Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.03.2018, Page 44

Delight In Detail
Meticulous meets locavore delicious at Nostra

Words Shruthi Basappa Photo: Art Bicnick
It’s not every day that a restaurant
pushes the established culinary
rules, especially in a
small city like Reykja-
vík. But an enterpris-
ing group of people
have done just that
with Nostra.
The restaurant is
headed up by chefs Carl
K. Frederikson and
Einar B Guðnýjarson,
both young chefs with
fine dining experience
behind them. Carl has
previously worked in New York
and Copenhagen and Einar at Dill.
For both, Nostra is a true passion
project.
Pushing palettes
The space is stunningly modern,
replete with an open kitchen,
space-age restrooms and a sub-
lime rainbow spectrum glass wall
that changes colours with the
light. The interior is a breath of
fresh air from the ‘distressed in-
dustrial’ look of many contempo-
rary restaurants.
But the food is a revela-
tion, too. Missing from
Nostra’s menu are the
dairy and butter-heavy
sauces and mayonnaise
that are so common
on Reykjavík menus.
“We’re yet to do a may-
onnaise,” quips Einar.
“When we started, we
said: ‘No heavy cream
and brown butter.’”
Although the restaurant has
only been open since November,
the menu changes with the fresh-
ness of ingredients. The chefs are
committed to a seasonal menu,
but not at the cost of quality.
Conscious locavore
“We try to source as locally as pos-
sible,” says Carl. “We don’t want to
pay more for produce just because
it’s Icelandic—it needs to be up to
our standards.” This persistence
has led the chefs to work with
providers on products that are
otherwise hard to come by here in
Iceland, such as salmon belly. The
kitchen also has a temperature
controlled room to grow fresh
herbs and store lemons and toma-
toes at sunny temperatures that
improve their flavour.
Their conscious approach
reaches the bar as well. Artson,
the artisanal cocktail bar, uses
leftover bobs and bits from the
kitchen to infuse alcohol, and
brew bitters and syrups. Refresh-
ingly, teetotallers aren’t sidelined
here, and the bar has some inge-
nious alcohol-free concoctions
like a drink with smoked pistachio
shell syrup. Talk about root to
stem!
‘Nostra’
Nostra literally translates to “me-
ticulous detail.” The spirit behind
the name is visible in everything
down to the cutlery—the knives
stand on edge, as if standing to
attention. And it’s on display,
of course, in the food. Here, an
amuse bouche of whipped skyr,
no more than a spoonful, hides a
brunoise of pickled celery. There,
a downy blanket of ‘vichyssoise’
buries a mound of mushrooms
and potatoes.
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R E S T A U R A N T
w w w . b a n t h a i . i s
Laugavegur 130, Hlemmur, 105 Reykjavík Tel : 6 9 2 - 0 5 6 4, 55 - 22 - 444
----------------------------
BanThai
B E S T T H A I F O O D 2 0 1 7
a l s o b e s t 2 0 0 9, 2 0 1 0, 2 0 1 1, 2 0 1 2, 2 0 1 3, 2 0 1 4, 2 0 1 5 A N D 2 0 1 6
M A N Y A W A R D S
Always been the best from the reviews
in our local people and local newspaper.
There's a reason why we get an award
every once a year
all
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et
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FISH panS
icelandic "plokkfiskur"
Onion, garlic, potatoes,
celery, lime, white wine,
cream and butter
1,950 isk

arcTic cHar
Honey, almonds, cherry–
tomatoes, lemon and butter
2,200 isk
redfisH
Chili, celery root, sour cream,
corn, lemon and cream
2,200 isk
plaice
Tomatoes, capers, parsley,
lemon and butter
2,200 isk
salmon (lacTose–free)
Parsnip, broccoli, cashews,
coconut oil, chili and lemon
2,200 isk
our fisH pans are always served
wiTH buTTer–fried icelandic
poTaToes & fresH salad
any pans
for
luncH?
lækjargaTa 6b, 101 rvk · 546 0095 · messinn@messinn.com
Carl and Einar of Nostra
“The space
is stunning:
a rainbow
spectrum
glass wall
changes
colour with
the light.”
Food