“My inspiration was the inimitable island of Delos… there, opposite the hotel. When you’re dining or coming down the grand staircase by the pool you feel that if you just reached out your hand you would touch it”. Constantinos Charbilas, the tableware designer, sits next to me, on a summer-like day in mid-May, backs to the pool, gazing out at the crystal-clear sea spread before us. He squints in the blinding light enveloping the island and goes on. “And of course the structures on Delos. The famous home which probably belonged to a Phoenician merchant at the beginning of the 1st century, with its dolphins and ancient Greek meanders gracing the gorgeous mosaic floors in the ground-floor courtyard”. In my hands, I hold a large cup of hot coffee. Custom made tableware, the perimeter of which is decorated with the mosaic dolphins and meander, just as the original, with four small cupids, each riding a pair of dolphins. One of the resort’s 2 restaurants is named “Dolphins of Delos”, after the mosaic that graces its entrance, the spectacular view of the island of Delos opposite and the custom made tableware created to enhance the guests’ Mykonos dining experience. Constantinos’ voice, always soft-spoken and measured, is gracefully compatible with his demeanor. Kind, warm, down-to-earth. A truly special person, Constantinos is, for those of us who have had the luck to get to know and work with him, a superbly talented individual who calmly and self-assuredly puts everyone at ease. His designs reflect the target audience as well as the inspiration he derives from the company profile or the people who have entrusted him to turn their thoughts into images. For him, a source of inspiration is the art of graphic design itself, which he translates, in the most eloquent of ways, into images relaying dozens of messages, thousands of words. And this Mykonos luxury hotel has offered him even further inspiration. “The mosaics of Delos, some made of marble chips, other of ceramic pieces, consist of tiles around 1.2 cm square, made by artisans –true artists of their day”, he interrupts my thoughts, yet again reaffirming the passion with which he is consumed every time he creates. “What I wanted was to transmit, piece by piece, like a graphic mosaic on a porcelain surface, a memory of life on Delos from the courtyard of a distant era that will come alive every day and live on in the Mykonos Grand’s tableware and in the lives of the guests who take them home with them as a souvenir”. The Mykonos Grand Tableware Collection by Constantinos , the salad plates, large dinner platters, dessert plates, the oval and round platters, the coffee cups, the teapot, the breakfast set, the salad bowl set, connect the present to the past in harmony and timelessness, complementing the dining experience at the Mykonos restaurants. “Something that inextricably links Mykonos to Delos. Just a heartbeat away”. Experience authentic Greek cuisine at Mykonos Grand beachfront hotel or contact the hotel for further assistance.
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