Iceland has become a magnet for tourism in the last five years, especially for Americans living in the Northeast like ourselves as the flight from New York City to Reykjavik is a mere 5 1/2 hours (the same flight time to California). We took the red eye over from JFK and met up with our guide, Fridrik, who immediately whisked us away to the countryside on the southern coast for a full day of sightseeing, where we eventually ended up exhausted and starving in the charming seaside village of Vik for dinner at the Puffin Hotel.
Although Reykjavik is a major metropolitan area, life in Iceland outside of the city is still largely agrarian and there are sheep almost everywhere you go; needless to say, lamb ends up on a lot of restaurant menus. The cafe at the Puffin offers a very tasty smoked lamb loin appetizer, served here with a dill cream sauce and brown bread (also an Icelandic staple).
They also put together a mean chocolate meringue dessert that helped to take the edge off of a long day of touring waterfalls and headlands.
A day later, we found ourselves spending the night in another picturesque fishing village (since the country's interior is rugged and desolate, most settlements of any size are near the ocean), this time in Djupivogur at the historic Hotel Framtid (towards the background in the picture below).
The hotel restaurant features a dish I'd never seen before: a goose breast carpaccio, which made a succulent pair with berry jam, greens, and more brown bread.
There was also a very unique pizza (we found pizza to be a very popular menu item around the country) that took advantage of the local seafood bounty, namely tuna, mussels, shrimp, blue cheese, onion, and tomato. This combination of toppings was, well, interesting, but I'm not sure we'd make that selection next time.
Night #3 brought us to one of Iceland's most famous waterfalls (and there are many), Godafoss, and our hotel, the Fossholl Guesthouse, which was located a mere 500 yards from the falls.
My evening entree this time around was a very nice pan-roasted Arctic char with dill potatoes in the hotel restaurant, a very Scandinavian meal.
Our itinerary next led us to the country's northern interior around the Lake Myvatn region, where evidence of past and current volcanic activity in the form of lava fields, craters, and hot springs is ubiquitous.
The rich volcanic soil makes this a natural place for agriculture and especially a farm-to-table restaurant. The cafe at the wonderful Vogafjos guesthouse has been constructed very near the livestock shed (the cows would be taking table orders if they were any closer).
Many of the dishes on the menu are created from ingredients sourced onsite. The massive sampler platter included homegrown kale with cheese cubes, mozzarella and tomatoes, smoked lamb, smoked Arctic char and trout, homemade brown bread (baked in a geyser, a traditional method in these parts), and berry preserves.
We also split a chicken, rice, and vegetable crepe, which was also ample and delicious.
The cafe's warm chocolate and walnut torte was likely the best traditional (not overall....that would be at Dill, see below) dessert we had on the trip.
After 5 days of touring the Icelandic countryside, it seemed prudent to end our journey with some time in the capitol city of Reykjavik, which gave us a a chance to experience some of the island's more sophisticated dining culture. On our first of three nights there, we wandered a few blocks down from our hotel to Old Iceland Restaurant. I was fearful that this place might be a tourist trap, but I was wrong. Below is my filet of cod, plated atop herb and garlic mashed potatoes, with root vegetables (including carrots and parsnips) and a wonderful champagne sauce.
Mrs. Hackknife's selection was even better, the restaurant's signature dish of local lamb cooked two ways (filet and shredded shoulder meat), with artichokes, potatoes, beetroot, and carrots, all doused in a demiglace that I wanted to bathe in. We also couldn't pass on the signature dessert, the Icelandic affogato (not pictured), which featured ristretto (a variation on espresso) with vanilla ice cream and local birch liqueur (we found a bottle of this at the airport duty-free to bring home).
I was extremely excited for our second dinner in Reykjavik. Dill is Iceland's most ambitious and modern restaurant, created by Chef Gunnar Karl Gislason in the spirit of New Nordic cuisine (similar to Noma in Copenhagen) using many ingredients that are indigenous to the island. Dill is also the only Michelin-starred establishment in Iceland, an honor that is well-deserved in my opinion.
Although cozy (the restaurant is in an old stable), the cooks at Dill make the most of the small open kitchen that anchors the dining room. Most of the prep work and dishwashing takes place downstairs as we watched harried servers periodically disappearing and re-emerging from a side door throughout our 7-course tasting menu (which was fantastic, by the way).
Amuse bouche of Caviar on Ash Chip, Mussels on Dried Salt Cod, and Smoked Roe on Dried Kelp
Amuse bouche of Root Vegetables - Swede (Rutabaga), Carrot, Celery, and Parsley
Ocean Perch, Pickled Vegetables, and Celeriac
Smoked Haddock, Mashed Potatoes, and Skyr (Icelandic Yogurt)
Cod Chin, Rutabaga, and Sea Truffle
Malted Barley under a mound of Dried and Grated Wolf Fish
Beef Brisket with Angelica Herb and Fried Sunchoke Chips
Whipped Brown Cheese, Beet Sorbet, Meringue, and Tarragon Powder
Dry Sponge Cake, Whey Ice Cream, and Rhubarb
Clearly, Chef Gunnar and his staff at Dill are proving that, given the proper skills and inspiration, a harsh environment and short growing season are no impediments to a world-class dining experience.
