Lidia Bastianich Says Mario Batali Scandal ‘Was Very Hard’ for Her Family (Exclusive)

"We have never spoken to him since," Lidia Bastianich tells PEOPLE of her relationship with Mario Batali

Lidia Bastianich and her son Joe Bastianich had a long history with Mario Batali, but that relationship is no more.

In 2017, Batali, Joe's former business partner, was accused of sexual assault and was divested from their restaurants.

“It was very hard,” Lidia tells PEOPLE of the time she learned of the allegations. “He was a decent young man and then went off the deep end. He made it hard for our family."

Of their communication now: "We have never spoken to him since,” she adds in this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.

Joe and Batali formerly ran the B&B Hospitality Group. In a statement to PEOPLE in 2018, B&B Hospitality Group announced their partnership with Batali was ending, citing victim accounts as “chilling and deeply disturbing.” In 2021, the company was ordered to pay $600,000 to 20 people who were sexually assaulted while working at their restaurants.

(In May 2022, Batali was found not guilty on charges of indecent battery and assault in Boston Municipal Court. He settled two more cases in Aug. 2022, according to The New York Times.)

In Lidia's recent interview with PEOPLE, the cookbook author spoke about how she handles adversity.

“You just have to show up, shore up, straighten up. Gather the troops — and that's the family, number one — and you face reality,” she says.

Lidia adds that “not every situation is a winning situation. You have to be able to take that punch, heal, accept it ... and go on to new things. Don't give up."

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Lidia also stressed the importance of family while promoting her new cookbook, Lidia’s From Our Family Table to Yours, which she co-wrote with daughter, Tanya Bastianich Manuali.

The family runs Becco in New York and Lidia’s Kansas City. “After COVID-19 we decided I’m going to pull back, and the kids will lead,” she says. "But I told them, in the Italian fashion, if you ever fight because of the money, I’m going to come from my grave and get you. The most important thing to us is that family remains family.”

Bastianich’s celebrated career has included cooking for countless stars and two popes. But her favorite taste testers are her five grandchildren. Her granddaughter Julia Manuali, a junior at Georgetown University, recently had Lidia teach a cooking class for her friends. “They were all vegetarian!” says Bastianich. “Being a grandma is the best.”

The grandkids keep her up-to-date on trends, but the truth is, “I never felt pressure to conform,” she says. “I am who I am. I always had a good sense of what I would feel comfortable with.”

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