Iceland review - 2014, Side 66

64 ICELAND REVIEW
With sweeping views of
Skagafjörður Bay and
gourmet local food, Lónkot
is gaining a following
among visitors looking for
an exclusive spot to kick
back and unwind.
serenity
in skaGaFjörður
WORdS By Zoë robert PHOTOS By ÁSlaug Snorradóttir ANd PÁll StefÁnSSon
I can say that I know exactly where our
ingredients come from, and that’s impor-
tant to our guests,” Pálína Jónsdóttir
tells me as we take a tour of Lónkot, a
small boutique hotel in Skagafjörður, North
Iceland. “There’s an awakening. People are
coming to really understand the impor-
tance of food and where it comes from,”
she continues. “We use what’s in the sur-
roundings, what grows here. I try every-
thing and see what tastes good and we work
with fishermen and farmers in the area.
Sustainability is part of our philosophy,” she
says of Lónkot’s slow food principles, which
emphasize cooking according to the season,
month and day.
It’s no surprise then that Lónkot is a
member of the international organization
Slow Food. Pálína also came up with the
concept for the project Skagafjörður Food
Chest, which aims to nurture local food
production and culinary tourism in the
region.
“People are always talking and think-
ing about food, whether out of passion or
necessity. We’re always looking forward to
the next meal. Take a look at the bird out-
side, spending the whole day looking for a
worm!” she excites.
Pálina describes the food at Lónkot as
“inspired by flowers, herbs and berries
from our gardens and surrounding hills.”
Among the items on the menu are cod
Carpaccio with rose petals and mint, Arctic
char with garden salad, puffin with berries,
grilled lamb with wild thyme flowers and
violet ice-cream.
“Cooking is an expression and we try to
make a connection with people through
our food. We cook for the individual.
We’re not an assembly line and people
appreciate that. It’s a bit like theater, really.
Our guests sometimes even give us a round
of applause when we bring out the food.
People start eating with their eyes so the
food has to be visually pleasing. It also
makes you feel good because it tastes great
and is good for you,” she explains.
Pálína’s parents purchased the rural
property in 1986. In 1991, the family con-
verted the old farmhouse into a guesthouse
and added a restaurant a few years later.
In 2002, Pálína started talking with food
growers in the area; the concept for a
bucolic resort was born.
Located on 100 hectares of oceanfront
land with views of the bay and islands
Drangey and Málmey, it’s a welcome con-
trast to the big city. “People come here
to relax, not be among one million other
tourists,” she says.
In her other life, Pálina is an actress,
splitting her time between New York and
Skagafjörður. She is also one of just six
students to recently be accepted into the
Master’s program in Directing for Theater
at Columbia university. “It’s the perfect
balance for me, traveling between the
huge metropolis that is New York and this
romantic Icelandic countryside to run the
hotel during the summer,” she says. “And
it’s funny because we get a lot of visitors
from New York. Apparently, we have what
they’re looking for.”
Located so far north with uninterrupted
views of the ocean Pálína insists it’s also
one of the best places in Iceland to see the
midnight sunset. *
trAvel