Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2019, Qupperneq 44

The O.G.
Hornið celebrates 40 years of slinging pizza
Words: Ragnar Egilsson Photo: Art Bicnick
Italian Restaurant
Visit Hornið at Hafnarstræti 15
Running a restaurant is an unfor-
giving business in which a ten-year
run is considered noteable. Yet, it if
you look around, there’s no short-
age of spots that have been around
longer than the Internet and bur-
rito bowls combined. One such out-
lier is the neighborhood restaurant
Hornið, which celebrates its 40th
birthday this month.
Hornið was established in 1979
by husband-and-wife duo Jakob
H ö r ð u r M a g n ú s -
son and Va lgerður
Jóhannsdóttir, and has
been owned and oper-
ated by them and their
children ever since.
This makes the restau-
rant at Hafnarstræti 15
one of the oldest res-
taurants in continuous
operation in Iceland.
This may not seem
like anything special
to a foodie from main-
land Europe, but the
restaurant tradition in
Iceland is very young.
For a diverse list of
reasons—a small population, geo-
graphic isolation, a lack of dispos-
able income among the general
populace, and perhaps even lack
of faith in Iceland being capable of
operating quality kitchens—it was
hard to sustain such businesses un-
til relatively recently.
Shifting landscape
Hlynur Jakobsson is the son of the
founders, and helps run the place.
Speaking mid-service over steam-
ing pots of pasta, he described how
the tourist boom has affected Horn-
ið. “There has been a lot of growth in
restaurants and pop-up restaurants
in downtown Reykjavík in a small
area,” he says. “We have more com-
petition—but there’s al-
ways been competition.
The big change has been
the spread of the two-
for-one deals, as locals
now expect to pay half
as much anywhere they
go.”
Hornið clearly
hasn’t been deterred
by the shifting culi-
nary landscape, stick-
ing to their ladles and
continuing to serve de-
pendable Italian fare.
This is a continuation
of their pioneering work
in introducing Italian
food to Iceland. They are gener-
ally thought to be the first to serve
made-to-order pizza in Iceland. It
was love at first sight, and locals
have been gobbling it up ever since.
"We’ve had the Italian focus from
day one,” says Hlynur. “The only
Italian thing you’d get before we
opened was spaghetti with tomato
sauce. I think my dad picked it up
in Denmark, and even though we
are doing simple food we had to fig-
ure out everything ourselves. Dad
had to make the pepperoni from
scratch, and we couldn’t find coffee
beans anywhere in the country, so
we had to source it ourselves.”
The deep
To coincide with the occasion,
Hornið has reopened their base-
ment jazz bar, Djúpið. Dormant
since the turn of the century, the
bar was well-known as a hang-out
for dipsomaniac journalists, and
for giving bands their first gig. One
band who played their first concert
there, under the name of Victory
Rose, later changed their name to
Sigur Rós. “The jazz bar was another
concept we helped introduce to Ice-
land,” says Hlynur.
As our time comes to an end, I
ask Hlynur what Hornið’s secret is.
He gets a wistful look in his eye (or
maybe it’s the onions he’s cutting).
“It’s a family business from start
to finish,” he says. “My dad is still
working 40 years later, and myself,
my brother and sister divide the
roles between us. We don’t change
things much, so two generations
can sit down and know exactly what
to expect. I think the family bond
and consistency are the two biggest
reasons we’re still around after all
this time.”
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Keeping it in the family
“Dad had
to make
the pep-
peroni from
scratch, and
we couldn’t
find coffee
beans any-
where in the
country.”
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
ban thai
w w w . b a n t h a i . i s
tel : 5522-444, 692-0564 banthai@banthai.is
B E S T T H A I F O O D 2 0 1 9
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2017,
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2015,
2014,
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2012,
2011,
2010,
2009,
TOP TEN
Best restaurants in ICELAND
DV. 17.06.11
Laugavegur 130, Reykjavík
Ban Thai is not “fast food” restaurant
food made fresh from scratch, it‘s not pre-made,
every meal take some time to cook,
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
Best goddamn restaurant 2011
many famous people are regulars here
very reasonable prices