Three decades ago, Icelanders couldn’t go out for a pizza margherita or some spaghetti alla carbonara without first getting on an airplane. When Chef Jakob Magnússon opened Hornið in 1979, he was a real pioneer on the Icelandic restaurant scene.
In fact, he was breaking into an almost non-existent restaurant scene for that matter. “People went out to eat maybe once a month and it was an occasion to dress up for”, Jakob says. Even so, he says it wasn’t difficult to fill the place. “People were excited to get pizzas and pasta, which was all completely new”.
Today Hornið is amongst the oldest restaurants in Reykjavík. Still standing in its original location on the corner of Hafnarstræti and Pósthússtræti, it opens for business every day between 11:00 and 23:30. And more likely than not, Jakob will be there running the show.
But if he’s not here, Jakob could, as an internationally approved judge from WACS, be off judging in an international culinary competition like the Italian Pizza Olympics!
Fun Fact: Hornið bakes about 1000 pizzas every week!
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