Old World Gone Chic at Silfur

The restaurant in Hótel Borg is synonymous with old-school class. The sort of place your grandparents would go for the golden anniversary - vaulted ceilings, chandeliers, 18 place settings photographs of the good old days mounted on the walls - and was featured in my personal favorite Icelandic movie, Devil's Island.

But time marches on, which is why entrepreneur Jón Páll Haraldsson decided to give the restaurant a modern revamping, while still retaining a lot of its old charm, into a new incarnation called Silfur. "The inspiration for the place draws from the hipness of London and the cuisine of Paris," Haraldsson explains. "We wanted to create something very modern without taking away the soul of the place." And the interior certainly shows this attention to balancing old with new. The handeliers, while definitely of a classic design, glow within a translucent silver cylinder. The chairs resemble early 20th century sitting room furniture, but are done in chic jet black. Where there used to be a small bar, there's now a recessed fireplace.

As further testament to the success of this crossover, Haraldsson brought up the reactions of some of the restaurant's more established regulars. There's a group of old musicians who come here very Friday," he explains. "And these guys go way back ¿ they've been in a band since the Second World War. They've seen the changes I made, and they gave their blessing. I think that's an important blessing."

All well and good, but what about the menu?

The cuisine is decidedly "new French", classic French cuisine presented in a more modern way, and visitors will be pleased to see courses range from 1,500 to 2,500 ISK. For the truly adventurous, there's always the Chef's Special: five of the kitchen's best courses for a very reasonable 6,800 ISK. And as the head chef hails from Grillið, where this reporter had the best meal of his life, you're not likely to be disappointed.

"The idea here is we want our guests to have a complete dining experience," says Haraldsson. "This is what I would call 'live food'."

Not that everything about Silfur stresses the modern. The wines are a prime example of the restaurant's commitment to classic values.

"We want to bring the soul back to Iceland's wine lists," Haraldsson says, "I know the latest trend now are the New World wines, and these are fine, but they're a lot like visiting a castle in America. The entire castle might be authentic, with great attention to detail, but it's missing that certain something that makes it a real castle."

For this reason, Silfur employs burgundies: a simple, Old World wine that complements food without overwhelming the flavour of what you're eating. It should be noted that while Silfur is primarily a dinner restaurant, they do have a lunch menu, which Haraldsson says, "will have the same base as the dinner menu, as well as a more ready menu for those with only an hour to eat."

In all, Silfur marks what just may be the most successful bridge between classic charm and modern chic in Iceland dining to date.

By Paul F. Nikolov

Photo by Hrönn Axelsdóttir