Lidia Bastianich is an American/Italian celebrity chef, TV host, restaurateur and partner in the new Italian marketplace Eataly. She is an icon in the food industry, a mentor to new chefs and a talented woman that thrives on nurturing others. Lidia and her family own and operate five restaurants including Del Posto, a Michelin-star restaurant with Executive Chef Melissa Rodriguez at the helm.
The Spark Ignites
Lidia?s memories and love for food began at age four or five when she lived in Istria, formerly Histria, the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea located near Croatia. Her grandmother would ask her to get a branch of rosemary or some basil from the garden. Lidia says, ?I was her little helper; and whether I was picking tomatoes in the summer or helping to make sausages in November, I had fun doing it.? After the communist party took over her hometown, Lidia and her family escaped to a refugee camp in 1956. In 1958 Lidia was 12 years old; and with the aid of Catholic Relief Services, she and her family immigrated to Astoria in Queens, New York. Lidia reminisced about how her family continued to cook the best that they could even though they could not always get the ingredients they wanted. As a young girl, she assisted in the kitchen when her mother got a job as a seamstress, and eventually, Lidia landed a job in a bakery.
Del Posto Restaurant
The Passion Grows
The years went by, and Lidia continued to pursue jobs in the food industry during her college years. She met...