Lidia Celebrates America

Chief Nursing Officer at Holy Name Medical Center, in Teaneck, NJ, Michele Acito, and Staff Photographer Jeff Rhode talk about what happened when the number of COVID-19 patients coming into the hospital exceeded capacity. In just five days, and with everybody including nurses and janitors pitching in to help, a 36-bed ICU was constructed on the premises.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lidia is not able to invite all the first responders she met to a celebratory meal, as is traditional for her Specials. Instead, she prepares her Breakfast Risotto, a delicious comfort-food that she sends as a thank you to each of the first responders that she met during filming. Watch as Lidia prepares the recipe in her home kitchen.

U.S. Army Veteran Jenine Chance lost her brother Jesse 12 years ago in Afghanistan War. Since 2003, she has volunteered with 'Operation Gratitude,' sending care packages to military personnel. She continues this tradition to keep Jesse's memory alive, and now they are also sending care packages to Frontline workers in the U.S. Lidia adds her own letter of thanks to a care package.

Lidia reflects on what it takes to be an Emergency Medical Technician on the front-lines, as she spends time virtually with the Station Chief for Emergency Medical Services, Captain Jennifer Ison, and Lieutenant Dwight Scott of FDNY EMS Station 17 in the South Bronx. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the job of EMT especially challenging.

Sisters Connie and Francesca Zapella are firewomen in the Jersey City Fire Department. They talk with Lidia about what it's like to be female in a male-dominated profession.

In Denver, Colorado, Lidia pays a visit to the Comal Heritage Food Incubator, where budding chefs can take their family recipes and elevate them for public consumption through a restaurant and catering business. Erika Rojas is a recent graduate of the program who has started her own food truck business.

At Ironbound Farm in Asbury Township, New Jersey, Head Chef, Gunnar Bentley, shows Lidia how to cook mushrooms as well as chicken on what they call the “mother fire,” an incredible 30-foot-tall outdoor grill. Opened as a cidery only a few years ago, the Farm has a big mission: training members of chronically underemployed populations with valuable farming skills to bring back to their communities.

In Madisonville, Tennessee, Lidia catches up with Allan Benton, of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams, who has spent 45 years mastering the art of curing meat and making traditional country ham, slow-smoked bacon and sausage using century-old techniques rather than modern technology—customs that spring from his Appalachian upbringing.

In Napa Valley, California, Lidia meets Ramiro Herrera, one of only a few dozen master coopers in the world. Herrera, of Caldwell Vineyard shows Lidia how he assembles American oak into barrels by hand, and also demonstrates the complex art of toasting a barrel.

Watch the preview for Lidia Celebrates America: The Return of the Artisans. Join Lidia Bastianich this holiday season, as the renowned chef, author and food ambassador journeys across the country to explore how food artisans and artisanal crafts are gaining momentum in the U.S.

Lidia hosts a dinner at Ironbound Farm in Asbury Township, New Jersey in celebration of the Artisans who opened their doors, and their lives to show Lidia how food artisans and artisanal crafts are gaining momentum in the U.S. After a beautiful rendition of 'Amazing Grace', performed by Ironbound employees, Lidia raises her glass in a toast.

In Denver, Colorado, Lidia pays a visit to the Comal Heritage Food Incubator, where budding chefs can take their family recipes and elevate them for public consumption through a restaurant and catering business. Vian Al Nidawi, an Iraqi-Syrian refugee, is on the line as the lead chef.