To honour his late mother, a Staten Island man opens an Italian restaurant where the food is prepared by four local grandmothers

Tutti a tavola a mangiare! Celebrate Mother’s Day this year with a reservation at Nonnas. Vince Vaughn (Bad Monkey) stars in the heartwarming new Netflix film as a man whose grief sparks inspiration for a unique restaurant concept.

Following the deaths of his mother and grandmother, Staten Island resident Joe Scaravella (Vaughn) is overcome with fond memories of the time he shared with them in the kitchen throughout his life.

Losing someone dear to you forces you to find a way to share the love that would have gone their way, and Joe wants to pour his into a passion project fit for a foodie. The loss gives Joe a new purpose in life, and he leaves behind his dead-end job to pursue his new dream of opening an Italian restaurant with chefs that feel like family.

Rather than recruiting hot-shot New York City dining scene chefs from across the bay, Joe finds four Italian grandmothers, or “nonnas,” from the neighbourhood to staff his kitchen. They all work together to develop a menu for Enoteca Maria in time for it to open its doors and welcome the community with real comfort food.

Roberta (Sopranos alum Lorraine Bracco) was the best friend of Joe’s mother, and the first one to sign up to join him in the kitchen. Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro, And Just Like That . . .) brings her Bolognian recipes to the table, former nun Teresa (Talia Shire of Rocky fame) has as many stories as recipes, and Gia (Oscar winner Susan Sarandon), another of Joe’s mom’s friends, becomes the pastry chef of Enoteca Maria.

The four nonnas of Enoteca Maria collaborate and contend with each other as they prepare for the restaurant’s grand opening. Sometimes, the ladies must take a break from recipe development to bicker over regional dishes or Sicily vs. Italy, but in the end, they are all there to share and work together.

Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows that the kitchen is hardly the half of it. With his chefs taken care of, Joe turns to friends to get the rest of the operation rolling. Joe’s childhood friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello, True Blood) is not only supportive of his buddy’s dream, he is also a contractor willing to pitch in to help build the restaurant.

Linda Cardellini (Dead to Me) stars as Olivia. Having been stood up years ago by Joe on prom night, Olivia reconnects with her former flame after a serendipitous meeting at an Italian market. A first-year law student, Olivia helps Joe with the legal aspects of setting up his new business.

Joe’s put a lot on the line to make his dream happen, as he stresses over a montage of clips in the film’s official trailer, saying, “It has to work, ‘cause it’s not just a restaurant. It’s more about family, especially for people who may not have family anymore.” He’s sunk his mother’s insurance money into the restaurant and cashed in all the favours he was owed, just to share some of the love he felt sitting down to a home-cooked meal.

Also starring are Sopranos veterans Drea de Matteo and Michael Rispoli, along with Richie Moriarty (Ghosts) and Campbell Scott (Colosseum).

Nonnas is based on the real life story of restaurateur Joe Scaravella, who, in 2007, opened Enoteca Maria on Staten Island. In a 2023 interview with People, Scaravella shared that he established the restaurant “to recreate that part of my life that was gone. This is like therapy for me.”

Nonnas, streaming Friday, May 9 on Netflix