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United States Lidia Bastianich is an Emmy award-winning public television host, best-selling cookbook author, and successful restaurateur.
Lidia Bastianich is a critically-acclaimed chef, restaurateur, author, TV personality, and Eataly partner. She combines her love of cooking and family in her work. She is a partner in Eataly NYC, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Silicon Valley, Dallas, and Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Designed in collaboration with her daughter Tanya, Lidia's Kitchen line includes high quality everyday items such as ceramic serving ware and stone bakeware.
Chef Marc Vetri brought legendary chefs Lidia Bastianich, Missy Robbins, and Greg Vernick together to raise nearly $400,000 for Vetri Community Partnership, a non-profit organization.
Multiple James Beard Award winner Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and seven-time James Beard Award nominee chef Amy Brandwein created a menu where pasta takes center stage for an event at the James Beard House.
Jennie-O partnered with Chef Joel Gamoran and the Homemade Live! team for a collaboration featuring Lidia Bastianich.
Lidia Giuliana Matticchio Bastianich, born on February 21, 1947, in Pula, Croatia, is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was 9 years old during the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, settling in Astoria, Queens. At 14, Bastianich began working part-time at Walken’s Bakery, owned by Christopher Walken’s parents, and later full-time at a pizzeria. In 1966, she married Felice “Felix” Bastianich, and together they opened their first restaurant, Buonavia, in Forest Hills, Queens, in 1971. Lidia started as a hostess but soon trained as an assistant chef, adding traditional Istrian dishes to the menu. The success of Buonavia led to their second Queens restaurant, Villa Secondo, where she gained attention from food critics and began giving live cooking demonstrations.
Following her father’s passing in 1981, the family sold their Queens restaurants and opened Felidia, a Manhattan brownstone restaurant, which became their flagship with critical acclaim, including three stars from The New York Times. In 1993, Julia Child invited Bastianich to tape an episode of “Julia Child: Cooking With Master Chefs,” propelling her into television. The same year, she partnered with her son, Joe Bastianich, to open Becco in Manhattan’s Theater District, which was also an immediate success. This expansion continued with Lidia’s Kansas City in 1998 and Lidia’s Pittsburgh in 2001. Her mother, Erminia Motika, maintained a garden for recipe development, while her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali, with a PhD in Italian art history, partnered with her mother on “Esperienze Italiane,” a travel agency for Italian tours, and Tanya’s husband, Corrado Manuali, served as the restaurant group’s legal counsel.
Since 1998, Bastianich has hosted numerous public television cooking shows including “Lidia’s Italian Table,” “Lidia’s Family Table,” “Lidia’s Italy,” “Lidia’s Italy in America,” and “Lidia’s Kitchen.” She also hosts “Lidia Celebrates America,” a series of hour-long specials exploring American cultures and immigrant experiences. In 2010, she co-founded Eataly, a large Italian food emporium in Manhattan, with her son and Oscar Farinetti, expanding to multiple U.S. and international locations. Her ventures also include “Lidia’s Kitchen” cookware and serving ware, Nonna Foods for her line of sauces, and Bastianich Vineyard in Friuli Venezia Giulia and La Mozza Vineyard in Maremma, Italy, with her son. Bastianich has authored several cookbooks and has earned numerous awards, including seven James Beard Awards and two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Culinary Host.
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