Chef and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich is a culinary great: a six-time James Beard Award-winner, an Emmy award-winner for her PBS show Lidia’s Kitchen, and the author of more than a dozen books. In her latest memoir,My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family and Food, Bastianich tells, for the first time, the story of her childhood in post-World War II Istria, from which her family was forced to flee when they and other Italians were targeted by Yugoslavian communists. As an adult, Bastianich worked her way through the ranks of the culinary world, becoming one of the first females chefs to break out in the New York restaurant scene.
Bastianich is now the chef-owner of four top New York City restaurants:Felidia, Becco, Esca, and Del Posto. She is also a part-owner of Eataly, which recently parted ways with Mario Batali after he was accused of sexual harassment. She joined Jim Braude to discuss it all.
