Douglaston's Own: Lidia Bastianich

It’s safe to say that several of Douglaston’s prominent citizens have good taste.

The neighborhood is home to , founder of Les Dames d’Escoffier and Patch contributor, but also to Lidia Bastianich, a chef, author and restaurateur.

Bastianich was born as Lidia Motika in Croatia, but moved with her family to Trieste, Italy at age nine and lived in a camp filled with families who were seeking political asylum.

Two years later, Lidia came to the United States and settled in North Bergen, N.J., where her father took a job with a local Chevrolet factory.

In her early teens, they relocated again to Astoria and Lidia got a job working at a bakery owned by actor Christopher Walken’s father.

After she graduated high school, Bastianich worked at several Queens-based Italian restaurants and, in 1966, married her husband, Felice Bastianich.

In 1971, the couple debuted their first restaurant, Buonavia (“good road”), in Forest Hills and Lidia acted as its hostess.

She began to learn the restaurant’s popular dishes and cook them herself. Shortly thereafter, the Bastianiches opened their second eatery in the borough.

This restaurant, known as Villa Secondo, drew the attention of food critics. Lidia hosted live cooking demonstrations at the site.

In the early 1980s, Lidia and Felice bought a Manhattan brownstone that they converted into Felidia, which would go on to become their critically acclaimed flagship restaurant.

In 1993, the couple’s son, Joseph, convinced his parents to partner with him to open Becco, an eatery in Manhattan’s Theater District. That same year, Lidia made an appearance on Julia Child’s “Cooking with Master Chefs” television program.

Bastianich’s first restaurant outside of the five boroughs was Lidia’s Kansas City, which opened in 1997. But the chef and her husband also divorced that year.

Bastianich kicked off her own TV series known as “Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen” in 1998. She later hosted two other shows – “Lidia’s Family Table” and “Lidia’s Italy.”

In 1999, the James Beard Foundation Award named Bastianich as New York City’s best chef for that year.

Lidia partnered with her son, Oscar Farinetti and Mario Batali in 2010 to open Eataly, a 50,000-square-foot food emporium in Manhattan.

Her restaurant empire currently includes eateries in New York, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.