Culinary Icon Lidia Bastianich Celebrates Community Spirit in New PBS Special

NEW YORK (AP) — Lidia Bastianich grew up in a small town in Italy where neighbors were like extended family. If kids came home from school and mom was out, they went to the neighbors for a snack. If someone had a problem with a sibling, they went next door.

The Emmy Award-winning TV host, author and restaurateur remembers her grandmother making an extra pot for lunch and sending young Lidia next door with it to feed her blind, elderly neighbor, along with a glass of wine.

That sense of community is not specific to Italy, of course. “It exists in America in smaller situations, but we need to nurture that ever more,” Bastianich says.

She’s hoping to spotlight and cultivate togetherness with her 14th TV special, “Lidia Celebrates America: A Nation of Neighbors,” which premieres November 25 on PBS and streams on PBS.org.

“It’s my way of really thanking America. I think that there’s no better place in the whole world than the United States of America and somehow it’s been maligned,” she says. “What I know is that out there, in the midst of America, there’s a lot of good American people.”

In the new hourlong special, Bastianich travels to communities across the country where neighbors are supporting one another through challenging times. Her journey begins in Altadena, California, where recent wildfires have devastated neighborhoods. There, she joins volunteers preparing 175 five-course meals delivered to victims of the disaster.

What struck her most was meeting a volunteer who was himself living out of his car after losing his home to the flames, yet still showed up to help others.

“I got the shivers. I just needed to hug him,” she recalls. “I know that he needed that. I know he was in his car by himself, and yet he found it within him to give. That takes fortitude. It takes character.”

In Porter County, Indiana, Bastianich meets self-taught cook Kiki Ruff, who hosts a viral TikTok series helping families struggling with food insecurity. Ruff shares practical recipes from the Depression era, recessions, and wartime that help people stretch their groceries further—a modern approach to the traditional sharing of knowledge between neighbors.

The special also takes viewers to Denver, where SAME (So All May Eat) offers an innovative dining experience. The restaurant operates on a pay-how-you-can model, where guests may offer money, produce from their gardens, or volunteer their time in exchange for a meal.

“You could pay for dinner or lunch and that goes to subsidizing the whole thing. But if you have a garden and you grow certain things and have excess, you can bring in vegetables or fruit and you get a meal,” Bastianich explains. “Or you can work, you can go behind and begin to pack vegetables or whatever. But it doesn’t only get you a meal. It gets you interacting with other people and giving.”

Another stop on her journey is a Portland, Oregon community hub for Japanese-American elders. The center provides meals, tai chi classes, and social connection for seniors and families—fostering intergenerational bonds and preserving cultural heritage.

Bastianich’s experiences with community aid run deep in her personal history. Born in 1947 in Istria, an Italian territory ceded to Yugoslavia after World War II, she spent her early years under communist rule before fleeing with her family across the border to Italy. There, they lived in a refugee camp for two years until an aid organization helped bring them to New York in 1958.

Her final destination in the special is San Francisco, home to the nation’s first legislatively supported free grocery market. The facility serves thousands of residents who can choose what they want from fully stocked shelves.

“It was not like just a handout or a box of food. These people came in and they felt good,” Bastianich says. “They had integrity in going in and choosing what they’re going to eat, not just accepting what was given to them.”

Throughout her travels, Bastianich discovered that small acts of kindness toward neighbors create a powerful ripple effect, benefiting both the receiver and the giver.

“You don’t have to give big checks or anything. Do something for your neighbor,” she advises. “That connection makes you feel good. It makes you feel more of a human being. And it sort of gives you back that desire to live on positively.”

As Americans navigate increasingly divided times, Bastianich’s special serves as a timely reminder of the strength found in community bonds and the human capacity for generosity, even in difficult circumstances.