Fame, Fine Food & Wine

Iconic Italian chef, Lidia Bastianich, serves up a charity event at Stamford’s Fairway Market.

Fairway Market was abuzz on Saturday November 5th, during their charity culinary event including a book signing and wine tasting with Chef Lidia Bastianich. The event also featured spectacular free samplings of LIDIA’S pasta and sauces. Molto bene!

Chef Lidia Bastianich kicked-off the festivities at 11AM with a book signing featuring her award winning public television series companion cookbook, Lidia's Italy in America (Knopf) and her popular children’s book, Nonna Tell Me a Story: Lidia's Christmas Kitchen (Running Press Kids). After the book signing and food sampling, guests were also invited to taste Bastianich wines next door at Fairway Wines & Spirits. Their helpful wine specialists will guide you through the 6,500 square foot space and help you make the perfect selection from more than 2,500 wines and 700 spirits.

Lidia’s time tested cooking secrets.

In spite of her busy schedule Lidia made time to have a chat with me. I was happy to hear that her favorite go to recipe is one even I could make. "A simple and easy spaghetti with garlic and oil. That one recipe fits the bill. When I feel like something cozy or something unexpected happens, I always have those simple ingredients; and of course that dish can grow. You can throw in shrimps and chicken.” Lidia knows how hard it is to cook for small children, she is a working mom and grandmother after all. For busy mom’s with finicky eaters Lidia recommends “A basic simple recipe— garlic and oil, a marinara sauce, or sage and butter— from that you evolve according to the occasion. Did [the kids] have chicken today? Or maybe they need some fish? Build upon these simple flavors with vegetables and proteins.” Lidia loves cooking seasonally. For the fall she’s whipping up recipes with “Mushrooms, truffles, risottos, game, and nice soups.” Lidia's wine making venture, the Bastianich winery, was founded in 1997 in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy and produces highly praised wines, such as, Vespa Bianco, Friulano and Calabrone. Lidia loves to visit the winery where her family can get really get back to their roots. “For us, wine is food.”

To celebrate Lidia’s appearance, Fairway Market donated 10% of sales on November 4th and 5th to WNET, the tri-state's public media provider and parent company of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. This charitable event is an extension of Fairway Market’s corporate support of WNET that began with sponsoring the wine series, “Vine Talk,” hosted by Stanley Tucci.

Why shop at Fairway Market?

All it takes is one visit to get hooked on Fairway’s vast imported and gourmet staples, the massive cheese market, the fresh coffee area, an olive oil tasting station, fresh, organic produce, and the in-house butchers and fish mongers. The Stamford store’s General Manager, Robert Reinisch, shared his thoughts about what sets Fairway apart from other stores, “Fairway is an experience like no other market. You can get a Kosher rotisserie chicken supervised by a Rabbi, choose from over 600 types of cheese, and get your regular grocery items like Bounty all under one roof.” Also “Everything in the deli is made from scratch in our kitchen.” Don’t miss Fairway Market’s Winter Wonderland —  from Thanksgiving to Christmas with live trees, many attractions, like visits from Santa, and everything you need from their brand new selection of Italian, German, and British traditional Christmas fare like Plum Pudding, Robertsons Mincemeat, and Christmas Crackers. For Hanukkah visit their onsite Kosher Butcher and Bakery and order up more traditional dishes from the deli and catering menu. Fairway Market is, “Foodie Heaven.”

Fairway Market, 699 Canal St. in Stamford, 203-388-9815.
Store Hours: Daily 8AM - 10PM, Café: Daily 8AM – 8PM.  
 
Fairway Wines & Spirits, 689 Canal St. in Stamford, (203) 388-1292.
Store Hours: Monday - Saturday 9AM - 9PM.