Lidia Bastianich has been described as the reigning queen of Italian cuisine in America. She is the host of cooking shows on PBS, including Lidia's Italy, a new 26-episode series[…]
“A restaurant used to be business. Now it’s much more.”
Question: Who are the great eaters?
Lidia Bastianich: Who are the great eaters? There’s a lot of them out there. I think that, you know, restaurants have become . . . Certainly my first restaurant was in ’71, so there’s been a few years that I’ve been at restaurants. And it’s . . . it’s great to see, you know, the evolution of a restaurant. It used to be a special occasion. A restaurant used to be business. Now it’s much more. It’s socializing. People are not just eating a meal and running out. It is the place for, if you will, entertainment, socializing, interacting or whatever. So . . . so Americans are very good at that, but then so are the Italians.
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