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MANILA, Philippines - Who is the Italian-American chef and restaurateur who introduced Italian cooking to the American audience through TV shows like Italian-American Kitchen and Family Table?
She was born on Feb. 21, 1947 in the town of Pola, Istria, (modern-day Croatia), which was then part of Italy. Eleven days before her birth, Istria was awarded to the then recently created Yugoslavia. Her family later sought refuge in Italy and moved to the US through Catholic Charities in the late 1950s.
She was in her teens when she went to work part-time in the back room of Walken’s Bakery, which was owned by the parents of Christopher Walken. After high school, she worked full-time in several Italian restaurants where she met her husband, also a fellow Istrian immigrant. They married in 1966.
In 1971, the family opened their first restaurant Buonvaia, which means “on the good road,” in Queens. They came up with their menu by collecting menus from the most popular and successful Italian restaurants of the time.
They initially hired a chef, but she gradually learned enough to make high-quality Italian food while adding Istrian traditional dishes to the menu.
The success of Buonavia led to the opening of a second restaurant, Villa Secondo, also in Queens. It was here that she first gained notice when she began giving live cooking demonstrations, a prelude to her TV career.
In 1981, the family sold their two Queens restaurants and moved to Manhattan to open Felidia, which received three stars from the New York Times and nationwide recognition “for serving true Italian fare.”
In 1993, Julia Child invited her to film an episode for her upcoming PBS series, Julia Child: Cooking with Master Chefs, which featured acclaimed chefs from around the US cooking dishes in their home kitchens instead of in a restaurant. The series gave her instant recognition and led her to open more restaurants.
In 1998, PBS offered her her own cooking show, Italian-American Kitchen, and she has since been a fixture on PBS cooking show lineups. She has since hosted two other series, Family Table and Italy. She ends every episode with an invitation to join her and her family for a meal: “Tutti a tavola a mangianre. (Everyone to the table to eat.)”
She also has authored several cookbooks, such as La Cucina, Family Table, Italian-American Kitchen, Italian Table, and Italy. She now has her own television production company, Tavola (Italian for table) Productions. The family’s business empire includes vineyards in Italy, olive groves in Istria, and a host of commercial food products and ventures in the culinary arts.
Family remains a strong factor in their business: her mother Erminia has a garden in Queens that provides many of the ingredients used in featured recipes and frequently appears as a sous chef in her TV series. Her son Joseph, a wine master, handles their highly acclaimed restaurants, Felida and Becco, in Manhattan, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and Kansas City in Missouri. Her daughter Tanya is her partner in an agency that has conducted tours throughout Italy to view the historic architecture and sample genuine Italian cuisine. Tanya’s husband is the restaurant group’s legal adviser.
All four generations of her family have appeared at one time or another as contributors to her TV show, and she has always believed how important passing family traditions is to her family. “Food for me was a connecting link to my grandmother, to my childhood, to my past. And what I found out is that for everybody, food is a connector to their roots, to their past in different ways. Food gives you security; it gives you a profile of who you are, where you come from.”
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Last week’s question: Who was the American couple — married in 1941 — who worked and made major contributions in many fields of design including industrial design, furniture design, art design, graphic design, film and architecture?
Answer: Charles and Ray Eames
Winner: Meredith Bagasa of Project 8, QC
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Text your answer to 0926-3508061 with your name and address. One winner will be chosen through a raffle of texts with the correct answer. The winner will receive P2,000 worth of SM gift certificates for use at Our Home, SM Department Store, or SM Supermarket. They can claim their prize at Our Home in SM Megamall. Bring photocopies of two valid IDs and a clipping of the Design Quiz issue in which you appear as winner.
