82-years-young Grace Geramita aka Nonna Gracie has become an Internet star.’Leaning into his Italian background has made this 13-year-old Eastchester eighth grader a social media star
At 82 years young, Italian native Grace Geramita aka Nonna Gracie never set out to be an internet star. Nor did her 13-year-old great-nephew Tony Barisano aka Tony CashNYC. But that’s exactly what these two Eastchester residents have become. And it all started with a love for cooking, a devotion to family and a fierce pride in their Italian roots.
Sandwiched between this is a story about olive oil — Geramita launched her own brand in April — and the tradition of passing recipes from one generation to another.
There’s also more (a lot more!) about Barisano whose follower count rivals Nonna’s and is growing at warp speed. The Eastchester eighth-grader, known for humorous quips have made him so famous he can barely go anywhere without being stopped for a selfie, has tapped into his “New Yawker” accent and prideful Italian heritage to build a following with posts that often start with “Yo guys.”
His story starts with the olive oil, but first, there’s Nonna. And a nudge they both got from Matt Gresia, Nonna’s grandson and Barisano’s cousin.
How Nonna Gracie became a social media star
“I really wasn’t looking for something that turned into a business,” said Gresia, who grew up with his grandmother in a two-family home. “I was just looking for something to fill a void over the videos I was making.”
At the time the 28-year-old, who handles Geramita’s socials as well as her olive oil company, was making business videos for his own channels — and having huge success (think 4 million combined followers) before doing short-form video at multinational investment company BlackRock. But he wanted to do something more meaningful and fun. Which is why, four years ago, he turned his camera to the woman he calls his second mom. “I just wanted to film Nonna doing what she does naturally — talk about her life and make good food.”
Geramita, who was born in Sarno, a small town outside Naples, admits she was nervous the first time they filmed. But the trust she has for her grandson, and his ability to make her feel comfortable, won out. “We just sat down, had a cup of coffee and started talking,” she said.
When that video — branded on social media as “the RealNonnaGracie” — got half a million views within a few hours time, the two of them knew they were onto something.
Now, “The Internet’s Italian Grandma” has more than a million followers and an exciting project in the works (to be revealed in October). Most videos — she’s on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook — start with Gresia asking her what she’s making. Geramita then leads “her Internet grandchildren” through the process of creating a recipe, everything from branzino to eggplant parmesan to Shrimp Francese to Linguine Vongole to stromboli with sausage and rapini.
“I cook very natural,” she said. “Everything is fresh. Nothing fancy.”
How Nonna Gracie Started Her Own Olive Oil Brand
In between, she subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) sells her olive oil, which is produced in Sicily with biancolilla olives derived from a family orchard in Italy. She came up with the idea for Nonna’s Olive Oil after hearing about a 2016 Forbes article stating that 80% of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) on American shelves is fake due to the mislabeling of low-grade or blended vegetable oils.
This upset her so much — she’s a strong believer in fresh ingredients — that she asked Gresia to help her do something about it. Since no grandson can say no to his grandmother, he dove into studying the field, leveraging Nonna’s growing social media power, making cold calls, and tapping into some food connections to find an Italian supplier who was able to produce the olive oil. Launched in April after a year and a half in the works, it’s now sold at all DeCicco & Sons stores as well as at Uncle Guiseppe’s and other specialty retailers.
The olive oil, branded with Nonna Gracie’s photo, is where Barisano, who goes by “Tony CashNYC” on Instagram, entered the social media fray, becoming a personality in his own right.
13-Year-Old Barisano’s Rise to Tony Cash Fame
In April, Barisano was with his mom at DeCicco’s in Eastchester picking up something for lunch. Knowing his great aunt’s olive oil had just launched, he went looking for it.
“When I found the display with her face I thought, why don’t I do a video about this and help the family,” he said. The eighth-grader recorded himself on his cellphone chatting about how folks should buy Nonna’s product. He sent it to Gresia for his opinion. “He said it was great so I immediately posted,” said Barisano.
The video, with Barisano’s trademark “Yo guys” intro and what sounds like a stereotypical old Italian man shtick (but really is his persona), soon went viral, racking up close to 1.1 million views and 10,000 likes in three days.
Based on the reaction — Gresia said Barisano is just naturally funny and that what you see on camera is his normal self — the two decided to keep it going. Barisano now riffs on everything from New York City traffic to school lunch to pineapple on pizza to how to properly pronounce DeCicco’s.
With close to a million followers, he leans heavily on his Italian upbringing with posts — and a lot of hand gestures — on how to enunciate tiramisu, mozzarella, gnocchi and prosciutto (this reporter was repeatedly corrected). He also frequently collaborates with Nonna, cooking with her or talking about her food (he loves her pasta and meatballs). He also subtly (and not so subtly) references her olive oil.
Another common post entails him drinking espresso black “after a nice dish of pasta with no sugar and no milk just like a real man drinking his coffee,” delivered in a New Yawker “Fuhgeddaboudit” accent.
Barisano has become so famous he can hardly go anywhere without being stopped. “I’m on the escalator at the mall and it’s always ‘Hey Tony Cash,'” he told The Journal News/lohud. “I get stopped a lot.” (This reporter saw it firsthand at Crema Caffe in Eastchester where, in the span of 40 minutes, Barisano was approached by half a dozen people who wanted a selfie.) Actor Alec Baldwin, who did an unsolicited video about how Barisano likes his coffee, is another fan.
Barisano’s posts come naturally, he said, either from an idea he has or one Grecia throws him that they then volley back and forth. “I like doing this because I’m making people laugh,” he said. “I’m making them happy which makes me happy.
“It’s about having fun.”
Gresia manages Barisano’s skyrocketing social media fame, with a note on Barisano’s Insta profile that reads: “surprising, I know … Tony isn’t a 40-year-old man.”
Family first
For Barisano, who, at 13, has grown up in the social media world, the whole adventure is fun, if a bit overwhelming at times. Along with accepting Baldwin’s collaboration, he’s done a variety of paid posts including one with shaving kit House of Atlas.
Geramita, on the other hand, never envisioned this kind of career in her 80s and gets emotional talking about it. She spent 19 years on the cleaning staff, first at PS 59 in the Bronx and later, for St. Barnabas Hospital before retiring at 61.
She came to New York at 18 after an eight-day voyage at sea, with no family, and knowing little English. About a year-ish earlier, she had met an American serving in the Army (he was friends with her cousin). They met (and married) in Italy after a brief courtship but since it took time for her paperwork to process, she had to travel alone to meet her husband who had already gone back to the States. Together, they made a life, raising two daughters, with Geramita working full-time, sometimes in three jobs.
Widowed at 41, she moved into a two-family home with her youngest daughter, first in the Bronx and later to Westchester. It’s in that Eastchester home that she helped raise Gresia and his brothers.
It wasn’t always an easy life. When she talks about it — and the gratitude she has since becoming Internet famous and all that Gresia has done for her — she becomes teary.
“He’s my guardian angel,” she said. “He’s done everything for me.”
That includes a billboard he put up in Times Square last May proclaiming her a TikToker and digital creator.
She still finds it hard to wrap her head around it all. “I was just in Tuscany and met some of my son-in-law’s cousins and they told me in Tuscany and Rome they’re watching me. And they’re watching Anthony. And they’re saying how old is that kid? He’s like an old man.
“It’s crazy that they know us in Europe.”
More than the fame, Geramita, who’s been cooking since she was 10 and still cooks seven days a week, cares about getting the younger generation into the kitchen. “They’re so busy,” she said. “I worry about them.”
Which is why sharing her recipes “feels wonderful.”
Grecia added that his grandmother has always been giving, making food for anyone and everyone, but now she’s just doing it on a larger scale.
“I want to teach all my grandchildren to cook simply and good,” said Geramita. “With a few simple ingredients, a little olive oil, some tomatoes, some pasta, they can make something unbelievable in 25 minutes.”
Barisano, for the record, is already making chicken cutlets with his mom. And, he’s learning from Geramita who he plans to do more videos with going forward. “People like to see the naturalness of us together,” he said.
“My favorite videos are the ones I do with Nonna.”
Lohud’s Jeanne Muchnick does rapid-fire questions with Nonna Gracie and Tony Cash NYCRed sauce or pesto?
Nonna Gracie: Red sauceTony CashNYC: Red sauce
Chicken parm or Chicken marsala?
Nonna Gracie: Chicken parmTony CashNYC: Chicken parm
Meatballs or sausage and peppers?
Nonna Gracie: MeatballsTony CashNYC: Meatballs
Pizza or pasta?
Nonna Gracie: PastaTony CashNYC: Pasta. Because Nonna Gracie’s pasta and meatballs are really good.
Espresso or afogato?
Nonna Gracie: EspressoTony CashNYC: Espresso
DeCicco’s or Stop & Shop?
Nonna Gracie: DeCicco’s Tony CashNYC: DeCicco’s because they have Nonna’s olive oil.
Tiramisu or gelato?
Nonna Gracie: Tiramisu. Because I make it.Tony CashNYC: Gelato
Looking for more food and lifestyle content?
Want more details on dining and entertainment in the lower Hudson Valley? My weekly newsletter is free — and often includes behind-the-scenes info I don’t always share in my stories (like how it was filming with Barisano and Geramita). Sign up at profile.lohud.com/newsletters/manage.
Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter
Dining and Cooking