Lidia Bastianich coming to New Haven

The Gateway Community College Foundation is pleased to announce that notable chef, author and restauranteur, Lidia Bastianich, will be at Gateway Community College (GCC) on April 11 for a book signing and reception. Bastianich has been a beloved public figure for decades, but she has never told her full story until now, in her memoir MY AMERICAN DREAM: A Life of Love, Family, and Food (Alfred A. Knopf, April 3, 2018).

In her memoir, Lidia takes readers from her life under communism, a dramatic escape across the border and life as a refugee, to her journey to America - penniless – and the launch of her food business. She describes the struggle to open her flagship Manhattan restaurant, Felidia, and all the accolades that followed, including the night that Julia Child and James Beard came to dine (which later resulted in the launch of Lidia’s TV career). The rest, they say, is history.

An ambassador for Italian cuisine and culture and a passionate chef and businesswoman who has grounded her career in her family, Lidia continues to demonstrate the hard work, determination, and optimism that have characterized her entire life. Despite the pain of losing her home and her country, Lidia found her way, in one of the great American success stories of all time. Starting with a single restaurant in Queens she opened with her husband in the 1970s, Lidia worked full time as a chef while raising a family, becoming one of the first female chefs to emerge on the male-dominated New York restaurant scene. Through ups and downs—including near financial ruin when struggling to open Felidia in 1981—she eventually grew the business to heights she could never have imagined. Her successes include many bestselling cookbooks, her show “Lidia’s Kitchen” on Public Television, now in its twentieth year, restaurants including Becco and Del Posto, and the ever-expanding Eataly chain. Thirty-seven years later, Felidia remains a thriving New York mainstay.

The book signing takes place from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Gateway Community College. Tickets are $26 and include a copy of My American Dream, along with admission to the meet & greet book signing. A private reception follows in GCC’s intimate demonstration kitchen and restaurant, Café Vincenzo, from 6:30p.m. to 8p.m. Guests will enjoy culinary treats from Lidia's recipes, prepared by GCC culinary students under the direction of Chef Dave McCoart. Private reception tickets are limited to the first 60 guests at $100 per person, and include a copy of the memoir.

This event is made possible through the GCC Foundation Chefs Of Our Kitchen (COOK) Series, and is sponsored by People's Untied Bank and Barnes and Noble Booksellers in North Haven. For tickets to the book signinging and/or the private reception, and to reserve a copy of My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family and Food, visit www.GatewayFDN.org/cook-tickets or call (203) 285-2617.