Celebrity Chef Lidia Matticchio Bastianich to be Featured at Saint Martin’s University 2014 Gala

Celebrity chef Lidia Matticchio Bastianich will be featured at the 2014 Saint Martin's University Gala.
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Submitted by Saint Martin’s University

Celebrity chef Lidia Matticchio Bastianich will be featured at the 2014 Saint Martin's University Gala.
Celebrity chef Lidia Matticchio Bastianich will be featured at the 2014 Saint Martin’s University Gala.

Saint Martin’s University will welcome celebrity chef Lidia Matticchio Bastianich for its signature fundraiser, the Saint Martin’s Gala, this fall. The Gala takes place Saturday, Nov. 1, at Marcus Pavilion on the University’s Lacey campus.

Bastianich, a revered Italian-American chef and restaurateur based in New York City, joins the list of culinary luminaries to take center stage at Marcus Pavilion in recent years. Since 2011, when Mario Batali inaugurated the event’s celebrity chef format, the Saint Martin’s Gala has become a tradition of epicurean excellence, with Bon Appétit Management Company as the presenting sponsor.

As the celebrity chef, Bastianich will create a gourmet menu especially for the Gala, then prepare the multi-course dinner on the Viking stage. The meal will be paired with specially selected wine and a live auction.

Long regarded as America’s “grande dame” of Italian cuisine, Bastianich is an Emmy Award-winning television host, a best-selling cookbook author and the owner of a flourishing food and entertainment business.

In 1993, Julia Child invited Bastianich to appear in an episode of her PBS series, Julia Child: Cooking With Master Chefs, which featured acclaimed chefs from around the U.S., preparing dishes in their own home kitchens. In 1998, Bastianich parlayed her culinary expertise into her own series of public television cooking shows. She has since garnered a large audience of loyal followers. Her fourth, and current, series, Lidia’s Italy in America, earned Bastianich the 2013 Daytime Emmy Award for “Outstanding Culinary Host.”

In 2008, Bastianich was invited to cook for Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to New York City. She called the experience a “closing of the circle,” referring to the blessing she received as a child from Pope Paul VI when she and her family traveled from a refugee camp in Italy to the Vatican before making safe passage to America.

Bastianich owns several Italian restaurants in the U.S. in partnership with her daughter, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, and her son, Joe Bastianich, including Felidia, Esca, Becco and Del Posto (co-owned with chef Mario Batali) in Manhattan. In 2010, Lidia and Joe partnered with Batali and Oscar Farinetti to open Eataly, the largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace in New York City. The mother-and-son team also produces award-winning wines at Bastianich Vineyard in Friuli, Italy, and La Mozza Vineyard in Maremma, Italy.

A prolific author, Bastianich boasts an oeuvre that includes cookbooks, companion books for her television series and children’s books. She also is founder and president of Tavola Productions, an entertainment broadcast production company. She has a line of pastas and all natural sauces called LIDIA’S, and recently launched an exclusive line of ready- made home-style meals with Whole Foods Market in the Northeast.

“Lidia Bastianich is the perfect celebrity for this event,” says Roy F. Heynderickx, president of Saint Martin’s University. “Not only is she an accomplished chef, she embraces family, community, service and hospitality — all values at the core of the Saint Martin’s mission.”

Armandino Batali, a Saint Martin’s alumnus who has served as Gala co-chair since 2011, calls Bastianich a philanthropist at heart.

“Lidia generously contributes her time and talent to several foundations, including public television,” explains Batali. “We are so fortunate to have a chef of her caliber join us to support the students of Saint Martin’s.”

Last year’s Gala, featuring chef Michael Symon, raised more than $960,000. It was the third consecutive record-setting fundraiser for the University, generating more than $343,000 alone from the Feed-A-Mind paddle-raise for student scholarships.

The 2014 Gala co-chairs are Armandino ’59 and Marilyn Batali, Kathy Lombardo and Fred Wright, and Rick and Pam Panowicz.

Individual ticket and select table sales open to the public May 1. Individual tickets for the event are $400 and tables range from $3,500 to $25,000. Availability of individual tickets will be limited; those who plan to purchase tickets are encouraged to coordinate with others in advance to buy a table. Tables for 10 at the $5,000 to $25,000 level are available now as are sponsorship opportunities. For more information about table sales and sponsorships, contact Katie Wojke, interim vice president of institutional advancement at Saint Martin’s University, at 360-438-4485 or kwojke@stmartin.edu.

For more details about the Saint Martin’s 2014 Gala, visit the event website at www.stmartin.edu/gala or contact Saint Martin’s University Office of Institutional Advancement at 360-486-8885 orgala@stmartin.edu.

Join the conversation! Follow the buzz about Saint Martin’s Gala on Twitter using the hashtag #SMUGala.

To learn more about Lidia Bastianich, visit www.lidiasitaly.com.

 

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