Between Two Worlds

Vasiliki Pierrakea, the owner of Vasiliki Kouzina and Vasiliki Kantina & Gastronomia in Milan, recalls her grandfather reciting this adage to describe the inherent connection between Greeks and Italians—or, for Pierrakea, her native compatriots and those of her adopted homeland.

Kalamata-born Pierrakea arrived in the Lombard capital in 2005 to earn a master’s degree in non-profit, public, and organizational management at the prestigious Bocconi University. She never left, pursuing a formidable career spanning the business, real estate, and marketing sectors, despite how hospitality had her heart. In 2012, a chance encounter with Vinicio Capossela, an Italian singer and author writing a book about Greece, prompted her to switch gears and follow it. “My grandfather owned a trattoria, and my mother was a chef,” she shares.

Vasiliki Kouzina began in her home kitchen, where she prepared Greek specialties like moussaka for event catering, but ”I couldn’t make a lot of money, so I decided to open a restaurant.”

She started looking for a space in 2015, and the following year, she found a permanent home for Vasiliki Kouzina in the Porta Romana district. Just as Milan doesn’t fit the mold for most people’s preconceived notions of Italy, Vasiliki Kouzina foregoes the Greek restaurant archetype, eschewing the typical blue and white color scheme and rustic Mediterranean setting for a refined ambiance rendered equally warm by ruby walls, emerald banquets, sapphire seat cushions, and gold accents. The same applies to the menu, which pairs familiar Greek dishes with lesser-knowns like honey octopus with garlic chickpea sauce and roasted chard.

Though the concept wasn’t what she originally had in mind for a restaurant. “I wanted to make an easy place with wine and tapas, very quick and flexible, and more modern,” she reflects.

This past November, Pierrakea realized her initial idea, opening Vasiliki Kantina & Gastronomia, a 28-seat wine bar across the street. One hundred and eighty Greek wines stand front and center, complemented by a trim small plates menu, a format typical of the enoteche con cucina (wine bars with a kitchen) that have coursed across Milan’s food scene in recent years–one could call her ahead of the curve.

These days she slips back and forth between the two every evening, but she’s dedicating most of her attention to Kantina. “It’s very new, the second one,” she comments.

For Kantina, Greek artist Terpsichore Savvala designed a ceiling mural depicting the story of Demeter and Persephone, a myth that not only recounts the profound power of motherly love but also the intrinsic connection between food and the land–a befitting likeness for Pierrakea’s pursuits. “The Greece I love and wish to share more and more with others is about authenticity and deep connections,” she explains.

Pierrakea hasn’t limited her undertakings to restaurants. In the coming months, she’s launching a Greek product line that offers “everything from honey to oil with producers that I’ve been collaborating with for nearly ten years to be sold in Italy and beyond.”

As for Milan, she loves it.

And opportunity keeps calling. Pierrakea is the vice president of both Fondazione Fiera Milano, a local non-profit, and Terziario Donna Milano - Confcommercio Milano, an association for female entrepreneurs and professionals. At home, she and her husband, comedic actor Gianluca De Angelis, are raising a cherubic 18-month-old son, Leonidas–to say she has a full plate would be an understatement.