Cyprus, where CASAPEZ was born, is its foundation. Despina Nicolaou speaks of it as her first home, and its influence is embedded in her work. Cypriots are known for their generosity, warmth, and effortless hospitality. There’s an unspoken culture of making people feel welcome, of offering food as a gesture of care.
That spirit runs through every CASAPEZ gathering. It shaped Despina’s sense of what hosting can look like. It gave her the grounding to imagine hospitality as more than a service. It as a medium for connection.
When the idea took shape
CASAPEZ began as a late-night note on Despina’s phone. It came after a long period of uncertainty, during which she explored different ideas and creative paths. Though she had always enjoyed hosting, cooking, and shaping experiences, it was during her Master’s in Art Direction that these interests gained a new kind of clarity. A Japanese Ikigai exercise, meant to help identify one’s life purpose, led her directly to food and community.
What followed was a year of testing projects, including a shared culinary studio that served as her final thesis. It didn’t last. But walking away from that partnership left space for something new to emerge.
That night, the concept for CASAPEZ appeared in full. The name, the feeling, the direction, it all arrived in one sitting. The next morning, she called her father to ask how to start a company. That moment marked the beginning of her life project.
A studio for slower gatherings
CASAPEZ is built on a belief in intentional gatherings. Despina created it to bring artists together, to help guests connect more deeply with food, and to turn hosting into something immersive. The long-term vision is to encourage slower, more thoughtful ways of coming together. She sees hospitality as a creative act, one that can reshape how people gather and build relationships over time.
The studio draws from the disciplines that speak to her most directly: food, design, and everything that flows between the two. These aren’t just interests; they form the way she moves through the world. Food, especially, holds personal meaning. It’s tied to memory, to comfort, and to the entrepreneurial spirit she absorbed from her mother and grandmother, who once ran a catering and events business of their own.
Cyprus became the starting point for CASAPEZ. It remains her first home and the place that continues to shape her work. In 2023, she brought the project to Spain, where she now lives and works full time.
Each event begins with a concept. Despina spends time with the idea, exploring its themes through writing and research. Once a narrative begins to form, it becomes the foundation for the entire guest experience. Every detail, the visuals, the food, the space, is filtered through the lens of that story. Inspiration comes from everyday places. A book, a conversation, a trip to the market. She begins to see connections everywhere, and the event slowly takes shape.
Designing for connection
No two gatherings are the same. Each one is influenced by its theme, its location, and the people in the room. Despina often introduces subtle gestures to help guests connect. At one event, she threaded a long string through each paper menu so that guests had to untie them together.
The action was quiet, but it led to introductions and shared conversation. In other cases, people connect simply because they’ve all arrived as strangers. At her first gathering in Barcelona, the guests left with a WhatsApp group and continued their evening together long after the event ended.
Collaboration plays a central role in how CASAPEZ evolves. Every chef, artist, or designer brings their own perspective, and these differences shape the experience in ways that can’t be planned in advance. Despina approaches each collaboration with openness, but she always holds the narrative at the center. Without it, the event can feel fragmented. With it, every element, no matter how different, feels connected to the same story.
From concept to table
The process usually begins with a small moment: a sentence, an image, a note typed quickly before it’s forgotten. From there, she begins building the concept. She looks for collaborators and chooses a space that can carry the energy of the gathering. During this time, she continues researching and collecting references, anything that helps her build a story that feels rooted.
She creates sketches, moodboards, and working documents. The pieces begin to align. On the day of the event, she’s often moving through the space, finalizing the setup and making sure everything is ready to receive the guests.
Food is at the heart of each gathering, but it’s not the only thing that leaves a mark. Because meals are experienced in the moment and disappear quickly, Despina often anchors them with physical elements, handwritten menus, personal notes, or ceramic pieces made for the event. These gestures offer something tangible to carry forward. They act as quiet reminders of a moment shaped by intention.
CASAPEZ continues to grow through experience. It’s not driven by a fixed formula, but by a practice of careful attention. Despina continues to build it event by event, story by story, staying close to the elements that brought it to life in the first place.