Senator George Borrello, President of the Conference of Italian-American State Legislators, has announced that celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich, the Emmy award-winning public television host, best‐selling author and restaurateur, will be a 2023 Italian-American of the Year honoree for this year’s Italian-American Day on Monday, May 22. The annual event celebrating Italian heritage and culture is one of the most popular legislative events in Albany.

In announcing Lidia Bastianich’s participation, Senator Borrello emphasized her role in keeping alive the traditions and cuisine of Italy through her long-running cooking shows on public television, best-selling cookbooks and restaurants, including Eataly, the largest Italian marketplace in the world.