Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.09.2019, Page 45

Buns and Bums
at Reykjavík’s
Organic Eatery
Words: Ragnar Egilsson Photos: Art Bicnick
Bio Borgari
Vesturgata 12, 101 Reykjavík
bioborgari.com
After a rocky climb, brothers Vífill
and Ýmir Eiríksson were finally
able to fulfil their dream of open-
ing Iceland’s first committed or-
ganic fast food joint back in 2017.
The pair is still going strong two
years later, and expanding people’s
idea of “fast food” in the process
by offering ingredients allowed to
mature at their own pace, without
artificial assistance.
More burgers?
Now, Iceland has no dearth of
hamburgers. Hell, some months it
feels like the humble burger joint
is the only type of food business
capable of sustaining itself in this
small community—probably due
to this handy American invention
being, arguably, the first fast food
to grace Iceland’s shore (fermented
shark qualifying as neither “fast”
nor “food).
So who can blame the Eiríksson
brothers for going with the peren-
nial crowd-pleaser when setting
out to discover new lands. After all,
you don’t want to rattle the skittish
locals too much.
That being said, the burgers at
Bio Borgari are hardly your grand-
ma’s meaty flapjacks. Everything
at Bio Borgari is so organic that
even my paper take-out bag fell
apart at the first hint of rain (bring
a tote!).
This extends to all the interi-
ors. Beechwood benches, some
reclaimed crates with stacks of
climbing magazines and a wood-
burning Asado grill doing its
thing in the kitchen. My first im-
pression is how refreshingly tidy
and hygienic the place is, without
embracing the aseptic McDonalds
look.
Show me what you got!
There’s no point in analyzing the
menu. There’s basically three
types of burgers—lamb, beef and
veggie—that come with a side of
organic soda and mixed root veg-
etable chips (“crisps” to you Brex-
iters). Which, especially consid-
ering the biological origin of the
ingredients, comes to a very rea-
sonable 1990 ISK lunch offer
Their burger buns are made on
the spot using a high-gluten vari-
ety of the heritage grain spelt along
with a dusting of rye flour. This is
then brought to life with a sour-
dough starter the brothers have
been using for at least five years.
Last time I visited, the buns
were a sticking point for me as I
felt they were simply too dense
to chaperone a beef patty into my
mouth but something pleasant has
happened to the recipe since then.
The current buns are still quite
firm, but the flavour work in its fa-
vour—frankly, I found them to be a
welcome break from sickly-sweet,
mass-produced brioche buns you
see everywhere else these days.
The buns are slathered with two
types of sauces. Some ketchupy red
sauce and a green pisto-like sauce
made with Icelandic kale, ferment-
ed preserved lemon and oil. Both
sauces are good but the pisto gets
to be a bit much after a couple of
bites.
Neither the organic beef and
mutton is too densely-packed and
have a nice sear to them. They
could have used a touch more sea-
soning though. I, unfortunately,
didn’t get a chance to try the veggie
burgers but I hear good things.
Will it save the planet?
Now, I may not subscribe to the
thinking that organic food will
solve all of the planet’s very, very,
immediate environmental prob-
lems. But I do find that the organic
approach does often go hand-in-
hand with food philosophies that
I find commendable—such as slow
food, fair trade and a probiotic diet.
Yes, I know that additive-free
semi-fermented kale pisto on sour-
dough buns washed down with a
glass of kombucha sounds like a
bunch of pretentious goop; the
kind of thing cooked up at a Wal-
dorf kindergarten (I believe the
owners both grew up in that envi-
ronment, actually).
But the thing is, there are far
worse things out there than some-
one being a bit overzealous about
organic food. Besides, at the end of
the day, as long as the food tastes
good and makes you feel good,
then, screw it. I can leave it up to
someone else to decide whether
the food is also “doing good.”
45The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16— 2019
Line 'em up, send 'em out
Vífill and Ýmir doing it up right
ÓÐINSTORG | 101 | REYKJAVÍK | ÍSLAND
SNAPSBISTRO.IS | +354 5116677
FRENCH ONION SOUP
Icelandic Ísbúi cheese, croûtons
2.490 kr.
MOULES MARINIÈRES
steamed mussels from Breiðafjörður
2.600 kr.
FISH OF THE DAY
chef´s special
3.990 kr.
Lunch offer from 11:30 - 14:00 1.990 kr.
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