Lidia Bastianich Opens Up Her Home to Celebrate 25 Years on Public Television.Photo:Brian Doben
Brian Doben
ForLidia Bastianich, taking care of people is second nature.
“My two kids [MasterChef ’s Joe Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali, her co-writer on her new bookLidia’s From Our Family Table to Yours] were always around when we filmed, and I wanted to share my family with America. The bond was built in this house, and now people feel like they’re part of the family,” says Bastianich.
In her Queens backyard Lidia Bastianich has a fig tree and a quiet courtyard that remind her of her home country.Brian Doben
Bastianich’s own history is remarkable. She landed in Astoria at age 12 after her family fled their native Istria, an Italian peninsula, when Communist Yugoslavia occupied it during World War II. “My father was a mechanic,” she says. “He was deemed a capitalist and put in prison.”
Lidia Bastianich in her Queens garden.Brian Doben
During the war she and her brother went to stay at her grandmother’s house in a small town outside Pula. “There, my appreciation for food really happened because Grandma produced all the food for the family,” she says. “Under communism, food was scarce.”
Lidia Bastianich at her show launch party at Julia Child’s house in 1998.John Bohn/The Boston Globe via Getty
John Bohn/The Boston Globe via Getty
In 1958 they moved to the United States through Catholic Relief Services, which sponsored them. It was here that she began to cook. “My passion stemmed from having left Grandma,” she says. “I started cooking the things, the aromas that I remembered—and that food would bring her to me. Cooking is all about finding my comfort place, bringing it to my family, bringing it to America.”
Lidia Bastianich in her Queens kitchen.Brian Doben
“I ended up always in the back with the bakers learning,” she says. “And I’m still friends with Christopher.”
“She came to this house. I taught her how to make risotto, and we remained friends,” says Bastianich. “Her producer said, ‘Lidia, you’re pretty good. How about a show of your own?’ And Julia encouraged me.”
Along with her son and daughter, she still runs restaurants:Beccoin New York andLidia’s Kansas City. “After COVID-19 we decided I’m going to pull back, and the kids will lead,” she says. “But I told them, in the Italian fashion, if you ever fight because of the money, I’m going to come from my grave and get you. The most important thing to us is that family remains family.”
Lidia BastianichI feel like a conduit of the Italian culinary culture
Lidia Bastianich
I feel like a conduit of the Italian culinary culture
Bastianich’s celebrated career has included cooking for countless stars and two popes. But her favorite taste testers are her five grandchildren. Her granddaughter Julia Manuali, a junior at Georgetown University, recently had Lidia teach a cooking class for her friends. “They were all vegetarian!” says Bastianich. “Being a grandma is the best.”
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Lidia Bastianich with her grandchildren in 2021. From left: Lorenzo (in pink), Miles, Ethan Olivia and Julia.Lidia Bastianich
The grandkids keep her up-to-date on trends, but the truth is, “I never felt pressure to conform,” she says. “I am who I am. I always had a good sense of what I would feel comfortable with.”
Her signature pixie cut and colorful button-downs mean that she gets recognized in the grocery store “all the time,” she says. If she catches a fan staring, “I open up because they’re afraid. I say, ‘Are you wondering?’ ” And more often than not, she’ll pass on her cooking knowledge.
Still, she insists, “I’m pretty normal. I’m a good chess player. I love playing bocce.”
If there’s one activity that’s off the table for Bastianich, it’s dating. She admits to having “some relationships” after Felice, from whom she divorced from in 1998, died in 2010, but her priorities are elsewhere now.
“It’s nice to have a companion, but I don’t need a man for stability,” she says. “I have plenty of friends, and I’m okay with that. I don’t want to throw my family off-balance.”
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source: people.com
