She's The Bees Knees

After two knees replacements, chef Lydia Liebchen is doing what she loves.

- By Eleanor Gilman

Lydia Liebchen’s life has always revolved around food. It started with her “food-centric upbringing” in her Italian-American family, she says. Three generations ate together daily and every summer they headed for the Italian Riviera, where Lydia’s father grew up and where she “would hone my cooking skills.”

Lydia helped out in her father’s restaurant, and she and her husband, Gary, later owned two restaurants. After they sold them, Lydia became a corporate chef.

Kitchen Work

Her work kept her on her feet 10 to 12 hours a day, and by age 48 she was having knee osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms. Still, it took four years before she conceded it wasn’t getting better.