DiAnoia’s Eatery expanding catering business in former Lidia’s Pittsburgh space

Italian food will be prepared from scratch in Lidia’s Pittsburgh kitchen once again.

The owners of DiAnoia’s Eatery are leasing the kitchen space that once belonged to well-known chef, author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich of Lidia’s Pittsburgh, a former restaurant in the Strip District.

Bastianich, an Emmy award-winning public television host, best-selling cookbook author and restaurateur, closed her Pittsburgh location after 18 years in August 2019.

It sat vacant until Quatrini Law Group purchased the building on Smallman at 15th Street. The front of house is being renovated for the law firm’s office space.

“There really was a need for this space and it popped up at the perfect time,” said Aimee DiAndrea, who co-owns DiAnoia’s with husband and chef Dave Anoia. “We needed a place to handle our growing catering business.”

The location is also prime because it’s not far from the couple’s other businesses in the Strip District — DiAnoia’s, Pizzeria Davide and Pane e Pronto, a bakery and takeout spot where the catering was being done.

The connection to Bastianich goes back to when she was doing a cookbook signing event that DiAndrea and Anoia attended in 2016.

“I remember before we opened our first restaurant, we went to a cookbook signing and we told her about our restaurant. She wished us ‘good luck,’ ” Anoia said. “That gave us more confidence. To enter a space where Lidia worked means so much to us. Lidia is chef royalty.”

The couple heard about the kitchen space being available from the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, where DiAndrea is on the board of the western chapter.

“It is a huge kitchen,” Anoia said. “There is a ton of space to house and grow our catering business. It will also free up space in our other locations.”

The catering menu includes breakfast, lunch and dinner choices from egg sandwiches and Italian doughnuts and other fresh pastries to hoagies, several salad choices, house-made pasta dishes, meatballs, sausage, peppers, eggplant, veal, chicken, roasted cauliflower, potatoes, fresh mozzarella and tiramisu. They also offer custom full-service, family-style menus.

The couple recently prepared meals for 575 people for the Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh’s 50th anniversary gala in May.

“This will allow us to do more events like this one,” DiAndrea said. “We are so excited about the kitchen.”

The space doesn’t need any major renovations since it already is a fully-functioning kitchen. The plan is to be up and operating in a month.

Details: dianoiaseatery.com