I met Lidia Bastianich in New York last summer when I was shooting my tv show Sapore Italiano for the Food Network. What a woman. We were at Felidia's, the flagship restaurant that she opened in 1981 with her husband Felice on the Upper East Side, which serves an excellent cheese and pear ravioli.
On that summer day, we talked about life and her almost centenarian mother who still lives in Queens and has a large vegetable garden. While in Italy she is known for her participation in Masterchef Junior and Family Food Fight tv shows, in the United States she is the woman who represents Italian cuisine with dozens of books, TV shows such as Lidia's Kitchen and a long list of restaurants in Manhattan and across America (some with Eataly) in partnership with her children Tanya and Joe.
On May 20, I have the pleasure to host her for my Instagram Live chat #oradicena to talk about cooking (and life) on La Cucina Italiana Italian Instagram account (5.30 pm CET) and then about pasta on La Cucina Italiana U.S.A account for #BUTTALAPASTA (9 am PST / 12 pm EST). Stay tuned!