Hannesarholt

Culinary cultural center of a special kind

May contain traces of advertising.*

You actually have to know that there is a restaurant hidden in this house at Grundarstígur 10 in the heart of Reykjavík, otherwise you would walk past it - well, at least I did. However, when I consciously walked past the house for the first time in spring 2017, I already knew the Instagram page of "Hannesarholt" with the beautiful, tempting-looking food pictures and the pictures of the various cultural events, so the name spoke to me something and I turned around.

“Matur, menning, fundir og ráðstefnur í sögufrægu húsi”, i.e. “food, culture, meetings and conferences in a historic house”, is the motto of “Hannesarholt”. Let's start with the food!

We were invited to dinner on Saturday evening. And we were greeted very warmly, taken to our table and given a glass of champagne as a welcome.

As a starter we chose " Rauðrófuskífur með valhnetum, piparrótakremi, balsamíc edíki og geitaosti", i.e. beetroot carpaccio with walnuts, horseradish cream, balsamic vinegar and goat cheese . Seriously - it tasted amazing and I've never eaten beetroot so delicious!

For the main course I chose trout, for " Pönnusteiktur silungur með pikkluðum eplum og lauk, tómat confit, brokkálsmælki, sætum kartöflum og spínatfroðu ". Translated, this means pan-fried trout, with pickled apples and onions, stewed tomatoes, broccoli florets, sweet potatoes and spinach foam. Very tasty - and the color of the spinach foam alone puts me in a good mood.

My husband chose the tofu - something I probably wouldn't be able to lure him out of the oven with. But if you're going to travel, you should try something new - especially if it looks delicious and colorful!

So this was " Vegan marinerað tof með blaðsalati, starkjabaunum, blómskáli, brókkálssmælki, sætum kartöflum og pistasíuhnetum" - vegan marinated tofu with a "stalk" of romaine lettuce, runner beans, cauliflower, broccoli florets, sweet potato and pistachios. Really tasty and flavorful and a real treat! By the way, I particularly enjoyed the sweet potato - in one piece, really big, buttery soft on the outside, perfectly cooked to perfection on the inside. So I really love sweet potatoes.

Actually, we were already extremely full after the starter and main course, but we had to try at least some of the desserts! So we got a " heimagerður banana- og berjaís ", i.e. a homemade banana-berry ice cream.

And we got some of the " bökuð ostakaka með hindberjaþaki ", which is baked cheesecake with dried raspberry pieces on top and berry sauce. The cheesecake was still a little warm, strong at the bottom, soft and creamy in the middle, crispy on the outside, and the dried berry pieces and the cold berry sauce - my absolute highlight of the evening, exactly my taste, I would have loved to indulge in the cheesecake!

By the way, we had piano accompaniment throughout the entire meal - an older gentleman played the piano in the next room. I don't know much about music, but even I recognized "Que sera, sera." (Incidentally, we were told afterwards that the older gentleman used to be an architect and is now a passionate piano player.) I think I have rarely dined in such style!

By the way, from our seat we had a direct view of the kitchen, where, I think, people were working very diligently with the active help of the cook's little daughter. When the kitchen door was closed you could admire the glass on the door - beautiful, especially with the lighting!

In general, the whole restaurant was incredibly beautiful and lovingly furnished, so I immediately felt at home!

After dinner the owner showed us around the house. The whole project has the motto "a place to remember our roots", a place where Icelanders can remember their roots.

It is a very historic house:

The house "Hannesarholt" was built in 1915 for Hannes Hafstein (1861 - 1922) and his family. Hannes Hafstein was the first Prime Minister of Iceland from 1904 to 1909 (second term from 1912 to 1914) and was very committed to the rights of Iceland and also women's rights in Iceland. He was also a very well-known writer and poet in Iceland.

After a fire in Reykjavík, he campaigned for a ban on new wooden houses in the city - "Hannesarholt" was one of the first concrete houses built in Reykjavík at the time. He lived here with his seven children, his mother and his mother-in-law after the death of his wife Ragnheiður (1871 - 1913).

Bust of Regnheiður Hafstein above the fireplace

There is now plenty of space in the converted attic of the house, including for young visitors to play.

The current owner purchased the house when it was for sale in order to preserve this part of Icelandic history and remind Icelanders where they come from. When Hannes Hafstein was born, most people still lived in traditional sod houses; Reykjavík was a village and didn't even have 7,000 inhabitants (today: around 200,000 people).

Hannesarholt is also a meeting place for very different people; here, for example, regularly changing artists of various styles exhibit, musicians perform, discussion groups are organized, etc.

What looks as inconspicuous as a green hill next to the house is actually a concert and event hall that is built and maintained by a non-profit organization. By the way, it was the week before we were there Svavar Knútur appeared here, the Icelandic "Troubadour", which we were able to experience in Dresden last autumn. It's a shame, unfortunately we missed it!

At a glance:

The evening menu is short but very good. When we were there there were three starters to choose from (smoked trout, beetroot carpaccio and vegan hummus), for main courses we had the choice between trout and cod, lamb and vegan tofu, and for dessert you could choose between cheesecake and homemade Choose ice cream.

On average, an appetizer costs a good 1,800 ISK, or around €14.50 (as of June 2018). The main courses cost an average of 3,850 ISK, i.e. a good €30. For a dessert you pay an average of 1,640 ISK, or around €13. We noticed that the other guests around us also all had the starter, main course and dessert. So it's just under €60 per person - plus drinks. But you also get very good, interesting, high-quality food in a very special atmosphere.

* Legal notice:

Technically speaking, this is advertising because we were invited to dinner. But we only went to restaurants and bars that we had previously heard good things about and that we found exciting - for a variety of reasons. In that respect, we were honestly thrilled and when we burst out in praise, we really mean it.



[Translated from here.]