At Home With Chrisanthi Kaliviotis

What are you reading and listening to right now? 

Over the summer holidays I finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, which I absolutely loved, it's just so perfectly written and tender - so I’m about to start the sequel, 'Olive, Again'. I'm also desperate to finish Sally Rooney's 'Normal People' so I can watch the new series everyone is raving about!

Tell us about your average day as Grazia’s Fashion Editor (pre Iso!)?

A day-to-day juggle of story writing (I do, on average, three per day for Grazia.com), email combing and endless event-ing! While my friends think I'm a "professional luncher", I am actually really very busy (I swear!).

What have you learnt in isolation?

That I’m actually quite the homebody (despite outwardly appearances of social butterfly-ness) and relishing my time indoors (and alone!). It’s also rekindled old passions - painting and drawing, and cooking (and nurtured an exisiting one: DRINKING WINE).

Best self-care beauty tip?

Don't wear makeup! I only wear makeup when going to events but it’s been so nice to let my skin breathe for such a protracted period of time. I’ve also been letting my hair dry as naturally as possible, I kind of do a half-dry with my beloved Dyson. And of course, masking - because did you even iso if you didn't mask?

Ride-or-die Netflix series?

Like the rest of the world, it was originally ‘Joe Exotic’, a show so outrageous, so unbelievably wild (pardon the pun), so strangely compelling it proved the ultimate distraction from the pandemic that is. Now I’m currently watching ‘The Last Dance’, a docuseries which charts the rise of the Chicago Bulls dynasty (and has unearthed a low-key style obsession with Michael Jordan). But my all-time ride-and-die is actually Breaking Bad. I’m re-watching the entire series with my partner and it’s just as brilliant - and terrifying - the second time round.

A restaurant you can't wait to go back to?

Oh dear, SO many. I'm quite the bon vivant outside of iso (read: I LOVE TO EAT). But my top three would be: Sean’s, because it’s just so beautiful, Totti’s, to make me feel like I’m in the Med, and 10 William, because: bottarga, pretzel and tira, obviously. 

Ultimate WFH outfit? 

Well, the Instagram version of my ultimate WFH entails bougie pyjamas like Maison Essentiele’s plume-trimmed satin set and Monte slippers (of course). The reality, however, is a little more grim: a tatty sloppy joe, top-knot-turned-dreadlock and some very questionable underpants. I actually wrote about my sad decline into sloth-dom recently on GRAZIA.

What’s cooking in your kitchen?

Oh my, Chrisanthi’s Quarantine Kitchen is in full swing! Last week’s menu included feta-stuffed keftedes (meatballs), a greens and ricotta pie with cheddar shortcrust pastry, tray-baked chicken with olives, grapes and walnuts, porcini mushroom risotto, one-pot pasta with cavolo nero, lemon and almonds. I also attempted the “10 William Tira” for my partner Sam’s birthday earlier this month! But my signature dish, however, is a Greek-style herby, lemon roast chook with kritharaki (a rice-shaped style of pasta), that I always do with Greek lemony potatoes and my "world famous" cabbage, pea, parmesan and hazelnut salad. OK, maybe just "Bondi famous", but it's bloody good.

*Tip: buy Julia Ostro’s cook book - it’s been my iso bible.

Current go-to Instagram accounts?

My new Hellenic hat brand, Savvas Says, a visual homage to Greece with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. And anything wanderlust-y and aesthetically OCD-pleasing (with a European bent), like @jacquemus, @styleheroine, @therow,  ad_magazine, @ateliervime. I'm really into Interiors pages at the moment (early-onset nesting syndrome thanks to iso, I think).

The first activity you'll partake in post-quarantine?

A swim. I live in North Bondi and the water has been teasingly perfect! Plus, a holiday somewhere, anywhere. 

One golden WFH rule:

Thou shall eat and drink, and drink and eat until thy buttons pop.

Zoom or House Party?

House Party for sure! I’ve always been a party girl.

Words to live by:

“It goes on”, Robert Frost. Or the equally iconic Ru Paul, “If you don't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”