Conversations in the Kitchen: Cultural Storytelling through Food

Conversations in the Kitchen: Cultural Storytelling through Food
Tuesday, June 3, from 3:00 pm - 4:30 PM

In partnership with Reading Terminal Market, Join Forman Arts Initiative and Mural Arts for an afternoon of conversations and storytelling over food. Hosted at the historic Reading Terminal Market, Eugenio Salas, culinary and visual artist will be in conversation with Olympia Gyro owner, Athens Voulgaridis, his wife Roula and mother Despina as they prepare Galaktoboureko, a traditional Greek dessert made with layers of golden brown crispy phyllo, sprinkled with melted butter, filled with creamy custard and bathed in scented syrup.

Participants will be treated to this delectable treat while overhearing the dish's connection to the family's heritage and business, offering a unique opportunity to learn, taste, and connect with the stories behind the food.

This program is part of The Philadelphians, a public art projection and city-wide project celebrating the city’s vibrant immigrant communities, past and present. Created by Philadelphia-based artist duo Nadia Hironaka and Matthew Suib (Hironaka & Suib)and in collaboration with Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, the project is on view at Love Park (1569 JFK Boulevard) until June 8th, 2025. You can read more information on the project and connected programming here.

Olympia Gyro owner, Athens Voulgaridi with his mother, Despina.

photo credit: Milton Lindsay

Eugenio Salas is a self-taught artist based in Lënapehòkink, the ancestral homelands of the Lenape people, also known as Philadelphia. His practice involves disrupting social roles and dynamics through collaborative, process-based projects carried out both autonomously and within institutions. Previous projects include Snack Pack, a doughnut-based stop-motion animation reflecting on his first job as a new immigrant; The Supercake, a 22-foot-long edible sculpture created in collaboration with immigrant women he worked with at a cake factory; and Waste Feast/Fogones, a participatory project with immigrant Latinx cooks and waste laborers to develop a cooking sculpture made from waste materials. His ongoing project, Communal Griddle, combines cooking fire with improvisational design to offer immersive culinary experiences through a series of events hosted in public spaces, each featuring a local community leader.

Also check out other Arts events in Philadelphia, Food & Drink events in Philadelphia.