BuonVento is located on the east coast of Paros, perched on a hill overlooking the bay of Mesada, just a short distance from the port of Piso Livadi and Chrisi Akti beach.
The idea came from two Italian entrepreneurs with a passion for cooking and hospitality — Massimiliano Ruocco and Gianluca Maggiulli — who joined forces with Greek businessman and musician Panos Stamboglis. Their vision is rooted in simple cooking and well-defined flavours.
“Fantasy isn’t the right word to describe my dishes, Imagination is.”
— Chef Massimiliano Ruocco
An imagination rooted in Massimiliano’s paternal family, originally from Ravello on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
The basic ingredients for a simple yet imaginative cuisine are all there: endless possible combinations and the wind… the warm, engaging meltemi of the Cyclades, bringing it all together.
“The restaurant chose its name on its own,” says Gianluca, passionate about hospitality, and equally fond of sailing and windsurfing. “At one point, Massimiliano casually mentioned that his father, ‘Vento’ Bonaventura, his friend and confidant, had always encouraged him to follow his passion and imagination. And just like that, the name sealed itself: BuonVento it would be.”
Neapolitan cuisine, organic ingredients sourced mainly from Paros, top-quality Italian products, Cycladic tradition, and warm Greek-Italian hospitality. A remarkable combination.
Our ingredients
- Good Food
- Neapolitan Art and Passion
- History of Cyclades (Museum Katikià, part of our restaurant)
- Wonderful Sea
- Cheerfulness
Aside from food and good vibes, what do they stand for?
BuonVento is an Italian restaurant founded by two gay men, equally enamoured with each other as with the food they prepare, and happily married since 2015. Let us share with you a moving quote defining this beautiful couple.
“Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it.”
— Gabriel Garcìa Màrquez
For them, it’s essential that BuonVento remains a place where everyone has a place at the table and their belly filled with amazing food, no matter who they are, provided they believe in unconditional love as much as the founders of this Neapolitan restaurant.
They openly are queer business owners and welcome their community in their restaurant.
It’s important to stand proud as queer restaurant owners. It can empower others to follow a similar culinary path, or help create a space where the whole community feels safe and welcome. That can make all the difference; whether it’s a date, a romantic dinner, even a wedding!
A moonlit Italian dinner overlooking the Aegean Sea?
It should be for e-ve-ry-one!— Gianluca Maggiulli & Massimiliano Ruocco, founders of BuonVento