Lidia Bastianich has earned her fame in New York as a renowned chef, television host, restaurateur, and cookbook author. She opened several restaurants in Queens and later expanded beyond the borough. Specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine, Bastianich also began participating in cooking shows in 1998. Read more about the entrepreneur’s journey to success on queens1.one.
Childhood and Immigration
Lidia Bastianich was born on February 21, 1947, in present-day Croatia to an Italian family. Her family had to flee the newly formed communist Yugoslavia, living as refugees for two years in Trieste, Italy, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1958.
Thanks to the Catholic community, the Bastianich family settled in Astoria, Queens, where they were provided with a home and a job for Lidia’s father. At 14, Lidia started working part-time at Walken’s Bakery. After finishing school, she took on a full-time job at a pizzeria on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
The Restaurant Business
In 1971, the Bastianiches opened their own restaurant, Buonavia, in Forest Hills, Queens. To create the menu, they replicated recipes from New York’s most popular Italian restaurants at the time and hired a top Italian-American chef. In 1972, Lidia started learning as a chef’s assistant and gradually mastered the preparation of popular Italian dishes.
At that time, Italian restaurants served Italian-American foods—meatballs, lasagna, manicotti, veal Parmesan, gnocchi, polenta, and mushroom risotto. Over time, Lidia began adding some of her own homemade dishes to the menu.
The success of Buonavia led to the opening of a second restaurant in Queens—Villa Secondo. Here, Lidia attracted the attention of local food critics and began her career as a television cooking show host. Following her father’s death in 1981, the family sold both Queens restaurants and acquired a restaurant in Manhattan, transforming it into the famed Felidia. Lidia served as the head chef, preparing traditional Italian dishes inspired by her family’s recipes.
In 1993, Lidia, her husband, and their son Joseph opened the Manhattan restaurant Becco. Like Felidia, Becco became an instant success, leading to additional locations outside New York, such as Lidia’s Kansas City and Lidia’s Pittsburgh.
After graduating from Boston College, Joseph worked at Merrill Lynch on Wall Street but became disillusioned with his job and joined the family business. Rather than hand him a role, Lidia sent him to Italy for a year to work at wineries and restaurants. Armed only with a simple car and a modest annual budget, he had to learn the industry firsthand.
Upon returning to New York, Joseph closed a real estate deal, securing $250,000 for expanding the family business.
Other Ventures
In the mid-1990s, Lidia began exploring new opportunities. After a series of disagreements with her husband about business expansion and personal goals, Lidia and Felice divorced in 1998. Lidia continued to grow the business, while Felice passed his shares to their children.
Following the end of her 31-year marriage, Lidia, together with her daughter Tanya, established Esperienze Italiane, a travel company offering culinary, wine, and cultural tours of Italy.
In 1998, Lidia entered the world of television, where she gained fame beyond New York. She hosted a series of hour-long specials on Public Television, highlighting the cultural diversity of the U.S. and exploring immigrant experiences in America. She served as a judge on MasterChef USA, appeared on Italian shows like Junior MasterChef Italia and La Prova del Cuoco, and participated in culinary competition shows such as Family Food Fight. In 1999, James Beard named her Best Chef in New York.
Lidia lived in Queens with her mother until her mother’s passing, and her own kitchen served as the set for four television shows. The home’s garden provided many ingredients featured on her shows.
In 2010, Lidia and her daughter Tanya launched a line of kitchenware, Lidia’s Kitchen. Alongside her daughter and son-in-law, she also co-founded Nonna Foods, a platform for food product distribution. In partnership with her son Joseph, she entered the wine business.
Lidia also founded Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, a nonprofit promoting women leaders in food and hospitality. She actively participated in organizations that celebrate Italian-American heritage, and in 2010, the Bastianich family received the NOIAW award for their contributions to Italian culture in America.
What Makes Bastianich Unique?
Few chefs possess Lidia Bastianich’s culinary mastery. Watching her on television, audiences are captivated by her culinary knowledge and her seamless blend of chemistry and science with traditional cooking wisdom.
Lidia speaks to her audience without condescension or arrogance. Her humility, combined with her confidence in her culinary skills, stems from her relentless pursuit of knowledge. She was a strong student who earned a scholarship to Hunter College, where she studied biology.
Married at 19, expectations were that she would leave her studies, but instead, Lidia’s culinary journey intensified. During a honeymoon trip to Italy, she reconnected with her cultural roots. At 21, she became a mother, but parenthood did not impede her career. When the family opened Buonavia, Lidia was 24. She quickly learned the ropes in the kitchen, eventually becoming the restaurant’s sous-chef.
Many women in culinary careers face challenges when starting families. Many financial institutions hesitate to support female restaurateurs, but Lidia’s family’s support was instrumental to her success.