Kalo Mina! A monthly love letter from the Med.

Kalimera and Kalo Mina everyone.

April is my birthday month so it feels fitting that I would start this newsletter with you all now. Spring has sprung here in Greece and I’m counting down the days to go and forage camomile in Corfu with my Yiayia. It is my favourite time of year and in celebration of that, I’m sharing all things that I LOVE in the Med with you in this new, monthly series.

For those of you who don’t know, “Kalo Mina” (Καλο Μηνα) literally translates to “good month” and it’s what we say here in Greece to welcome in a new month. There are specific Greek phrases that will wish you well attached to almost every occasion, usually beginning with the prefix “kalo”. Bought a new house? We say “kalo riziko” (good roots - the deeper meaning to ground well or happy grounding. Published a book or launched your own brand? We say “kalo taksido” (may it travel well.)

I think this is very much in the spirit of the Greek people; we love to share good will and to celebrate at pretty much any occasion. Even a Monday morning will illicit “kali ebdomada!” from passers by in the street here in Athens. It happened just this morning at the bakery. I rushed in for an on-the-go spanakopita for breakfast and the moustachioed baker welcomed me with a beaming smile and a KALO MINA. It was enough to turn my morning around and leave me with a resounding feel of positivity about the month ahead.

Which brings me to this new series of Kalo Mina love letters that I’ll be sending you on the first day of every month. Celebrating all that is light, bright and fulfilling in the Mediterranean, I’ll be sharing what I’m eating, watching, listening to, buying and reading with you all. I’m also including new restaurant openings and exhibitions or performances I’m attending here in Greece (or Italy when I’m there!) too.

I would so love to make it a Kalo Mina for you all too.

This is a chance to get the inside scoop on great boutique mediterranean brands, know where to get the best Greek produce and generally snoop into my life here in the Med. It also allows me to share about the brands, artists and creators I truly love and allows me to write a little more about the other elements of my life that lift me (fashion, music, books, art, TV!)

Right now I’m reading Bread for the Living, Bread for the Dead - Eight perspectives on bread from across the Mediterranean basin, a beautiful anthology of essays on our daily bread.

As we’re at the tail end of citrus season, I’m also devouring the Lemon book from The Gourmand, a delicious deep dive into the significance of lemons in our cuisine and its accompanying recipes (the lemon infused spaghetti is on repeat each week at my house currently.)

Something I watched that made me feel very uplifted is this clip from the Aliki Vougiouklaki film, I Kori Mou I Sosialistria. It emits the energy and fizz I feel this month as Greek summer approaches.

Driving to Corfu for Easter I’ll be listening to my Yiayia Road Trip playlist. This is a hilarious playlist of all of my Yiayia’s favourite songs, which we compiled together a couple of summer ago when I took her on a roadtrip from south to north Corfu.