Sifnos, Cyclades, Greece. An island that over twenty years ago stole our hearts and where, with Claudio Ceroni, we now return every summer. Beyond any forecast, one could say almost by chance, the events led us to experience a little piece of Identità Golose even here.
And since opportunity makes a thief, the fact that the most beautiful restaurant on the island, namely Rabagas, was taken over by Yannis Iacovidis and completely revolutionised, with the management handed to the careful hands of Eleni Oulasan and Demetra Saltou, and the kitchen to a famous chef such as Yannis Loukakos (owner in Athens of Psomi and Alati and one of the protagonists of Master Chef Greece), made us come up with some ideas.
The centennial olive trees at Rabagas, the most beautiful restaurant in Sifnos, a fascinating island in the Cycladic archipelago, were the perfect background for Greece Meets Italy. A fun and significant summer event that was born under the star of Identità Golose
When later we met
Giovanni Sandri on the island, a young and talented Italian chef who has worked at
Flipot in Torino,
Cracco in Milan,
Antica Osteria del Teatro in Piacenza,
Agata e Romeo in Rome and is now about to open a catering business in Miami, the game became an easy task.
Greece Meets Italy was born as an event based on the collaboration and the interaction between two young chefs with a strong identity, two completely different gastronomic cultures, but with the same desire to create something new. It’s not by chance that this island is suitable for such an event because it unites a strong link with Athens, a true umbilical chord, with a the multitude of the international visitors, a small group of enthusiasts coming from the most varied countries, without ever entering the main stream of mass and standardised tourism.
Paola Valeria Jovinelli and Claudio Ceroni, promoters of the event, with Eleni Oulasan and Demetra Saltou, careful and expert managers at restaurant Rabagas
This diversity has always been manifested also in the care for a cuisine that was above the average offered today on the Greek islands. After all, the ancient Siphantos is the motherland of
Nikolaos Tselementes (1878-1958), one of the most famous Greek chefs, the first to write down traditional home recipes and to modernise them.
Back to
Greece Meets Italy, the great success of the evening was made sure by a menu that was capable of blending the Greek capacity of making people’s mouths water with
Loukakos’s
mezedes (
Tomato and mizidra soup,
Tuna and caponata,
Fried shrimps with tarama and caper sauce,
Mini pita with spicy chicken and yogurt,
Meatballs), and
Giovanni Sandri’s main course (
Risotto cacio e pepe and
Pork fillet with peppers, oregano and crispy Parma ham). The end was assigned once again to
Loukakos with the desserts. You can find all the photos from the evening here, in the photo gallery by
Sofia Konst.
