What does a basket weaver from Lemnos have to do with renowned chef Lefteris Lazarou? What does an academic have to do with a farmer from Thrace, or a food business entrepreneur – who has created an empire of restaurants all over the world – with a cook from Anafi. Apparently, nothing. In reality, however, everything is connected through the lens of their love for Greek food.

In this context, everyone and everything can play an equally important role, from the scientist who maps olive varieties, to the cheesemaker who struggles to master the art of aging and make a truly excellent graviera cheese; from a grandmother in Paros who still remembers how her own grandmother used to make fava beans, to a doctor who, with her scientific work, promotes the Greek dietary model on an international level; from a famous writer and intellectual to a souvlaki chef; from an award-winning chef who has worked in the best restaurants in the world to a taverna owner in a small mountain village in Arcadia; from a manufacturer who forges bronze objects all day long, to a winemaker.

Their common denominator is their love for food, Greek gastronomy and its excellent products.

Gastronomos, Greece’s top culinary magazine, published by Kathimerini newspaper, has been searching for these passionate devotees of Greek cuisine all over the country since its first issue. The journalistic missions did not stop during the economic crisis or during the Covid-19 lockdown. Even then, the magazine’s journalists and photographers were issued special permission to continue to travel, helping to maintain the thread that connects Greek production with our table.

Tomorrow, they will give us the opportunity to meet some of those devotees at the first Gastronomos taste festival, on Saturday, October 4, at the Pireos 260 venue. With a rich program of parallel activities that includes speeches, wine tastings, cooking classes and presentations of traditional arts on stage, the festival, titled “The Great Celebration,” aspires to introduce the magazine’s universe to a live audience. People, products, and stories that we have read in the pages of the magazine will take on flesh on stage.

What does it mean to produce in Greece? What is wrong with Greek olive oil? Why don’t we have old restaurants in Athens? Why are we chasing Michelin stars? How does overtourism change the character of a destination? These are just some of the questions that the guests will be asked to answer. Among these guests are renowned food writer Christos Zouraris, nutrition epidemiologist Antonia Trichopoulou, the two-Michelin-star chef and restaurateur Georgianna Hiliadaki, the president of the Ethnological Museum of Thrace, Angela Giannakidou, and many others.

The craftsmen

However, Greek craftsmen will also take to the stage – masters of clay, copper and basketry, all servants of an old art – to present their work. The lights will dim and attendees will witness scenes and arts from an unknown Greece.

“For the traditional readers of the magazine, it will be a unique opportunity to meet people they have read about, to try their food, to chat with them. For the rest of the world, who may not follow the magazine and its themes closely, the surprise will be greater because they do not know us,” says Angelos Rentoulas, director of Kathimerini’s Gastronomy Publications.

“We will have to win over this audience, introduce ourselves from the beginning, and introduce them to our world. For us, this is a great challenge. We would like this festival to be a transformative experience, with a strong element of joy and celebration, but also with moments of emotion and upliftment. We imagined and designed it so that it carries many of the elements of the identity of Gastronomos – the love for Greek cuisine and our food culture, the magic of traditions, the passion for discovering producers who have love and passion for the land and their products, the belief that by scraping the surface of the urban lifestyle we will find new layers of meaning. This is how Gastronomos is, and so will be its festival,” he explained.

“As for us, the editorial team of the magazine, it will be a useful experience as after 19 years of publication we will be able to come face to face with the people who read us and confront their expectations.”

Resembling a neighborhood

In the outdoor area, an Athenian neighborhood will come to life with shops, restaurants and kiosks, which people will be able to tour throughout the festival, drink coffee, eat a traditional Cretan breakfast, have a bite, have a drink, or watch the team of nomadic chefs from Nomade et Sauvage – headed by founder and Chef Jordan Tseneklidis – cook in traditional ovens, as they have done many times for Gastronomos in emblematic locations such as the Evros Delta, Mount Olympus, Mount Pindos, the Prespes Lakes and elsewhere. At the same time, we will have the opportunity to attend Greek cooking classes from top chefs, such as Lefteris Lazarou, Christoforos Peskias, Nena Ismyrnoglou, as well as from the Athonite chef Father Georgios.

The courtyard will also host eight excellent restaurants from all over Greece which will serve their specialties, such as Skotadis’ taramosalata from Aegina, Margarita’s saffron cheese pies from Anafi, the tsigariasto of the Cretan restaurant Peskesi, the makalo (Macedonian gravy) meatballs of Kontosoros from Florina, the wild boar of the Arcadian taverna Zerzova, Antonia Zarpa’s cheese bites from the Thalassaki restaurant on Tinos, the goat spaghetti of Araklia, etc.

The Quality Awards

As part of the first festival of taste, Gastronomos and Kathimerini will also hold the 18th Quality Awards during the event. This is an annual institution that honors quality food producers, processors, traders, scientists and people in general who promote Greek cuisine with their work. This is the first time that this event will be open to the general public, a unique opportunity for those who want to be the first to know which producers and businesses the magazine’s editorial team has singled out this year.

An urban feast

Immediately after the awards ceremony, the grand celebration will continue and culminate in a culinary event with elements of an urban feast and many tasty surprises. Some of the greatest Greek chefs will be present, cooking a series of exquisite mezedes for the festival audience. The music will get louder, the food treats will change hands, and the chefs will compete in Greek cuisine, claiming the prize of the most delicious bite. This will be a meeting of giants, a grand celebration for Greek gastronomy.