Reykjavík Grapevine - jul. 2022, Síða 28

Slippurinn
Chef Gísli Matthías Auðunsson serves
originality by the spadefuls and contin-
ues to redefine Icelandic cuisine with
razor sharp focus on provenance of
produce, while challenging the spectre
of cookie-cutter sameness that plagues
fine dining.
Words: Shruthi Basappa Photos: Art Bicnick
Food at Slippurinn is unlike any you
will encounter here in Iceland.
For 10 years now, the family-
run restaurant has opened each
summer, for a few short months,
delivering consistency and stead-
fast focus on what Icelandic cuisine
could be.
Restaurants in Iceland tend to
be plagued by a curious affliction
of profit margins and appealing to
a mythical diner who apparently
wants the same food no matter
where they’re dining. At Slippu-
rinn, owner chef Gísli Matthías
Auðunsson is freed from such
expectation and sends out dish after
dish of memorable plates that you’re
unlikely to taste anywhere else.
On the heels of the success of his
debut book, “Slippurinn: Recipes
and Stories from Iceland” published
by Phaidon, the restaurant is now
open for the 2022 season.
Of guillemot eggs and
glistening skies
Dining at Slippurinn can feel like
a pilgrimage. For those who dine
at the restaurant religiously each
year (and there are many), getting
there is a big part of that experience.
The hour long drive to Landeyjar-
höfn is a canvas of vast skies, hills
and famous waterfalls. Then there
is the 40 minute ferry. As the boat
draws closer, towering oceanic
islands appear in the horizon. Vari-
ous sea birds squawking overhead
foreshadow the forthcoming meal
in more ways than one.
Slippurinn does both set and a la
carte menus. The flexibility allows
for fantastic sampling and warrants
multiple visits as the menu changes
with the season’s produce through-
out the summer.
For instance, the opening weeks
coincide with the guillemot egg
season. Larger than your average
chicken egg with a pronounced
pointy profile, the aquamarine,
speckled egg has a history of being
a fresh treat after a harsh winter’s
diet of soured foods. The birds nest
on precarious craggy cliff sides, and
the eggs are harvested by hand, in
an almost sport-like manner today.
Gísli’s guillemot eggs are always a
layered trifle—it is best to dig deep
and get everything in one bite. On
this occasion, they hide a layer of
kitchen scrap ‘XO sauce’, topped
with an ethereal pine needle sour
cream. The ascorbic acid in the
needles curdles fresh cream and it
is a citrusy revelation that tastes
like a promise of summer. Gísli
might insist that what he makes is
not Icelandic food, but then he goes
and revives a rooted-in-the-island
ingredient and elevates it to a fine
dining treat that is an Instagram
dream.
Food
Laugavegi 28
537 99 00
sumac@sumac. is
sumac. is
WELCOME
TO THE
NATIONAL
MUSEUM
OF ICELAND
The National Museum of Iceland
Suðurgata 41, 102 Reykjavík
Summer opening
Daily 10-17
www. nationalmuseum.is
+354 530 2200
@thjodminjasafn
Local guillemot eggs
Chef Gísli Matthías Auðunsson foraging for seaweed