Every family in every culture around the world all participate in one event at various times of their lives – the family dinner.

An opportunity to sit around a table with the ones you love and eat homemade food together.

Due to the growth in nuclear families, and subsequently the death of extended families, it’s a practice that is perhaps becoming more rare.

This then is a celebration of the family sit down meal as a man decides to open the definition of a family restaurant.

Coming to terms with the death of his mother is Joe Scarvella (Vince Vaughn). He was very close to her, living in the same house as her right up until the end, which is full of memories.

One of his most fondest is spending time in the kitchen with his mother and nonna – the Italian for grandmother - as they would prepare homemade Italian dishes from family recipes.

With friends and family all bringing food to his house, as is the tradition, Joe’s fascination for Italian food grows.

So much so that he comes up with a novel idea for a restaurant, where he would get actual nonnas to prepare their favourite dishes from their own family recipes, in what would be the ultimate family restaurant.

But you need more than a good idea and passion to make a restaurant successful, as Joe soon finds out to his cost.

Although the concept of a family restaurant having grandmothers as cooks sounds great, you would imagine that the turnover of kitchen staff, due to natural expiry dates, might be an issue. That said, this heart-warming film is based on a true story, with Joe Scaravella having opened a restaurant on Staten Island called Enoteca Maria with nonnas as chefs.

The film is much like the food served in the restaurant itself, somewhat old fashioned and traditional, but there’s nothing much wrong with that.

Vaughn certainly makes the most of it, with plenty of opportunities to show off his amiable shtick, making him a charming lead for the film.

It’s also a wonderful opportunity for older female talent to shine, as Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro and Talia Shire all do to varying degrees. Susan Sarandon is also in the mix but despite actually being 78, she looks so much younger, making it a little more difficult to believe she could be part of the group.

Director Stephen Chbosky is more than happy to keep it light and cheery, with it having an almost movie of the week quality to it, that is also just a little bit cheesy too; an example of that would be the almost incessant Italian soundtrack, as well as the interaction between the nonnas themselves coming across as a little forced in places.

Still, it’s a film that has baked in charm, oozing a cosy family warmth, with a side order of nostalgia, which makes for an endearing experience, with no reservations.