Just got the good word that Pike Place Market’s venerable Pike and Western Wine Shop will expand its usual free Friday tasting on August 20, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., to welcome best-selling cookbook author, award-winning television cooking show personality, chef, and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich.

Bastianich will sign copies of “Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy,” while guests sip complimentary tastes from Lidia’s own winery: Bastianich Vineyards. Bastianich Vineyards, which Lidia opened with her son, Joseph, is located in the Colli Orientali region of Friuli in Northwestern Italy, an area widely known for its wine production, terroir, and grape varieties such as Tocai Friulano, Schiopettino, and Refosco.

A limited number of cookbooks will be available for sale for $35, and a selection of wines from Bastianich Vineyards will also be available. The event is free and open to the public.

The book signing is in conjunction with Pike and Western’s weekly Friday tasting, usually held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wine-shop owner Michael Teer will be pouring tastes from Bastianich Vineyards, and Pike and Western’s knowledgeable staff will guide guests through the unique and informal tasting.

Lidia’s latest cookbook, “Lidia Cooks From The Heart of Italy” (Knopf, 2009), profiles 175 regional recipes from 12 regions of Italy. The featured regions include many lesser known parts of Italy including Molise, Liguria, Umbria, Abruzzo, Calabria, Valle d’Aosta, Le Marche, Trentino Alto Adige, Basilicata, and Sardinia as well as the famed Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.

Lidia herself has garnered much acclaim for the past two decades for her best-selling Italian cookbooks, six restaurants, entertainment company (Tavola Productions), and various cooking shows, including the Emmy-nominated “Lidia’s Italy” series. She also founded a second winery, La Mozza, with Joseph Bastianich and Mario Batali. Other cookbooks include “Lidia’s Family Table,” “Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen,” “Lidia’s Italian Table,” and “La Cucina di Lidia.”

For more information on Lidia Bastianich, please visit www.lidiasitaly.com.

Located in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market, Pike and Western Wine Shop has been pairing customers with the perfect bottle of wine since 1975. A local wine shop with a world view, Pike and Western has supported the local wine industry since its inception and also stocks an extensive selection of wines from around the world. In-store wine tastings are offered every Wednesday, 4-6 p.m. ($5) and every Friday, 3-6 p.m. (free). Visit online at www.PikeandWestern.com, follow on Twitter @PikeWesternWine or phone (206) 441-1307.