Staten Island restaurant owner stars in foodie videos on social media: ‘I’m not camera shy’

Panini Grill's Peter Macri welcomes his new-found fame on social media with posts elaborating on the restaurant's broad menu. The West Brighton business has attracted fans to the neighborhood from other boroughs and Jersey as a result of the productions. (Courtesy of Panini Grill)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — To explain his restaurant serves much more than panini, Peter Macri took his message to social media. Now, on Panini Grill’s Instagram — at 17,000 followers and counting — his foodie videos have earned more views than ever expected, and is experiencing a new-found fame.

And being a bit of a social media star has been paying off.

Macri said, “Not just in followers, but there’s also about a 10 to 15% increase in business — Jersey, Queens, Long Island. People are coming from everywhere. I’ve always done menus, text messages, email blasts. This is by far more successful.”

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He added, “The feedback is amazing.” Although in addition to scores of positive messages, he admits dealing with some detractors. Some have called the posts “cringy.” Others stay its “cool.” But he’ll put up with the occasional jabs.

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“Then you always got the haters. You have the people who say I’m not the one cooking in the kitchen, you’re not really Italian,” said Macri, a native of Calabria, Italy.

“The reason why I started it is because it showcased all that we made — not just paninis,” he explained.

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Macri said, “It’s crazy. People want to ship me stuff. My hope was just to get it out there to attract the locals. In every video I have, I said in Italian, ‘Whenever you dine here, don’t worry.’”

The catch phrase “non ti preoccupare tutto apposto” indeed caught on.

“When I’m at the store I do a post every day. People ask for it now — they’re waiting for it. After a cooking lesson, some of them say, ‘I never knew you existed,’” said Macri.

In fact, a demo of “L’ova con sugo,” aka “Eggs in Purgatory,” earned upwards of 10,000 likes. Viewers expressed their delight, wonder and even perplexment over eggs cooked in tomato sauce. For Macri, it was something with which he grew up.

“When I came to this country my family had nothing. We couldn’t afford steaks, veal. My mother would drop eggs into the sauce. We had eggs, we had bread. We had everything in there we needed to eat,” he said.

Macri added, “The followers are nice but you want to generate businesses. I host a lot at the store. I’m not camera shy. I just go on there and be myself. It’s just on the first act.”

Does he see a career in film or Food Network?

Macri said, “Who knows? Maybe. I love the restaurant business. SNL? Hey, why not? I would love that.”

Panini Grill is located at 538 Forest Ave., West Brighton, 718-981-2999; paninigrillsi.com. The restaurant recently added a party room called La Stanza and offers outdoor dining.

Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].

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Staten Island restaurant owner stars in foodie videos on social media: ‘I’m not camera shy’