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Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (born on October 11, 1947 in Pula, Istria) is an American chef and host of television cooking shows on PBS.

Early Life

Lidia and her family emigrated from Istria, Italy to America in 1958 after World War II when Istria was given to Yugoslavia. Her parents didn't want to stay and raise their family in a Communist environment, so they became "political refugees". They stayed at a refugee camp in Trieste, called San Saba for two years waiting for a chance to make it to the United States.

According to ‘’Lida’s Italian-American Kitchen,’’ they were one of thousands of Istrians who came to the United States to make a new home for themselves. It was also said that during the turn of the last century, more than 4.5 million Itlaians entered the U.S by 1920, many of which were from South Italy like: Sicily, Campania, and Apulia. Due to the flux of Italian immigrants, Italian-American cuisine and culture emerged in the states.

Career

According to an interview with Antoinette Bruno, Lidia stated:

I don’t remember life without cooking. My grandmother had a little inn in Italy, and she cooked for all the laborers coming into town. I helped with the little tasks, like shelling beans. But my grandparents did it all – they farmed, and they also processed their own olive oil, distilled grappa..

in response to how she was inspired to cook.

During that time, she was "the only woman in the kitchen," where women struggled to find positions in New York City and hotel restaurants. However, at the age of twenty-four, Lidia and her husband decided to open their first restaurant called Buonavia, meaning "on the good road". They came up with their menu by collecting menus from the most popular and successful Italian restaurants in 1971. They had a set plan and executed it by hiring the best Italian-American chef they could find. By doing so Lida began to work as his sous-chef learning everything she could, and was still able to make her traditional dishes. Since then, she has opened several acclaimed restaurants, such as Felidia, Becco, Lidia's Kansas City, and Lidia's Pittsburgh. In addition, she authored several cookbooks:

• Lidia's Family Table
• Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen
• Lidia's Italian Table
• Lidia's Italy

Personal life

Lidia has two children, Joseph and Tanya..

In addition to all of her achievements, she makes it a point to be closely tied to her family. On certain occasions, she has her son Joseph, daughter Tanya, mother Erminia, or her grandchildren Lorenzo and Miles make appearances on her TV shows. Through another interview with the American Public Television, Lidia shares her opinion on how important family traditions are by passing them down.

"...food for me was a connecting link to my grandmother, to my childhood, to my past. And what I found out is that for everybody, food is a connector to their roots, to their past in different ways. It gives you security; it gives you a profile of who you are, where you come from.".

References

1. Bastianich, Lidia Matticchio. Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 2001.
3. "Lidia Bastianich Navigator" from NYTimes.com
4. "PBS chef and restaurateur shares cooking tips"

External links

• Official website
• Istria on the Internet, Famous Istrian-born chef
• video of Lidia's restaurant, Felidia in NYC

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• American chefs
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• Naturalized citizens of the United States
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• 1946 births
• American television chefs
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