Duo Anastasia Katochianou and Kostas Tiliakos travelled a circuitous route from their home in Greece to Squamish where they recently opened the Green Olive, a delightful European-style market and café that caters to customers in a wholehearted, old-world way.
The classically trained musicians were full-time civil servants of the Greek National Orchestra when they left their home during the economic crisis in 2012, so Tiliakos, an oboist, could take a teaching position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the U.S.
We sat down over a delicious Italian cappuccino in the café on Cleveland Avenue, which opened in November. The menu includes panini sandwiches, salads, baked goods, a daily vegetarian soup, as well as spinach and cheese pies.
Framed photography decorates the walls of the bright space. Natural and hand-painted wood tables and chairs create a cozy and welcoming atmosphere, and there are books and magazines to pore over. Families are encouraged to linger while they shop, and there's a welcoming children's table for little ones.
Speaking with the couple is like listening to an effortless duet. Where one trails off the other naturally picks up. Their dialogue flows as one uninterrupted river of thought, but with two distinct voices. It seems as though they've been together since childhood. But when asked when the two met, it turns out that's not an easy question to answer.
"After we started dating I said I would show Anastasia a videotape of the Greek National Youth Orchestra that I performed at in Corfu, and she said, ‘I was playing cello there too,'" he laughed. "The same concert, the same 15 days. I eventually came to know her as the cousin of another cellist. But we can't tell you when we met – we don't really know!"
Years passed and they both completed their studies in other places (they list off Belgium, Germany, France and the UK as places they've lived) before returning to Athens where their paths crossed performing together in a quartet. The couple eventually had two children, now both in their mid-teens. To keep their young family busy and outdoors – as opposed to spending all their free time practicing music indoors as they were inclined – they pushed their personal boundaries and took up the sport of climbing.
"We fell in love with it," Katochianou said.
"When we were in Wisconsin and talking about moving to Canada, she asked ‘where do we want to go?' And I said: ‘Squamish,'" relayed Tiliakos, emphasizing the lack of hesitation with his answer. "We didn't even know what it would be like here, but we wanted to climb."
"We were always planning to open a store, even in Athens we were thinking about it, and then we decided here is the place for us. We love the community, we love the nature, every morning we feel blessed that we are here," Katochianou said, adding that they are thrilled with the location of their shop.
"It's like the European corner grocer, where you have something to eat, a coffee or a soup, and grab your eggs. You know the guy behind the counter. That's the concept.
"People here really love the idea. We talk about food all day long with them!" Katochianou said with excitement, pointing out recipes they around the store showing customers how they can use specialty ingredients.
"We love food, we love cooking, and we love all these products. We import the things we couldn't find when we went grocery shopping here – the really good quality foods we were missing: The best from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece of course, Germany, Switzerland. The tomatoes, pasta, vinegar, oils, olives, tahini, everything here is what we use in our home and in our café."
