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

From the best-selling cookbook author, beloved and award-winning television personality, and hugely successful restaurateur -- a heartwarming, emotional, revelatory memoir told with all her hallmark warmth and gusto.

Lidia's story begins with her upbringing in Pula, a formerly Italian city turned Yugoslavian under Tito's communist regime. She enjoys a childhood surrounded by love and security - despite the family's poverty -learning everything about Italian cooking from her beloved grandmother, Nonna Rosa. When the communist regime begins investigating the family, they flee to Trieste, Italy, where they spend two years in a refugee camp waiting for visas to enter the United States - an experience that will shape Lidia for the rest of her life. At age 12, Lidia starts a new life in New York. She soon begins working in restaurants as a young teenager, the first step toward the creation of her own American dream. And she tells in great, vivid detail the fulfillment of that dream: her close-knit family, her dedication and endless passion for food that ultimately leads to multiple restaurants, several cookbooks, and twenty years on Public Television as the host of her own cooking show. An absolute must-have for the millions of Lidia fans.

LIDIA MATTICCHIO BASTIANICH is the author of thirteen cookbooks and the Emmy award-wining host of Public Television's Lidia's Kitchen which also airs internationally. She is also a judge on Masterchef Jr. Italy 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 on Long Island, New York.