Lidia Bastianich comes to Mozza

Lidia Bastianich, one of America’s queens of Italian cooking and the matriarch of a restaurant empire, will be doing a book signing and hosting a dinner at Mozza on Tuesday night. There are still a few of the $175 tickets remaining. Better jump on them.

Bastianich rose to fame in the 1980s with her Manhattan restaurant Felidia, which offered a refined version of the home cooking she grew up with in her native region of Istria, on the border between Italy and the country now known as Croatia.

Since then, she’s written a string of popular cookbooks and starred in several PBS cooking shows. In her spare time, she’s partnered with her son Joe in a couple more restaurants -- Becco, Esca and Del Posto, all in New York. (Joe Bastianich also co-owns more than a dozen restaurants, including Babbo and Otto in New York and the Mozza family in Southern California.)

Lidia Bastianich has just published two new books: “Lidia’s Favorite Recipes,� a collection of 100 recipes; and a children’s book: “Lidia’s Family Kitchen: Nonna’s Birthday Surprise.�

The dinner, which features a four-course menu by Mozza executive chef Matt Molina, will begin at 7 p.m. For reservations, call (323) 866-5290.

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