The winning recipe: Chef Lidia Bastianich celebrates 25 years on TV, creating culinary dishes

Twenty-five years on TV has gone by fast for Lidia Bastianich.

The chef has made herself a second home not only in the kitchen, but teaching others to get creative with food in the kitchen.

“The years went by fast,” she says. “Luckily, everything I’ve done is so well documented. I still feel pretty young.”

Bastianich has had many shows over the years where she brings the culinary world to the masses.

She is known for her signature saying, “Tutti a tavola a mangiare,” which means, “Everyone to the table to eat!”

At 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18, “25 Years with Lidia: A Culinary Jubilee” will air on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. The special is also available to stream on the PBS app.

The special examines Bastianich’s rich legacy, from her immigration to America to becoming the authority on authentic Italian cooking.

Special guest appearances and interviews in the documentary include Jacques Pépin, Mary Sue Milliken, Elizabeth Falkner, Geoffrey Zakarian, childhood friend Christopher Walken, along with her family and other longtime colleagues and associates.

Bastianich says the special takes viewers to Astoria, Queens, where, as a teen, she made her foray into the food industry, taking an entry-level job at Walken’s Bakery, owned by actor Christopher Walken’s parents.

It was also in Queens where she and her husband later opened their first restaurant, Buonavia, to critical acclaim in 1971.

After opening her third restaurant, Felidia – one of the first women-owned fine dining restaurants in America – legendary chefs Julia Child and James Beard came to dine one evening with Bastianich.

The winning recipe: Chef Lidia Bastianich celebrates 25 years on TV, creating culinary dishes

Soon after this memorable first meeting, Child invited Bastianich to appear as a guest on her famed PBS cooking show, which catapulted Bastianich into the world of television.

Once she stepped in, she never looked back: creating Emmy Award-winning cooking programming over the last 25 years including “Lidia’s Kitchen,” “Lidia’s Family Table,” “Lidia’s Italy,” and “Lidia’s Italy in America,” as well as the three-time James Beard Award-winning series “Lidia Celebrates America.”

“I came to America and I was a young immigrant,” she says. “Never did I see the opportunities that would come my way. As I found success, I pushed myself to work harder and get more accomplished. I’ve been really experiencing and taking all the opportunities that America would offer me.”

Bastianich came to America in 1958 and she was looking forward to building her life.

She wanted a family and wanted her children to get educated.

“I wanted them to have all the securities that I didn’t have as a young child,” she says. “My family had two restaurants within 10 years. By 1981, I was comfortable in my own clogs and I became a chef.”

Bastianich wanted to bring Italian food to America because Italian American food was different for her.

“What we cooked in Italy was different,” she says. “It’s such a huge part of our identity. I told myself I was going to do Italian regional cuisine. Then Julia Child and I became friends and my life changed once again.”

Bastianich says food is the greatest connector.

“By having a meal together, all barriers are broken,” she says. “Food is caring, nurturing and positive. It connects us on a very basic level.”