MATUR OG DRYKKUR, Reykjavík
This restaurant I opened in 2015 in Reykjavík. We had big goal, we wanted to elevate traditional Icelandic cuisine and make Icelanders proud of their food culture. I gave the restaurant all of my attention when Slippurinn was closed during winter and created an amazing team with really talented people.
The place is situated downtown Reykjavík in the Grandi area near the harbour, it's an upcoming area with quite a lot of newly opened restaurants, galleries, small startups as well as fish related companies.
We knew from day one that it would be a challenge to showcase this cuisine to Icelandic people because of various of reasons. There isn't a lot of references about Icelandic cooking but there are some and the biggest one is the book "Matur og Drykkur" (simply means "Food and Drink) by Helga Sigurðardóttir, a former principal at the housekeepers school in Iceland so I decided to name the restaurant after this book.
We also found a great help in many historians, writers, farmers and various storytellers and I think we created a beautiful concept and brought back many recipes that maybe people were starting to forget about. I had a great pleasure working on this project and I learned so much of of it.
We got a lot of media attention and awards, but it was never really about that. It was about finding the core of Icelandic cuisine but we barely started when I left the restaurant after little over one and a half year of running it as me and my partners didn't agree on the future of the restaurant.
Awards
Bib Gourmand award by the Michelin Guide Nordic 2017
White Guide 2016 & 2017 - 6th & 7th place in Iceland
Nordic Prize 2016 for Iceland, best restaurant in Iceland.
The Reykjavík Grapevine 2016 "Best Goddamn Restuarant" & "Best place for a fancy meal"
The Reykjavík Grapevine: Best place for a must try dining expirience 2016.
The Reykjavík Grapevine: Best New restaurant 2015