Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2019, Page 12

It feels appropriate that Icelanders didn’t
have much in the way of a summer from
2017 through 2019. During the same
period, many of Reykjavík’s restaura-
teurs also faced a long winter, finding
it hard to escape the looming shadow
of bankruptcy.
A slight reduction in foreign visi-
tors to our shores has had an outsized
impact as restaurants rely on tourist
revenue more than any other small
business—except the stores selling the
plush puffins and googly-eyed rocks we
hold so dear. The recent bankruptcy of
Iceland’s only low cost airline, WOW Air,
hasn’t helped. Whatever the reason, we
have seen a number of food and beverage
businesses having to pull down the shut-
ters for the last time this winter—and
rumours suggest that we haven’t seen
the end of the unfortunate trend.
Bye bye bearnaise
The opening and closure of the
extravagant seafood restaurant Skel-
fiskmarkaðurinn last year provoked a
great deal of media attention, but they
were far from alone. We also had to say
goodbye to Hótel Holt, Borðið, Nora
Magasin, Argentina Steakhouse, Bazaar
restaurant, Laundromat (though it’s
soon to re-open), Rósenberg, Vegamót
(reopened as Bastard Brew + Food), and
Hverfisgata 12 (immediately reopened
as Systir). Some were downtown institu-
tions; others barely had a chance to take
the plastic off the marble. Others have
been forced to reduce opening hours or
days to cut costs. We even saw a record
shattered as Spanish restaurant LOF had
to close its doors after only three months
of operation.
The trend isn’t singling out restau-
rants. Downtown’s only independent
fishmonger, Kjöt & Fiskur, closed in 2018
after a promising start. Even middle-
of-the-road donut and coffee spots like
Kornið and Dunkin’ Donuts called it
quits.
For people outside of Iceland, this
may not seem particularly severe, but
it’s worth keeping in mind that this
is happening in a city of only 120,000
people. And all of the businesses
mentioned above were within spit-
ting distance of the central downtown
stretch of Laugavegur (Reykjavik’s high
street) so their locations couldn’t be any
better.
So what’s going on? How did we get to
this point, and is it all doom and gloom?
Of course, each story is different and you
will get different answers depending
on whom you ask. So we reached out
to some people in the food business for
answers.
Too many cooks
It’s never been easy to run a restaurant
in Iceland. Much of the produce needs to
be imported, and the size of the popula-
tion means that we are reliant on the
peaks and valleys of tourism. With the
recent influx of tourists, Reykjavík defi-
Cook Fast,
Die Young, Leave A Nice
Looking Dining Room
With closures coming thick and fast, is the restaurant scene in crisis?
Words:
Ragnar Egillsson
Photos:
Art Bicnick
This guy needs to eat some fancy food, damnit
12 The Reykjavík Grapevine
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