BY SUSAN MCTIGUE
CORRESPONDENT
HILLSDALE, N.J. —— Few people who like to eat good food don’t know Lidia Bastianich by her first name. The award-winning celebrity chef and cookbook author greeted fans at Hillsdale’s ShopRite on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 10, when she chatted with each person and signed her newest book, “Lidia’s Celebrate Like an Italian,” co-authored with her daughter Tanya. Store manager John Kopf said, “The line stretched throughout the entire front of the store and out the door. I think we had at least 500 people here to meet her and get an autograph.”
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Lidia’s route to Hillsdale was a complicated one, as she and her family fled Communist Yugoslavia in 1947, lived as displaced persons in a refugee camp in Trieste, and finally were allowed to emigrate to the United States, settling in Queens in 1958. Lidia has said, “I am the perfect example that if you give somebody a chance, especially here in the United States, one can find the way.”
By the time Lidia and her family moved to Manhattan, food critics were fans of the Italian-American cuisine served in her restaurants. The business now has several popular dining spots in New York City, including Becco on W. 46th Street and Felidia on E. 58th Street. But most people across the country know Lidia thanks to her numerous public television series and the current “Lidia’s Kitchen,” where her knowledge, experience and light-hearted charm convince viewers they can replicate her recipes in their own kitchens. In this area, her programs can be seen on WLIW.
When icon Julia Child invited Lidia to appear on her show in 1993, a new cooking empire was born as Lidia realized how she could expand her talents and personality commercially and still maintain the appeal of a family-owned business. Many people on line at ShopRite happily clutched several copies of her new book and patiently waited for their turn to have a few words with Lidia and get her autograph. One person in the line explained, “I love watching how easy she makes everything look, and that gives me confidence to try her recipes myself. So far, my family hasn’t complained.”
Photo by Susan McTigue