Description

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For decades, beloved chef Lidia Bastianich has introduced Americans to Italian food through her cookbooks, TV shows, and restaurants. Now she tells her own story for the first time in this “memoir as rich and complex as her mushroom ragú" (O, the Oprah Magazine).

Born in Pula, on the Istrian peninsula, Lidia grew up surrounded by love and security, learning the art of Italian cooking from her beloved grandmother. But when Istria was annexed by a communist regime, Lidia’s family fled to Trieste, where they spent two years in a refugee camp waiting for visas to enter the United States. When she finally arrived in New York, Lidia soon began working in restaurants, the first step on a path that led to her becoming one of the most revered chefs and businesswomen in the country. Heartwarming, deeply personal, and powerfully inspiring, My American Dream is the story of Lidia’s close-knit family and her dedication and endless passion for food.

About the Author

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Lidia Matticchio Bastianich is an Emmy Award–winning Public Television host and best-selling author of eleven cookbooks and three children’s books. She is the chef/owner of four acclaimed New York City restaurants—Felidia, Becco, Esca, and Del Posto. With her daughter, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, she operates Lidia’s Pittsburgh and Lidia’s Kansas City. She runs Becco, Esca and Del Posto with her son, Joe Bastianich. She opened Eataly, the largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace, in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and São Paulo, Brazil, with Joe and others. She is also, with Tanya, co-founder and president of Tavola Productions and has her own pasta and sauce line sold nationwide. www.lidiasitaly.com

Praise For…

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“A memoir as rich and complex as her mushroom ragú.” —O, the Oprah Magazine

“Bastianich is one of our great culinary matriarchs. . . . She recounts how she went from asylum seeker to the embodiment of America’s most enduring myth about itself.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A loving and often mouth-watering picture of [Bastianich’s] culinary adventures.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 
“[Bastianich’s] memory for evocative detail . . . and her writing style make for compelling reading. . . . She reflects on her life with a matter-of-factness that makes the stories all the more poignant.” —The Washington Post

“A beguiling memoir about Lidia Matticchio Bastianich’s path from a bucolic European childhood, abruptly cut short, to her remarkable present-day success as an award-winning television chef, cookbook author and restaurateur.” —The Wall Street Journal
 
“Bastianich offers a look into her culinary background in this charming memoir. . . . While recounting youthful hardships—always from an optimistic point of view—Bastianich includes fond food memories. . . . She also chronicles the history of her Upper East Side restaurant, Felidia, and lovingly follows her children’s entry into the food business. . . . Bastianich passionately evokes the concept that food is life. Through her lyrical prose, she also encourages readers to find the bright side of any situation.” —Publishers Weekly
 
“Rich in interest, highlighted with appealing family snapshots, and spritzed with compelling observations. . . . [Bastianich’s] autobiography is a chronicle of moving from project to project, always sharply focused on a goal.” —The Washington Times
 
“An ebullient, nostalgic memoir of [Bastianich’s] journey to success. . . . A warm story of a life buoyed by resilience, determination, love of family, and food.” —Kirkus Reviews