My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family, and Food

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Description

A heartwarming, inspirational, and revelatory memoir from the bestselling, beloved, and award-winning celebrity chef, Lidia Bastianich, told with all her hallmark warmth and gusto. For millions of Americans, Lidia Bastianich feels like family. For decades, she's shown us how to celebrate Italian food through her cookbooks, TV shows, and restaurants. Now, in My American Dream, she tells her own story for the very first time. Born in Pula in what is now Croatia, Lidia grew up surrounded by love and security-despite her family's poverty-learning the art of Italian cooking from her beloved grandmother. When the communist regime began investigating the family, they fled to Trieste, Italy, where they spent two years in a refugee camp waiting for visas to enter the United States. Shortly after arriving in New York at age twelve, Lidia began working in restaurants, her first step on a path that led to her accomplishing her own American dream- becoming one of the most revered chefs and businesswomen in the country. A fascinating, deeply personal, and inspiring look at the life of one of our greatest culinary icons, My American Dream is a story of Lidia's close-knit family and her dedication and endless passion for food that ultimately led to multiple restaurants, many cookbooks, and twenty years on public television as the host of her own cooking show.

Reviews

A memoir as rich and complex as her mushroom rag. O, the Oprah Magazine

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

A loving and often mouth-watering picture of [Bastianichs] culinary adventures. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Bastianichs] 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 Bastianichs 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 hardshipsalways from an optimistic point of viewBastianich includes fond food memories. . . . She also chronicles the history of her Upper East Side restaurant, Felidia, and lovingly follows her childrens 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. . . . [Bastianichs] autobiography is a chronicle of moving from project to project, always sharply focused on a goal. The Washington Times

An ebullient, nostalgic memoir of [Bastianichs] journey to success. . . . A warm story of a life buoyed by resilience, determination, love of family, and food. Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

LIDIA MATTICCHIO BASTIANICH is the author of thirteen cookbooks and the Emmy award-winning host of public television's Lidia's Kitchen, which also airs internationally. She is also a judge on MasterChef Junior Italia and Italy's highly rated daily program La Prova del Cuoco. Lidia owns Felidia, Becco, several other restaurants, and is a partner in the acclaimed Eataly. She lives in Long Island, New York.