Reykjavík Grapevine - 26.08.2016, Síða 54

DESTINATION
Have Some
Havarí
A café, guesthouse and music
venue in the remote Eastfjords
Words ISAAC WÜRMANN Photos ART BICNICK
It would be easy to miss Havarí
if you weren’t looking out for it.
Along the Ring Road between
Djúpivogur and Breiðdalsvík, a
simple roadside sign points away
from the water towards the clus-
ter of buildings of the Karlsstaðir
farm, nestled deep in the shadows
of a cliff. But the property is much
more than a farm. Opened more
than two years ago by Svavar Pétur
Eysteinsson and Berglind Häsler,
Havarí has grown to encompass a
bustling café, a guesthouse, a mu-
sic venue, and a food production
business.
Leaving the city behind
But the Havarí name has been
around longer than these two
years. “It started out as a record
store and a small café in Reykja-
vík,” Svavar explains. “We were
there for two years, and then we
got kicked out of our property be-
cause they were building a hotel.
The usual stuff in Reykjavík.”
Not to be disheartened, Svavar and
Berglind bore in mind their aspi-
ration to begin producing food as
they began scouting for a new lo-
cation. “We were initially looking
closer to Reykjavík,” says Svavar.
“But then we decided to check out
this property. And we totally fell
in love with it.”
It’s easy to see why. Tucked
away in the far east of the island,
Karlsstaðir sits between dramatic
mountains and a view across the
fjörd to Djúpivogur. “You have ev-
erything you need here,” says Sva-
var. “You have the mountains and
the sea, and everything in between.”
Today, Svavar and Berglind
produce vegan sausages called
Bulsur and turnip chips called
Sveitasnakk in a facility housed in
a converted horse stable. They’ve
also turned Karlsstaðir’s old
farmhouse into a guesthouse, and
an old barn near the highway has
become a café. Svavar is an active
musician in the bands Prins Póló
and Skakkamanage, so it was a
natural step to host concerts in
the old barn during the summer.
Slowing things down
Berglind says she thinks Havarí
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13 — 2016
54
is part of a growing movement of
people returning to rural areas
from the city. “That’s how it’s been
for thirty or forty years now,” she
says, when asked about the trend
towards urbanisation. “But I think
it’s going the other way now. People
are going back into the countryside.
Just after we moved, some people I
knew were moving to the country.
In Djúpivogur, we have a lot of peo-
ple who are moving back home.”
Havarí is connected in many
ways to the neighbouring town
of Djúpivogur, about a 45-minute
drive west. Djúpivogur is the only
Icelandic town that is part of Cit-
taSlow, an international move-
ment that aims to preserve more
traditional ways of living. “We
work by the philosophy of that
movement,” Berglind explains.
“It’s about welcoming people, and
giving you the time to have a con-
versation, so that’s what we do. We
try to enjoy every day.”
Of course, living in such a re-
mote area doesn’t come without
its challenges. “There are things
that people take for granted, like
internet and electricity,” Svavar
says, adding they don’t have the
necessary electricity to power
some kitchen and food production
equipment. However, the remote-
ness of Havarí is also part of its ap-
peal. “I think tourists want to be a
part of something that is not easy
to access,” he says. “We embrace
that, in a way—to be remote.”
For city folk hesitant to em-
brace the remoteness, Havarí is
still in touching distance. The
Bulsur and Sveitasnakk produced
on the farm have proven popular,
and can be found close to home on
the shelves of many Reykjavík su-
permarkets.
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