Field notes № 06 · Epirus, Greece

Back to the
family table.

Ioannina, Koutselio & Zagori

From Yanni & Denise · As told by Denise

We went north to see family. Being with our cousins was the highlight, along with a visit to a tavern Yanni has known since he was a child.

See the photographs

Four people standing at a stone lookout wall with tall gorge cliffs behind them — Above Vikos Gorge.

A familiar table
in Koutselio.

Koutselio, just south of Ioannina, is where Yanni’s dad is from. The Giannakopoulos family’s tavern, O Zagorisios, is a place Yanni and his family have been going to since he was a child.

We met the owner, Giannis, and his son Ilias. Giannis has a personality very similar to our Yanni’s. You can imagine the two of them together.

The tavern has been going since 1965. Lamb and goat, slowly cooked in a gastra, are its specialties.

Four people standing together beneath a wooden arch in a traditional dining room — A welcome at O Zagorisios, Koutselio.

Browned roast meat arranged on a white platter with serving utensils — From the table at O Zagorisios.

Golden potato wedges with herb flecks and cooking juices on a white plate — Potatoes alongside the roast.

A look in the kitchen.

They showed us how they prepare the meat: a roasting tray goes into the wood-heated hearth, then a cover goes over it, sealed around the edges with ash. The meat cooks slowly underneath.

Out with
the cousins.

Another highlight was going to Zagori together. The villages were beautiful, the kind of places that feel as though they’ve been held in another time.

Stone buildings, little terraces, flowers along the steps. There was also the view into Vikos Gorge, with those enormous cliffs dropping down to the trees below.

Pale cliffs rising on either side of a wooded gorge, framed by trees under a cloudy sky — Looking into Vikos Gorge.

Outdoor tables beneath a large spreading tree in front of a stone building — A village stop in Zagori.

Steps between stone walls lined with bright flowers, leading to a shaded terrace — Stone steps and flowers.

By the lake
in Ioannina.

We also spent time by Lake Pamvotida. Mountains across the water, buildings along the far shore, and a very different view from the gorge.

A calm lake beneath a broad mountain slope, with buildings along the opposite shore — Lake Pamvotida, Ioannina.

And, of course,
the bougatsa.

The huge pie in the photographs is bougatsa, baked in phyllo. There’s a savory version with cheese, and a sweet cream version finished with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

At Select, both versions were written on the window. The big golden pies were right there on their trays.

With love,
Denise & Yanni