Photo credit: Joyce Boghosian
“Lidia is an immigrant to this country who is living the American dream,” President & CEO of Corporation for Public Broadcasting Pat Harrison said about Lidia Bastianich when introducing her at a dinner at The Library of Congress in her honor called Lidia Celebrates America: Salute to Heroes. “She’s an internationally known chef, an award-winning public television host, a best-selling cookbook author who runs a culinary empire including Eataly and renowned restaurants from New York City to Kansas City. She is CEO of Tavola Productions, producing programs such as Lidia’s Kitchen and Lidia Celebrates America which are continually nominated for a James Beard Award. But Lidia was not always a chef, author and entrepreneur. The journey was that of an immigrant, defined by hardship and patience. Lidia and her family spent two years in a former Nazi concentration camp in Trieste while waiting to come to this country. I visited that camp with Lidia and it was no place to raise children.” The event was co-hosted by Jon Abbott, President and CEO WGBH and Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress.
Lidia Bastianich, Rep. Phil Roe (TN) and Pat Harrison
“It was the fortitude of an incredible mother and father that made a home in this horrible place because her parents were really determined to give their children a life of freedom and hope – so they did make their plans to escape communist Yugoslavia at great personal risk,” Harrison added. “And finally, when they got to this detainment camp they just waited to hear for two years if they would be allowed to come to this country. So Lidia has been formed by that experience and the help her family received from Catholic Charities. She celebrates America every single day. This is not just the title of a program, it’s what she believes. It’s the essence of who this woman is. She has made the commitment to helping women and children at risk through the United Nations Fund for Women UNIFEM and her own foundations.”
Front row: John Maggio, August Dannehl, Pat Harrison, Yonas Hagos. Back Row: Jon Abbott, Marlene Rodriguez, Lidia Bastianich & Willie Sherrer
Lidia believes in Food Diplomacy – getting people to share with one another the most important thing that sustains and connects them to their culture which can be a beginning to mutual understanding and respect. We’re suggesting she takes that concept to Congress! She spent the last several months traveling throughout America getting to know veterans, listening to their stories, cooking with them, clowning with them, sharing meals, meeting their families and friends. She even prepared a holiday dinner for troops on a carrier and came away moved and inspired by these young brave men and women. “I have always had a special place in my heart for the men and women who fight for our freedom,” said Lidia, “a freedom I discovered here in America.”
“You put a plate of food in front of two people and what do they do? They stop, they eat, they break bread and she believes and lives it,” said producer and moderator John Maggio while opening a panel discussion with Purple Heart recipients Yonas Hagos, Marlene Rodriguez and veterans August Dannehl and Willie Sherrer. “I have to say I was so humbled because unlike veterans of the past who have really been honored and should be, I was really struck by the fact that all these guys and girls enlisted. They weren’t drafted, they chose to go and defend our country in a way that I found so incredibly moving. What Lidia and I discovered was is that it’s really a group effort. Their ability to recover from some very serious injuries, life altering injuries, was a group effort.”
Willie Sherrer and Lidia Bastianich Photo credit: Janet Donovan
On surviving battle scars:
“I credit it all to my mom. She’s stubborn in a good way. She didn’t understand, outside of my physical wounds, the mental wounds you suffer as a combat veteran. She says, ‘your wounds are getting better, but how come you’re not getting better?’ My mom helped me along. So she would cook for me and little did I know I would open up to her by eating my favorite dish that she cooked with Lydia. So that helped me recover. It wasn’t an over night thing; it took some time, but my mom doesn’t give up. She fought to get me back and I’m blessed for that.” Yonas Hagos
“Mentally I was unstable. I definitely used alcohol. I used it as a tool to get over combat. I went to a recreational trip out in Utah but because of my seizures I thought that I wouldn’t be able to do anything while I was out there. But I was able to go down white water rafting and then I went down this double something diamond, whatever you want to call it. I went down in the kayak by myself and once I got down and I took the ore and I was just raising it and I was like wow, I can overcome anything. If it wasn’t for that organization and for the recreation and the friends that I had who said ‘you can do this, you can still do this,’ that I overcame it. There was a definite need for mental health therapy, but getting out and seeing the world, the wild, being in the outdoors, that’s what brought me up and out and that is what I am very passionate about now which is why I am trying to pursue a career in recreation therapy.” Marlene Rodriguez
The most courageous story: Willie Sherrer
