Lidia Celebrates America: Overcoming The Odds

In this hour-long Lidia Celebrates America special, Lidia travels from big cities to small pockets of rural America, both in person and virtually, to share the inspiring stories of a diverse group of resilient Americans who have overcome extraordinary odds in their own lives, found purpose in serving their communities, and turned their loss into inspiring accomplishments.

Lidia visits Contento, the East Harlem, NY restaurant of sommelier Yannick Benjamin. Paralyzed in a car accident, Benjamin’s restaurant is barrier-free for those with disabilities. He also co-founded Wheeling Forward, a nonprofit that supports and empowers people with disabilities, as well as Wine on Wheels, a sister program that raises awareness and funds for disabled people in the wine industry.

Kristen Thomas aged out of the foster care system she grew up in, but went on to foster a child of her own. When the nonprofit One Simple Wish granted Kristin her wish for cooking classes, Lidia supplemented the classes with her own culinary course at Kristen’s home in North Carolina. Watch Lidia and Kristen prepare a Panzanella Salad together, with Brussel sprouts, butternut squash, and kale.

Hear what it was like for Maria and Marco Peña, whose home was destroyed by the devastating flood waters associated with Hurricane Harvey, in 2017. Lidia connects with the family and talks about what it’s like lose your home, a feeling she experienced, viewers learn, when she entered a refugee camp in Trieste, Italy at the age of ten.

Convicted of a crime that he did not commit and sentenced to 28 years in a maximum-security prison Jarrett Adams served nearly 10 years before being exonerated. Adams used the injustice he endured as inspiration to become an advocate and attorney for the underserved. Lidia meets with Jarret virtually to cook one of her favorite pasta recipes, Bucatini with pancetta, tomatoes and onions.

When Tony Hillery’s business fell apart during the 2008 financial crisis, he began volunteering at a school cafeteria in Harlem, New York. Shocked by what he saw, he founded Harlem Grown, an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire youth to lead healthy and ambitious lives through mentorship and hands-on education in urban farming, sustainability, and nutrition.

In her special Lidia Celebrates America: Overcoming the Odds, as part of the preparation for the final meal, Lidia is joined again by former foster child Kristin Thomas. Together they prepare a Chopped Salad with escarole, chicory, parsley, red onion, roasted red peppers, fennel, mozzarella, and salami. The dressing is comprised of oil, vinegar, mustard, eggs, salt and black pepper.

As with her other specials, Lidia Celebrates America: Overcoming the Odds culminates with a gesture of food – a gathering of some of the people she has visited along the journey. At Contento, in New York City, Yannick Benjamin’s restaurant profiled in the special, Lidia sits down to eat with these inspiring people, and shares dishes she prepared in their honor.