christa assad

Well, I’m missing out on all of the action outside my hotel door in central Athens, Greece, right now – so this will have to be quick! I can’t resist giving you all a sneak-peek of my amazing time on the sweetest of all the little Greek isles…Kea. Last week I taught the ceramics portion of the first annual Clay and Eating (unofficial title!) workshop, hosted by the fabulous Vicki and David Snyder (whose private studio the ten of us took over), and fearlessly led by Aglaia Kremezi and Costas Moraitis, our Greek hosts and founders of the delicious cooking school, Kea Artisanal. WOW! It’s difficult to know who to list/thank first – our Greek and US hosts made an unbeatable team – and Costas and Aglaia (who live year-round on this gorgeous island) were the most professional, informative, and gracious hosts you could imagine.

Aglaia Kremezi is a renowned Greek cookbook author, journalist, photographer and food columnist for the Sunday Athens paper Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia and the Greek edition of Votre Beaute magazine. She also regularly contributes to the Atlantic Monthly food blog. Aglaia Kremezi, and her unbelievably knowledgeable husband, Costas Moraitis (don’t even get me started on the list of his degrees and interests!) fed our group of unsuspecting potters every day. The food, and the lessons in Greek culture (wine tastings, cheese tastings, olive oil, and more!) that accompanied each meal were really the heart and soul of our week. Honestly, I started to wonder what I was even there for – heck, I think we all could have dropped our pottery tools at the studio door and just camped out in Aglaia and Costas’ outdoor dining area all week! We drank, ate, and talked every lunch-time, took a seista, went to the beach, swam in the sea, visited Kea’s archaeology museum…and took the most amazing walking tours of the island (led by Costas).

This is our group at the ancient site (restoration just completed!) of Karthea, on the southern tip of the island. Breath-taking views every way you look, and not one tourist in site! This island is relatively unspoiled, and only visited by Athens folks with summer homes there, and perhaps a few wanderers like us! I could write on all day, but as I said, the Acropolis awaits me…I’ll tune in again later with more…wish you were here!