Lidia Bastianichis Net Worth and Highlights of his Career

Lidia Bastianichis is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television broadcaster, author, and restaurateur. Since 1998, Bastianich, who specializes in Italian and Italian-American cooking, has regularly participated in cookery programs on public television.

She started Lidia's Kitchen, her fifth television program, in 2014. Along with her son, Joe Bastianich, and daughter, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, she is the owner of or has owned a number of Italian restaurants in the United States.

These include Felidia Del Posto and Becco in Manhattan, Lidia's Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, and Lidia's Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri. She prepares the most delicious recipes.

Lidia Bastianichis Net Worth

Lidia Bastianichis net worth is considered to be 16 million dollars. She started her career by cooking and is now one of the most famous chefs in the USA. Working as an Italian cuisine specialist chef has contributed to Lidia Bastianich's wealth.

 Since the late 1990s, she has regularly appeared on food shows. She has also hosted a number of her programs, including "Lidia's Italy" (2007–2010), "Lidia Celebrates America" (2011–2018), and "Lidia's Kitchen" (2013–2020).

Tanya and Joe, Lidia's children, are her business partners, and she owns multiple Italian restaurants around the United States, including Becco and Del Posto in Manhattan. Bastianich is the author of multiple cookbooks.

Lidia Bastianichis Early Life

Lidia Giuliana Matticchio was born in Pula, Pola, Italy, on February 21, 1947. A few months later, the town was renamed Istria County, Croatia. With her mother Erminia, father Vittorio, and brother Franco, Lidia was raised in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1956, Lidia and Franco moved with their mother to Trieste, Italy.

After crossing the border at night, Vittorio soon joined the rest of his family, and the family resided briefly with Nina, Lidia's aunt, who was a cook. At the time, the family lived in the Trieste refugee camp Risiera di San Sabba. The Motika family immigrated to the US after their claim for displaced persons was accepted after two years.

Lidia Bastianichis Career

When Lidia and her husband, Felice, launched the restaurant Buonavia in Queens in 1971, Lidia worked as the hostess. The following year, she started training to become the assistant chef. They also founded a restaurant called Secondo in Queens, where Bastianich became famous for presenting live cooking demos.

The Bastianiches sold Buonavia and Secondo after Lidia's father passed away in 1981. They then purchased a brownstone in Manhattan that was already home to a restaurant. The new restaurant was completed after $750,000 in renovations, and Felidia went on to win Lidia several awards for the James Beard Foundation's "Best Chef in New York."

Joe, the son of Lidia and Felice, requested them to co-own Becco, a restaurant in the Theater District, in 1993. Due to the new restaurant's popularity, the Bastianiches started to open locations in other states, beginning in 1998 with Lidia's Kansas City.

By the end of the 1990s, Joe had become the restaurant group's chief director. In 2010, he, Lidia, and Oscar Farinetti launched Eataly, an Italian marketplace in Manhattan, where Bastianich was a cooking and gastronomy instructor at Eataly's school, La Scuola.

In addition to opening Eataly facilities in Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and Las Vegas, they built a second facility in Manhattan in 2016. 2010 saw the launch of Lidia's Kitchen, a cookware line on QVC. She also co-founded Nonna Foods with her daughter Tanya, which sold a range of pasta and sauces under the Nonna name.

Must Read: Amaury Guichon Net Worth and Chef Career

Lidia Bastianichis Philanthropy

Lidia supports the Adopt-A-Future program of the Association for the United States of America. She is a member of the non-profit groups Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and Les Dames d'Escoffier. In addition, Bastianich organizes special dinners for the UN Development Fund for Women and BoysGrow, two groups he supports.

Lidia has participated in the Italian American Committee on Education and is part of the Outstanding Board of the National Organization of Italian American Women.

Lidia Bastianichis Personal Life

At her sixteenth birthday celebration, Lidia met Felice "Felix" Bastianich, with whom she got married in 1966. Son Joseph was born in 1968, and daughter Tanya followed in 1972. After Lidia and Felice separated in 1998, he gave Joe and Tanya ownership of his business interests.

Felice passed away in 2010. In 2011, Maria Carmela Farina filed a $5 million action against Lidia, claiming the chef induced her to move from Italy to the United States with the promise of a $600-a-week position managing Bastianich's restaurants and television ventures.

Lidia Bastianichis Real Estate

Lidia and her mother, a widow, have lived in a 3,624-square-foot home in Queens, New York's Douglaston area, for more than 30 years. Bastianich grows a variety of herbs and vegetables on the land. It should come as no surprise that the house has a sizable kitchen. Lidia used the almost 500-square-foot area to film some of her early TV series.

Lidia Bastianichis Awards

Brose Other Posts: Carla Hall Net Worth, Top Chef and Cookbook Author

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Lidia Bastianich age?

Lidia was born in 1947 and she is 77 years old.

Q. What made Lidia want to work as a chef?

Her Italian family's farm-to-table meals served her as inspiration.

Q. Is Lidia Bastianich a mother of any kids?

Yes, Joseph and Tanya are her two children.