Expansions

Joe and Lidia Bastianich Open Orsone in Italy

Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Bastianich Photo: Melissa Hom

Mother and son restaurateurs Lidia and Joe Bastianich are opening Orsone (“big bear”), their first Italian-influenced restaurant that’s actually in the motherland, In Transit notes. The endeavor is part of a complex that also includes a six-room bed-and-breakfast on the grounds of the family winery in Cividale del Friuli, Italy, which is near the Slovenian border. Joe Bastianich tells the blog that while the eight-table tavern will serve a menu of regional Italian standards and “Ital/New Yorkese” food, a less formal adjoining tavern will specialize in full-on Americana, including “apple pie, burgers and French fries,” and also a lobster roll. [In Transit/NYT]

Joe and Lidia Bastianich Open Orsone in Italy