From the Editors
Posted by estiator at 11 November, at 15 : 10 PM Print
A Cornucopia for You and for All
Welcome to November, the kickoff month for the holiday season, with its abundance of turkeys, pumpkins, and native corn. The cornucopia, a symbol for abundance itself, is rooted in Greek myth, even if the word itself is derived from Latin. A basket in the shape of a goat’s horn, usually depicted with its contents overflowing, is the graphic interpretation of the word, whose literal translation is “horn of plenty.”
Legend has it that the first cornucopia was from the mythological goat Amalthea, who provided food for baby Zeus, who had been kept in a cave so that his father, Kronos, would not find him and consume him along with his siblings. The story goes that the infant Zeus accidentally broke off one of the goat’s horns, which magically went on to provide an unending supply of food for the child.
As the centuries have passed, the cornucopia has become associated with the concept of a plentiful harvest, which is what we at Estiator wish for all of our readers (with the crop being cash, of course).
As for our November issue, our horn has some great content to feast on. For our cover story, “Greek to the Bone,” senior editor Constantine Kolitsas heads to Boston, where the Xenia Greek Hospitality group finds truth in its Hellenic roots across four concepts, with more locations and a new concept preparing to open in 2024. Read about how this team of talented restaurant pros is blazing trails for others to follow.
Senior contributor Michael Kaminer follows this with a tribute to the Haideman family of Wisconsin as they say farewell to Gyros West, which they have run for over 30 years, in “An Amazing Moment in Our Lives.”
This month’s Managing for Success finds our resident restaurant guru Kolitsas talking about himself, but only to illustrate the power of a narrative in the success of a business. Tell your story, he says, and tell it well.
In our Greek pages, Athens correspondent Gina Kallitsi heads to Samothrace in the northern Aegean, where she pays a visit to Karydies, a restaurant and an institution on that beautiful verdant island. In another piece, she talks chocolate. (Sweet tooth, anyone?)
And so, let your November be a cornucopia of all good things: May the customers at your door be overflowing, may your bank account be overflowing, may your blessings be overflowing. And may you have many thanks to give on that fourth Thursday in the month.
Happy reading!
The Publisher and Editors
