Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.09.2016, Page 51

Hverfisgata 12 · 101 Reykjavík
Tel. +354 552 15 22 · www.dillrestaurant.is
Lífið er saltfiskur
#109 Dill is a Nordic restaurant with its
focus on Iceland, the pure nature and
all the good things coming from it.

It does not matter if it’s the
ingredients or the old traditions, we
try to hold firmly on to both.
There are not many things that make
us happier than giving life to old
traditions and forgotten ingredients
with modern technique and our creative
mind as a weapon.
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F R E N C H O N I O N S O U P
I c e l a n d i c Í s b ú i c h e e s e , c r o û t o n s
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M O U L E S M A R I N I È R E S
s t e a m e d m u s s e l s f r o m B r e i ð a f j ö r ð u r
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F I S H O F T H E D A Y
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E s t . 2 0 1 2R e y k j a v i k
51The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2016 Big Apples
Find the best food in Iceland!
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on the Apple and Android stores
On a typical day, 750,000
people pass through Grand
Central Terminal in Mid-
town Manhattan. That
number—twice the popu-
lation of Iceland—includes
hurrying commuters and
shutter-happy tourists.
But a new fixture in Grand
Central now brings a dif-
ferent kind of foot traffic
to this hulking transit hub:
foodies hungry for the fare
dished up at Agern, a culi-
nary venture spearheaded
by Icelandic chef Gunnar
Karl Gíslason and Claus
Meyer, co-founder of Co-
penhagen’s storied Noma
restaurant.
Off a busy corridor con-
necting the terminal to
42nd Street, Agern is inconspicu-
ous, tucked away atop a half flight
of stairs in what once was a men’s
smoking lounge. As with Gunnar’s
restaurants Dill and the nameless
pizzeria at Hverfisgata 12, which
occupy an unassuming house in
101 Reykjavík, the anonymity of
Agern’s exterior makes entering
feel serendipitous, accidental.
Inside, wood panelling snakes
around the modern interior, and a
dull, calm hum—at odds with the
Grand Central’s hubbub—suffuses
the room.
Gunnar walks me through the
back doors into Vanderbilt Hall,
an echoing atrium populated
with food stalls offering Nordic-
inspired casual fare: smørrebrød,
salads, porridges, pastries. These
counters comprise the Great
Northern Food Hall, integral to
Agern’s larger vision. By expand-
ing the operation, Gunnar aims to
minimize waste, using ingredi-
ents to their fullest extent: coffee
grounds become compost, leftover
bread becomes beer, which is baked
back into bread. Concomitant with
this low-waste policy is the equally
ambitious goal of maximizing in-
house food production. The fran-
chise has opened project spaces—a
dairy, butchery, roastery, and fish-
smoking and fermentation facili-
ties—allowing Gunnar to work
with raw ingredients as much as
possible. These aims, along with a
commitment to sourcing ingredi-
ents within a 500-mile range, are
hallmarks of New Nordic cuisine.
However, Gunnar tells me, Agern
is not fundamentally a Nordic res-
taurant: although founded upon
New Nordic principles, Agern uses
flavors alien to the frigid north.
A persistent smile betrays Gun-
nar’s sheer glee in the endeavor. He
left Iceland in January, entrusting
management of his Reykjavík lo-
cations—Dill, Hverfisgata 12, and
Sæmundur í Sparifötunum (Kex
Gastropub)—to a team eager to
take the reins. Initially he planned
to stay for two years, but, bolstered
by a stream of complimentary re-
views, it’s looking more like five.
Recently, New York Times
food critic Pete Wells gave
Agern a three-star rating,
putting it in a class with
only a handful of restau-
rants. “After my four chil-
dren,” Gunnar says, “Those
three stars may be my
proudest achievements.”
Gunnar sets me up
with the Land + Sea tast-
ing menu, a seemingly
endless series of whim-
sically plated dishes, al-
most too pretty to eat.
Beginning with bite-size
snacks (sweetbreads, a
single oyster, fried potato
bread), the meal crescen-
dos as heartier courses ar-
rive: shredded beef heart
tossed with shallots and
shaved broccoli spears; grilled tile-
fish with leek, celery, and romaine;
pork neck on a bed of beans and pea
shoots. As a recently lapsed veg-
etarian, however, I’m surprised to
find the pescatarian dishes stand
out the most: a melon and cucum-
ber salad with cracked millet and
trout roe, bursting with savory sap;
and a beet, roasted in a vegetable
ash shell, served over beet tartare.
Dessert is anything but an after-
thought: frozen skyr with pureed
cucumber and cantaloupe, dehy-
drated eggplant with chocolate and
purple basil granita, and a buck-
wheat tart.
After ending my feast with a
meticulously brewed light roast,
I’m handed a cloth satchel. Back
in the terminal, now quiet after
the evening commute, I peek into
my goodie bag: small containers
of coffee and handmade candies—
mementoes drawing an already
memorable meal into the morning.
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Chef Gunnar Karl alights at Grand Central
An Icelandic Chef
In The Big Apple
Words ELI PETZOLD Photo COURTESY OF AGERN