Tutti a tavola!
Lidia Bastianich welcomes viewers to her Christmas table
Deck the halls and hang the stockings, it’s that time of year again! Yes, the holidays are upon us, and so are the Christmas cooking specials that bring glad tidings and delicious food to our screens.
PBS and celebrated chef, author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich invite you to join them for one such special. The newest installment of Bastianich’s series “Lidia Celebrates America” brings together a group of diverse individuals as they celebrate “Home for the Holidays,” airing Friday, Dec. 11, on PBS (check local listings).
Together with some of her famous friends, Bastianich cooks up a (winter) storm and brings us along for the ride, as the hour-long documentary starts in her home kitchen, takes a tour around the world and finishes up at the dinner table with special holiday dishes.
And just who are these celebrity guests sharing their personal stories and culinary customs? Why, none other than Oscar winner and longtime friend Christopher Walken (“The Deer Hunter,” 1978), TV journalist Ann Curry (“Dateline NBC”), host and model Padma Lakshmi (“Top Chef”), recent Kennedy Center honoree and EGOT winner Rita Moreno (“The Electric Company”), Italian conductor Carlo Ponti Jr. and Swedish chef Marcus Samuelsson (“The Taste”).
The six stars gather with their host over an ethnic dinner as diverse as they are and tell tales from different times in their lives, such as childhood memories or what prompted them to come to America. It’s all punctuated with footage of a special journey Bastianich recently took back to her birthplace in Istria and the political refugee camp she stayed in before coming stateside, as well as footage of her visits to Chennai, India, and the streets of Harlem.
“The holidays are a great time of the year,” Bastianich said in a news release. “It’s a time to really assess our values in life and to talk about who we really are and where we come from — our roots, our culture.” Of course, she’ll be doing this in one of the best ways she knows: with a group of great friends with bellies full of delicious food.
As Bastianich would say, “Tutti a tavola a mangiare!” (“Everyone to the table to eat!”) The special “Home for the Holidays” edition of “Lidia Celebrates America” premieres Friday, Dec. 11, on PBS.