Lidia Celebrates America: Home for the Holidays

In this intimate, hour-long documentary special, Lidia celebrates her native Italian holiday traditions, along with the traditions of six celebrity guests. Combining the best of the old and the new, celebrity chef, author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich shares her culinary customs with the diverse and varied special dishes of her invited dinner companions.

Japanese-American journalist, Ann Curry, shows Lidia around one of her favorite spots in New York City, the Sunrise Mart in Manhattan. She explains why she feels close to her late mother when she visits the market, and talks about how she and her family stay connected to her Japanese heritage.

Academy award winning American actor, Christopher Walken is an old friend of Lidia Bastianich. His father owned and operated a bakery, which a young Lidia Bastianich worked at. The first guest to arrive for the holiday dinner, Walken prepares a delicious dish with Lidia, which she coins 'Scallops A La Walken.'

Growing up, cooking was always a part of daily life for Carlo Ponti Jr. His mother, Sophia Loren, was a skilled cook, and the author of several cook books, while Sophia’s mother and sister were also fantastic cooks. Here, Lidia Bastianich and Carlo make pasta together in honor of his mother. Carlo Ponti Jr, is a former actor, now award winning conductor.

What makes actress and singer Rita Moreno want to dance? Watch as she shows her friend, Lidia Bastianich, one of her favorite childhood dishes from Puerto Rico, a Picadillo recipe she makes herself when she has guests.

Born in Ethiopia, Marcus Samuelsson is a Swedish-raised chef and restaurateur. Her, he talks about what signifies Christmas for him, and why. Then he takes his friend Lidia Bastianich to his restaurant, Red Rooster, in Harlem, New York, where they cook up some Swedish meatballs.

American cookbook author, actress, model, television host and executive producer Padma Lakshmi is a food lover and a friend of Lidia Bastianich. She invited Lidia to her birthplace in Chennai, India. In a Chennai marketplace, Padma explains to Lidia why flowers are an important part of Indian culture.

Follow Lidia back to her homeland in Pula, a fortified seaport in Istria, where all her early food memories stem from. Lidia visits the market where she shopped, and sold vegetables, with her Grandmother, and returns to her grandmother's house where she found her passion for food.

Set against a backdrop in which they share a deliciously diverse dinner, Lidia Bastianich's celebrity guests talk about what makes America the land of opportunity, and their dreams of making it in this country. The the meal represents the melting pot of flavors that are all part of celebrating Christmas in New York.