Filoxenia№ 07 · A closing note
What we brought home.
The people and small gestures we keep thinking about, from Sardinia to Greece.
A few things we rememberThe small gestures
Tomatoes, sea salt and a bouquet.
Betty gave me tomatoes and sea salt to take home. Her produce man had his own idea of a bouquet: a bunch of herbs and vegetables.
We found that kind of generosity throughout Sardinia and Greece. There was fruit and wine waiting at our rental. In Crete, watermelon and raki would appear after a meal. We were being welcomed with something to eat or drink, wherever we went.
Yanni and I grew up with filoxenia. It has stayed with us throughout our lives in hospitality, and it is the welcome we want our guests to feel every day at Yanni’s. On this trip, we were grateful to be the ones receiving it.
A tasting became an invitation.
At Vike Vike in Mamoiada, we had arranged a tasting with Simone Sedilesu. After the tour and the wines, the next thing we knew, we were invited to lunch with friends. We met his wife, Federica, whose family has the winery ’Esole, and spent a lovely time around the table together.
At Fragospito, Nikos and Christina had worked through the night, yet still made time for a tasting and an impromptu lunch. At Karapidakis, Giannis and his family welcomed us while the village was bringing in grapes to press. We know how much it means to stop and make time for someone when you are that busy.
Back to the table in SardiniaA chance meeting
The next day, we were in his workshop.
We happened upon a jewelry shop called Amoni, where we met Anna Harouli and commissioned a beautiful olive tree sculpture. We became friends, and the next day found ourselves in her father’s workshop.
Manolis Haroulis works with silver. He is also an artist, actor and musician. While we were there, he showed us an instrument he had made himself and began to play for us.
We had walked into a jewelry shop and, by the following day, were sharing that moment with Anna’s father. It was one of the experiences we were so grateful for on this trip.
With gratitude
Back at our own table.
We are grateful to the people who welcomed us into their wineries, restaurants and workshops. So many made us feel like family.
And we are grateful to our entire team at Yanni’s, who continued sharing that same hospitality with our guests each day while we were away. Filoxenia has always been at the heart of our work together.
With love,
Denise & Yanni