Nonna Knows Best

Breathes there an Italian chef who didn’t learn to love food and cooking at the knee of mamma or nonna (grandmother)? Assolutamente no!

Posted January 16, 2012

Click on the stories below to read about how the mammas and nonnas of premier New Jersey chefs helped shape their personal cooking style:

Just One Way to Skin a Rabbit
Chef | Franco Lombardo, Sapori Trattoria, Collingswood
Nonna | Anna Prestigiacomo, Carini, Sicily

That Secret Recipe? Still a Secret
Chef | Luigi Basile, La Locanda, Voorhees
Nonna | Maria Vincenza Basile, Montella, Campania, Italy

On Thursdays, School Could Wait
Chef | Zachary Melker, Toscano Ristorante, Bordentown
Mamma | Mariellen Melker, Hamilton
Nonna | Emma Melker, Chambersburg, Trenton

Smells Worth Handing Down
Chef | Luca Valerin, Osteria Giotto, Montclair
Mamma | Graziella Varotto, Castel d’Aiano, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Nonna | Esterina Schiavon, Padua, Veneto, Italy

Highest Praise Went to Mom's Manicotti
Chef | Francesco Palmieri, The Orange Squirrel, Bloomfield
Mamma | Consiglia “Nanette” Palmieri, Corigliano Calabro, Calabria, Italy, and Bloomfield

Each Generation Learns, "Only Better"
Chef | Rosaria Iovino, Girasole, Atlantic City 
Mamma | Concetta Conti, Afragola, Naples, Italy

Meeting Mamma...In Italy
Our senior editor travels to the mountains of northern Italy to photograph the mother of one of our Italian chefs.

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