Iceland review - 2012, Page 48

46 ICELAND REVIEW
HeriTaGe BeGinninGS
Salka is housed in one of the oldest buildings
in town, which has gone through numer-
ous transformations over the years but always
played a role as a meeting place for the com-
munity. A playground was once located where
the patio and restaurant tables now stand. “It
used to be the town square as that’s where the
town clock stood,” Jónas explains, pointing to
the building’s upper facade. “My grandfather
and his friends used to play here after school.”
He adds that he hopes to have the clock
repaired and returned to its original location.
Dating back to 1882, the now heritage-listed
building was home to Kaupfélag Þingeyinga,
the country's first cooperative. In the 1930s,
farmers traveled into town to trade their goods
in the adjacent building, now a gift shop. The
lambs they brought ended up in the building
on the other side of Salka, the town’s former
slaughterhouse. Jónas’s passion for the history
of the restaurant building is evident in his
descriptions of the renovation process; recall-
ing every detail of the operation from import-
ing special, heavy-duty nails from Norway,
to getting planning approval for changes to
the downstairs windows. Those windows are
framed with lace curtains made by Jónas’s
95-year-old grandmother, further evidence
that this truly is a family affair.
Jónas laughs when I ask him if he has always
lived in Húsavík. “I was born and raised here.
I spent five years abroad but felt I had to come
back, plus I wanted to raise my four kids here,”
he explains, with the pride and enthusiasm so
evident in the locals I meet. Jónas returned to
Húsavík from Norway in 2000 to open the
restaurant but tells me that most of his child-
hood friends are still in town.
random CreaTionS
Back at the gift store, the typical kitsch puf-
fin souvenirs and postcards seen across the
country are counterbalanced with ornamental
four-horned sheep heads, described as the rar-
est of the rare by artist Elín Kjartansdóttir. She
Behind the facade of boatsheds and whale watching facilities lies
a surprising variety of artistic and culinary innovation.
snúður (‘cinnamon roll’) and vínarbrauð (‘Vienna bread’) are among the
favorites at the Heimabakarí Konditori bakery.
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