In 2007, Joe Scaravella opened Enoteca Maria, a Staten Island restaurant that hired grandmothers to work as its cooks. Almost two decades later, Scaravella’s story has been dramatized on screen in Nonnas, the new Netflix comedy that recounts his culinary experiment.
The film stars Vince Vaughn as Scaravella, and features a collection of notable actresses—Lorraine Bracco as Roberta, Talia Shire as Teresa, Susan Sarandon as Gia, and Brenda Vacarro as Antonella—as the first cooks to work at Enoteca Maria, and invaluable players in helping Scaravella get the eatery off the ground.
Vacarro, whose father once owned an Italian restaurant in Dallas, is the Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning star of projects including Midnight Cowboy and Once is Not Enough. Here, she talks to T&C about food fights, family, and what she does best in the kitchen.
How did you get involved in this project?
I read it and I loved it. I just thought, who is this writer? And I gave it to my friend Patricia, who is very well read, and she started to cry. I said, ‘Give me a break. Are you serious?’ She said, ‘It’s really moving.’ And you know what? It was moving. It was great. Not only did I love it, but I also thought, wow, this is innovative. I call it my Jimmy Stewart movie. Does that make sense? It had that kind of faith in it.
What about Antonella was exciting?
I was impressed with the character. She’s a lady with a lot of experience, and I thought she was incredibly well written. She is the perfect yenta, but when people get old, they tell you the truth. My aunt was married to her husband for 40 years. When he was dying, they came in with a stretcher and as they were taking him out, she learned over and said, “good riddance.” I’ll never forget that story—and one day I’d love to use that line. So, when you get older you get better. You go through changes, you accept them, and who you are becomes valuable to you.
Did you take inspiration from people in real life to play this character?
My aunts, my father’s sisters, who were from Sicily and followed him to Dallas, Texas. Don’t ask me why. I loved those ladies.
There’s a great camaraderie that develops between the four women in the film. At one point your character and Lorraine Bracco’s character get into a food fight.
Oh, that was improvisational.
Was it really?
I just threw it at her. In an Italian home, something you throw things—and I knew she would play along. I thought it was the right thing to do, and she’s such a brilliant actress that she picked up on it fast, and it became one of the highlights of the film. I remember my aunt Tessie would throw a grapefruit at someone if she didn’t like them; she’d call them a name and fling it at them. I had a very animated family that way, and it was great to grow up around because it gave me respect for another culture. I was overjoyed to make a movie that I loved, that I had a feeling for, and that I had a history with. It’s come late, but that’s OK.
What was life on set like?
Let me honor the director, Stephen Chbosky, and his wife, Liz Maccie, who wrote it. I think they instinctively knew when they would hear us read that we were right for this family. Stephen was absolutely magnificent; he let you go and let you do things that aren’t necessarily in the script.
Did you do any kind of team building to develop these relationships?
We hit the ground running. You see something coming at you and you go, “Oh, OK.” Because everyone was so great, you could do improvisational work. You didn’t know where it was going to take you, but it was worth it to take the journey.
Do you cook in real life?
I prefer to be served. Cooking takes a lot of time and patience. My mother was very difficult to be around in the kitchen, and one time she tried to teach me about ricotta; I stood there with a slotted spoon and waited and waited. She said, “Not yet,” and I said, “Ma, I’ve been here 10 minutes.” I thought, I’m not doing this. That day, I did wait, and it was the most gorgeous ricotta I ever saw in my life. But do I want to cook? No, not really.
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