Nonna May Joseph (71) squeezes me tightly and urges me to eat up. May Joseph is not my real nonna. But the way she hugs me, fusses over my plate, and insists I take another bite feels exactly like something a grandmother would do. She’s one of the rotating grandmothers who cook at Enoteca Maria – a tiny, hole-in-the-wall, 35-seat restaurant tucked away on New York’s Staten Island.
There’s only one requirement to become a chef here: you must be over 50 years old – and you must cook the way you learned at home. Getting there is part of the experience. A ferry from Manhattan glides past the Statue of Liberty before depositing you somewhere slower, quieter, a New York most visitors never see.
