Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.04.2017, Qupperneq 44

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Wonder Women
Hverfisgata’s ambitious and delicious
Julia & Julia café

Words: John Rogers Photo: Art Bicnick
Reykjavík’s “second street” of Hver-
fisgata has been undergoing a renais-
sance in recent times. A few years ago
it was a run down area known as “the
Reykjavík ghetto,” but as the tourist
boom continues to gain force, the
city-centre street has evolved beyond
recognition.
Today, it has a growing number of
restaurants, bars and boutiques. One
of the most popular
new arrivals is Julia
& Julia, a smart new
café housed in the
Culture House at
Hverfisgata 15. With
its bottle green co-
lour scheme, com-
fortable sofas, and
bright windows, the
café—run by a pair
of friends called, you
guessed it, Julia and
Júlía—has been an
instant hit.
“We first met at the Kaffibarinn
sewing club—which was mostly
about drinking beer—ten years
ago,” says Julia Mai, as she serves
us bowls of steaming spinach soup
with freshly baked rolls. “We’d both
thought about doing something like
this, separately. And it turned out we
were thinking the same way.”
Her business partner is Júlía
Hvanndal, a former graphic designer
who quit her job to start the café.
“We met up to go over all the books,”
she recalls. “And also to see if we
were… compatible, I guess. We went
really deep and really personal really
quickly. It’s been good.”
The two had orig-
inally planned to find
a building to renovate
from the ground up.
They were already
picking out bathroom
tiles when they found
out the café at the mu-
seum was becoming
available. “We found
out about it in Decem-
ber 2016,” explains Ju-
lia. “It was a Kaffitár,
then. We came in with
our kids for a look, spying on the loca-
tion, and we decided it was perfect.”
Heavenly cakes
It’s a match made in heaven. In their
tasteful, pristine dining room, Julia
and Júlía serve freshly made soups,
sandwiches and—the stars of the
show—cakes. We’re served a sweet,
moist honey cake with cream, an
English-style raspberry crumble, a
tart and delicious marmalade cake,
and a mouth-watering hot skillet
cookie, with the chocolate chips melt-
ing into the soft dough.
The recipes are domestic in feel—
comfort food, but with flourishes
that also make them feel like a treat.
Daytime drinks offers are regular,
with bubbly on offer every Wednes-
day, and they have more themed days
in the pipeline, as well as a planned
outdoor area for the summer.
The two have a focus on using the
best ingredients they can find. “We
try to think of where the ingredi-
ents come from,” explains Julia. “We
would love to grow things ourselves,
and we have these big windows—
we’ll grow flowers and herbs.” She
stops and laughs: “And a goat in the
basement.”
Julia & Julia’s menu has been
pared down since they opened, just
six weeks ago, because the ambitious
first draft meant that one of the two
was always glued to the stove. “We
were very ambitious,” smiles Júlía.
“But it’s not possible to have such a
big menu with just two people, so we
trimmed it down. We do everything,
you see—not just baking, but shop-
ping, inventory, and cleaning...”
“We’re goddamn wonder women!”
laughs Julia, clearing the table and
heading back into the kitchen as a
fresh batch of customers arrive.
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R E S T A U R A N T
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BanThai
B E S T T H A I F O O D 2 0 1 6
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welcome
PAN–FRIED FISH
FISH STEW
Onion, garlic, potatoes, celery, lime,
white wine, cream and butter
1.850 isk
PLAICE
Tomatoes, capers, parsley,
lemon and butter
2.100 isk
ARCTIC CHAR
Honey, almonds, cherry tomatoes,
lemon and butter
2.100 isk
salmon (lactose–free)
Parsley root, broccoli, cashew nuts,
coconut oil, chili and lemon
2.100 isk
Our pan–fried fish is always
served with butter–fried
Icelandic potatoes & fresh salad
desserts
DATE CAKE
Walnuts, coconut,
cream cheese coffee cream,
blueberries and whipped cream
1.400 isk
any
pans
for
lunch?
lækjargata 6b, 101 rvk · 546 0095 · messinn@messinn.com
Food
Julia and Júlía of Julia & Julia
According to John
Rogers, "hnnnnngh..."