Felidia

August 19, 2019
In her predictably solid 14th cookbook (after Lidia’s Celebrate Like an Italian), TV host Bastianich serves up homey dishes from her first restaurant Felidia, which serves Northern Italian fare on New York’s Upper East Side. As she proudly points out in a frank introduction, staying open for 37 years is no small feat (after opening the restaurant in 1981, her husband grew depressed, and she “was sorrowful, exhausted, and terrified that we might lose everything”). Included are dishes that have remained on the menu since the first night, such as whole roasted branzino with sweet onions and tomatoes, and palacinke crêpes (adapted from a recipe originating in what is now Croatia, where she was born). In 1996, Bastianich handed the reins to Nicotra, a native Sicilian educated in Turin, who contributes, among many other dishes, broccoli rabe with roasted butternut squash and ricotta, and an eggplant flan that reworks pasta alla Norma. Some recipes feel only tangentially Italian, such as salmon in a mustard and cream sauce or poussins with beer, maple syrup, and balsamic glaze. Bastianich worked in a bakery as a teenager, and here she offers such recipes as a blueberry and apricot frangipane tart. While some recipes from this influential restaurant may feel familiar, they are certainly spot-on in a collection that will delight Bastianich’s many fans.

October 1, 2019
Nearly four decades of success for Felidia, Lidia's Kitchen chef Bastianich's Manhattan flagship restaurant, did not come easily. Despite Bastianich and her husband's ample restaurant background, Felidia opened months behind schedule, required the entire family to pitch in (Lidia's father refinished the chairs, her daughter and co-author Manuali scrubbed used pots and pans, and her teenage son contributed his paper route earnings to keep contractors on the job), and thrust the family deep into debt. But success did come, and has continued for the family. Here, Lidia shares the stories of Felidia through words and food. The recipes?lush Italian dishes infused with flavors of Lidia's native Croatia and a lifetime of experience in the kitchen?are organized as a restaurant menu would be and written with practiced care in instruction and technique. Dining out at Felidia would be a lavish treat; for the rest of us who won't have the honor, spending time with this cookbook offers a chance at recreating the experience at home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)