Changes in cooking?

[Sandra Levine]

How has your cooking/presentation changed in the years since you opened your first restaurant?

[Lidia Bastianich]

The first diishes that were created at Buonavia, the restaurant I opened in Forest Hills, NY were Italian American since that's what we thought the customers were hoping to eat. However, I was always going through the dining room, asking the customers to taste some of the traditional dishes from Istria--where I came from.

Now at our restaurants, we serve traditional Italian food, presented in a simple and innovative way. The presentation is by far simpler than in the past.