(Credit: Netflix)

Netflix’s newly released film Nonnas follows the true story of Joe Scaravella, who, after the death of his mother and grandmother, opens a restaurant with Italian grandmothers as the chefs. A poignant story of family, grief, love and culture, the film stars Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella and is directed by Stephen Chbosky of The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Food is not just a source of nourishment and nutrition for Scaravella; it’s his love language for his family and culture, something he picked up from his childhood and carried forward. Throughout childhood, he saw his mother and grandmother cook every Sunday for their family and friends. He’d see them cut the fresh vegetables and rub the herbs to enhance the flavour. The kitchen was not just a space of domestic work, and cooking was not just a chore—they were a space and an act of love.

This feeling never left him, lingering not just through his family and the loss of them, but even in his cultural environment. At the funeral of his mother, his family, friends, and relatives cooked him his favourite foods, as a gesture of support and empathy. This act does not stand out for its extraordinariness, but instead for its simplicity and genuineness. He practised this act by cooking the recipes he had learnt while growing up. The food he cooked became a way to grieve their loss and to reminisce about the good times. It would also become a way to share the love for his late family with his friends.

His restaurant was born from this very seed—to share the love of culture built around togetherness. Named after his late mother, the restaurant, Enoteca Maria, is not just a homage to his family, but to the values he inherited from his culture. With grandmothers as the chefs, Joe brings age-old family recipes to life, exuding an atmosphere of comfort and warmth in the restaurant. Through these recipes, he builds a space for people to feel a sense of belonging. The inter-generational communication of cultural values through food is a language that may not be new, as it has existed through many generations, but it can only survive because of the generational support. 

The food cooked here does not chase perfection. Crafted with authenticity, it is a symbol of familial love, just as much as the establishment itself. The restaurant, as Joe expresses in the film, is not a place to just consume excellent meals, but to experience family. Even the grandmothers celebrate with the food that they make with the recipes they follow, which are not just instructions but stories of survival and history.

Nonnas explores food as a love language through the very hands that make it; similar to one’s mother tongue, it is learnt in childhood to help make meaningful connections with one’s identity throughout life. These recipes are remnants of memories, through which Joe experiences food as not only nourishing his body but also his soul. The film truly captures communication where the food speaks of harmony and community.