Australian Gourmet Traveller - (01)January 2020 (1)

Inournewseries,AChef ’sGuide,weasktheworld’sbest

chefstosharewheretoeatanddrinkintheirhometowns.

This month, we hear fromRAGNAR EIRÍKSSON.

A CHEF’SGUIDETO...

Reykjavik, Iceland

I

n a pastlife,RagnarEiríkssonwasat the

helmofDill,Iceland’sfirstMichelin-starred

restaurantandanoperationthatzeroedin

ontheingredientsandfoodtraditionsof

NorthIceland.Today,hisfocusis onVinstukan,

a smallnatural-winebarthatrepresentsReykjavik’s

newfoodanddrinkorder.

“WhenI movedbacktoReykjavikin2014,the

citywasa globaltourismhotspotandrestaurants

cateredforforeignvisitors,”saysEiríksson.“They

had,moreorless,thesamemenu.Thingshave

calmeddownsinceandtherestaurantsceneis

renewingitself.Menusandspacesarebeingdesigned

withlocalsinmind.Whenit comestoattracting

visitors,‘trythelocalcuisine’hasbeenreplaced

with ‘try the local ingredients’, not just puffins.”

Handmade dumplings

and izakaya vibes

Everyoneis ravingaboutMakake,

a newdimsumandJapanesetapas

barin anoldsailor’scanteen.The

menuis mostlyhandmadedumplings,

butthesmallplatessuchasbraised

daikonwithred-misobuttersauce

arereallyexciting.Thetablesare

madeofbeercratesandthelights

featurerepurposedBundaberg

ginger-beerbottles.

Italian comfort eating

NorthernItalianrestaurantLa

Primavera is one of the city’s greatest

comebackstories.It originally

openedin 1993 inReykjavik’sHouse

ofCommercebutclosedin2011.

Then,in 2018 aftera briefandvery

successfulpop-up,therestaurant

decidedtoreopenonits25th

anniversary.Therestaurantis inside

theMarshallHousebytheharbour

whichis almostinthemiddleof

nowhere,yetyou’llalwaysfindit

busy,dayandnight.Thesmallmenu

ofregionalItaliandishesalsoseems

likeit’sreturnedfromthe90sand

includesclassicslikevealMilanese

anda creamytomatofettuccine

with beautiful local langoustines.

36 GOURMET TRAVELLER

WORDS

&INTERVIEW

JESSICA

RIGG.

PHOTOGRAPHY

LILJA

JÓ

NS

(RAGNAR

EIRÍKSSON),

UNNUR

MAGNA (VINSTUKAN) & GETTY IMAGES

(REYKJAVIK MAIN PHOTO).