What’s better than grandma’s cooking? Nothing, says Innovation blog, treehugger.com, who recently reported on a restaurant that is employing grandmas instead of chefs.
When we think about some of the best times spent with our own grandmothers, for many of us, those memories revolve around food and cooking. The delicious flavour combinations that would concoct would come wafting through the house. The TV would fall silent, toys would be abandoned and phone calls would be ignored, because the best cuisine in the whole world awaited. It tasted and felt like Nanna’s hugs.
The world over, children, grandchildren and families not only treasure these memories, but seek out ways to relive and replicate them.
In the USA, Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria restaurant runs on the culinary power of a team of 30 grandmas. Each day they serve up comfort, nostaligia, memories and love in the form of authentic food from Italy, Argentina, Turkey, France, Ecuador, Greece, Venezuela, Colombia, Czech Republic, Algeria, Dominican Republic, Poland, Kazakhstan, Syria and Belarus.
Why is this so successful? Probably because food doesn’t just fill our bellies, it fills our hearts and minds too. From my own Nanna, I learnt a lot about food and cooking. I also learnt that I’d always crave the warmth, nostalgia and memories that only Nanna could create. I learnt the importance of family and that a simple meal has the binding power of cement, to draw and keep us together.
Enoteca Maria’s owner Jody Scaravella, knows this too. She told treehugger.com that, “I regularly get phone calls from Australia, from England, and from Italy to book reservations”. It’s easy to see why her grandma powered restaurant is such a hit with locals and tourists alike.
At Care Connect, we love the idea of Jody’s restaurant because we value the experience, traditions and expertise that older people have to offer. What this restaurant provides, is a strong sense of community and purpose, where the contributions of older people are valued as an asset. In Australia, recent research*, has shown that this is a very big part of what makes and keeps people happy, as they age. Helping people to age in place and live at home for life, means keeping them connected to the experiences and communities they value, much like the community this restaurant creates.
Whether your grandma wants to visit a restaurant like Jody Scaravella’s kitchen, or just enjoy the independence of being able to cook in her own, Care Connect can help.
Our expertise is in helping people to live at home for as long as possible, as they age. We provide independent advice and high quality services, to empower you to live happily at home for life.
Stay connected to your home, your family, your community and if you want – your kitchen too.
Meet some of the grandmas from Enoteca Maria in this video
Read the full story about Enoteca Maria’s grandmas here: http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/restaurant-employs-grandmas-instead-chefs.html