For Anastasia Koutsioukis and Ahmet Erkaya—partners in business and life, and co-owners of some of Miami’s favorite culinary lifestyle brands including Mandolin Aegean Bistro and Mrs. Mandolin boutique in the Design District—it was love at first sight.
Koutsioukis, who is Greek, moved from Toronto to New York in 1997 to pursue a career in fashion marketing. She met Turkish-born Erkaya—who arrived in the city after working in the kitchens of Istanbul—in 2004 at Sala, a restaurant where he had recently found work. “I set eyes on him even though we were [from] historically rival cultures,” she recalls. “We had the same taste in music and food, and shared family values.”
The pair quickly started dating; Koutsioukis says they “ate [their] way around New York” together. But neither Koutsioukis nor Erkaya could find a place that served the type of fresh,Aegean-inspired cuisine they had both grown up eating. Sure, their nationalities were different (even at odds, at least politically and historically), Koutsioukis admits. But both Greek and Turkish cultures are rooted in recipes that have been passed down over generations during hours spent in the kitchen together. The couple knew they were onto an untapped idea, so their aspirations naturally turned to opening a restaurant of their own. After a 2008 trip to Miami, they fell in love with the Design District and the Miami scene. A year later, they made their Magic City move, opening Mandolin Aegean Bistro in 2009.
The place was a hit, and when devoted patrons started calling Koutsioukis “Mrs. Mandolin,” she adopted the moniker and applied it to the couple’s brand extensions. Beyond that original bistro, the couple now owns and operates Mrs. Mandolin, a lifestyle market in the Design District offering artisanal home products, pantry staples, apothecary items, accessories, and lifestyle goods sourced from the Mediterranean. There’s also, Mr. Mandolin restaurant, with locations in Wynwood and MiMo’s Vagabond Hotel (which has a Mrs. Mandolin Café & Bakery tucked inside, too); The Drexel, their coastal Mediterranean restaurant on Miami Beach; and a Mrs. Mandolin outpost in the SoHo Beach House. Coming soon is Next Door, a meze and wine bar that will open in the Design District next door to Mandolin Aegean Bistro, plus more projects on the drawing board including a northern expansion into Palm Beach County.
Hospitality and food come naturally to Koutsioukis, who says her childhood was filled with home-cooked Greek meals and festivities. “I always set the tables using our good china, picked flowers in the garden, and enjoyed lots of family and friends,” Koutsioukis says. “I loved to help entertain at a young age because my parents were entrepreneurs who invited friends over to our house. I have fond memories of holidays and dinner parties.”
Meanwhile, Erkaya was raised in Izmir, Turkey—a bustling city on the country’s Aegean coast—in a home that also revolved around food. “Our meals were festive, and the family always came together for them,” Erkaya recalls. “My childhood was similar to Anastasia’s in the sense that our moms cooked well and our grandparents were involved in our upbringing.”
It’s their backgrounds and the combination of their native cultures, the couple says, that fuel what they do at their Aegean-themed restaurants and markets. “I missed the love and happiness passed through my family with food,” says Koutsioukis. “Ahmet and I were interested in offering our guests the joy of food and the spirit of joy that we had experienced in our own homes. We do that daily in our restaurants, and we love it.”
For the ingredient-driven menus at their various restaurants and markets, the couple collaborates on offerings that exude hospitality and the bounty of the Mediterranean. Koutsioukis takes the reins when it comes to the brand’s breezy Mediterranean design inspo and creative interiors. For his part, Erkaya curates the beverage menu and educates his staff and guests on wines.
“Wine is a passion of mine,” he explains. “It led me to establish relationships with winemakers on the Greek islands of Tinos, Santorini, and Paros, where we spend summers. The result is that we offer the Miami community crisp, sharp wines from Greek varietals and pair [them] with what we cook.”
Koutsioukis and Erkaya recently brought their collaborative magic to bear in an alfresco brunch at their Miami home, where they invited close friends to celebrate all things Aegean. In line with their individual passions, Koutsioukis designed the tablescape, selected the florals, and prepared the starters, salads, and meze boards. Erkaya picked the wines—each crafted from small-harvest vineyards on Greek islands—and grilled the entrées.
“We love to co-host,” says Koutsioukis. “While I have been entertaining since I was a child, I am easier and breezier than my mom and grandma. I like to offer dining through all the senses—eyes, ears, scents, tastes, [it’s] all engaged.”
As guests arrived, they noshed on a variety of appetizers, including a meze board of tzatziki, hummus, roasted eggplant dip, and crudités; Greek cheese boards of Halloumi and Manouri with Greek tomato jam, grapes, nuts, olives, and dried Greek oregano; and roasted peppers marinated in olive oil and garlic.
Erkaya paired the starting bites with two small-batch wines harvested in Paros, Greece, in 2021 by Ktima Roussos: a white blend made from Assyrtiko, Malagousia, and Monemvasia grapes, and a rosé made from Malagousia and Black Aidani grapes. “We also offer these wines at our restaurants and sell to others,” Erkaya says of his selections. “They are made in the true fashion of simple winemaking.”
Koutsioukis curated a Mediterranean-inspired dining table awash in her favorite shades of blue and white—colors that remind her of the sun, sea, and sand. “Nature is always my inspiration,” she says of the setting, with pieces pulled from the couple’s restaurants (and many available for sale at their Mrs. Mandolin markets). “I love to mix heirloom pieces with current tabletop items. My backyard is Mediterranean-meets-Miami.”
Koutsioukis selected raffia-fringed placemats by Adriana Castro to set the stage for the hand-painted blue-and-white-striped dishes and matching smaller plates created by designer and brunch guest Carolina Kleinman. Tall blue vintage glasses, pottery beverage vessels from Mexico, bamboo flatware from Sabre Paris, and blue-and-white-striped cotton napkins rounded out the scene.
A pair of sea urchin–shaped vases brimming with orange ranunculus, pink peonies, and wildflowers dotted the center of the table. “She sets the most effortlessly beautiful table,” says Kleinman (better known as Miami-based designer Carolina K). “I work with artisans around the world to create homeware and fashion, and no one has a more unique style than Anastasia with her old-meets-new aesthetic. She makes everything look simple and elegant.”
The hosts served brunch family style. Small-plate courses included shaved cauliflower salad with Turkish dates; nutty Kefalograviera cheese drizzled with a lemon-honey vinaigrette; and a Greek salad of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, capers, green peppers, feta, and Kalamata olives. Erkaya paired the selections with a 2012 Vaptistis Potamisi from Greece’s Tinos island.
Skewers of chicken and shrimp kabobs marinated with olive oil, lemon, sea salt, and oregano followed, complemented by an ALS Extreme Terroir Assyrtiko, a wine harvested in Santorini and vilified in Syros in 2019. Dessert of Greek yogurt topped with honey and fresh strawberries, paired with a 2020 late-harvest Mastroyianni Roditis varietal, ended the afternoon on a decidedly sweet note.
Though serving up their brand of Mediterranean style at home is a change from their normal in-restaurant routine, Koutsioukis and Erkaya cherish both types of entertaining. “I love transforming and transporting guests elsewhere for the day by changing the atmosphere with colorful plates, music, visuals, and through the tastes of Greece,” Koutsioukis says. “I love the story around the table and the food. To see joy on our guests’ faces is wonderful. You can say that my heart is truly into entertaining.”
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