Krónikan in Kópavogur is a perfect summertime hangout
The second the sun comes out in Reykjavík, the same question arrives on everyone’s lips: where’s the best place to go and hang out? There are, of course, plenty of classic downtown options, most of which will quickly draw a crowd. But one of the very best-kept secrets for a peaceful al fresco dinner is just a few minutes’ drive away, in the heart of Kópavogur.
Krónikan is a casual drop-in restaurant located in the Gerðarsafn art museum. The dining room is an airy glass house with sunbeams cutting through the space, plenty of seating, and a relaxed, family atmosphere. Just out back, there are tables where you can luxuriate, drink, and dine while catching a few rays. The concise menu consists of a variety of antipasti sharing plates, and a range of sourdough pizzas. All of the dishes come with a creative twist, like Italian-style comfort food through a playful Nordic lens.
Laying a foundation
The place is run by Bragi Skaftason, a Kópavogur local and serial restaurateur who’s also been involved in Brút, Vínstúkan Tíu Sopar, the Veður cocktail bar, and the Kaffi O-lé coffee joint. “I guess I’ve got some history of doing things that aren’t by the book,” he says, smiling wryly. “Things that might be a bit more complicated. But… that’s fine.”
The restaurant opened in 2023 as a sibling partnership, with Bragi fully taking the reins earlier this year. “Me and my sister Sigrún opened the place in August of ’23,” he says. “We had this idea of creating a place with smørrebrød — Danish open-faced sandwiches — with a bit of a wine bar feeling. It was absolutely lovely working with my sister for a year and a half, and it started quite well. We managed to pay everybody, the rent wasn’t that high, and Salurinn subsidised the restaurant a little bit.”
When Sigrún decided to move on, Bragi bought her out and approached a new collaborator. “I contacted Lucas Keller, the owner of Coocoo’s Nest,” he says. “I remembered his pizzas were the best you could get in Iceland. We sat down together and I just told him, ‘I’m gonna do this new thing — and I’m thinking pizza.’”
The two worked together on the menu for a couple of months, trying out a lot of ideas both old and new. For Bragi, this process is more than arriving at a killer lineup of dishes — it’s also about establishing a style that will continue to evolve over time. “The real work is in deciding the direction you want to go,” he says. “Because we can take this menu, and it might be 50% different a year from now. But it will still have the same ideas from the foundation that we built.”
Pepperoni police
The pizzas at Krónikan use Lucas’s sourdough starter for a base that’s the perfect mix of charred, chewy and crisp. “We’re meticulously feeding it every evening and morning, with very precise instructions from Lucas,” smiles Bragi. “Sometimes he doesn’t behave too well, but it usually comes out very nicely.”
Bragi has some strong opinions about pizza. He’s staunchly anti-pepperoni, and vehemently anti-pineapple. But he does allow a straight margarita — as a kids’ option. “There will never be a pepperoni pizza in here, or a Hawaiian, and I’m not budging on that,” he states. “But we have a Diavoli with Sichuan-infused maple syrup. You get the dark, oaky flavours of the Sichuan pepper. And if it doesn’t come out spicy enough, we just add some pickled chillies.”
It’s not the only unconventional pizza on the menu. “We also have the guanciale Cacio e Pepe pizza,” says Bragi. “We decided to put a pasta dish on a pizza. So we have a Cacio e Pepe with a crispy guanciale, with lots of pepper, mozzarella, pecorino, guanciale, and some red onion to give it colour.”
Hold my pineapple
But despite his unshakeable — and highly sensible — anti-pineapple stance, not all fruit is off the menu. In fact, one pizza with a particularly “hold my beer” vibe is topped with slices of lemon. It started as an experiment, and has since developed a cult audience. “I’m quite astonished that one is becoming so popular,” says Bragi. “It started kind of like a joke. We just tried out putting very thinly sliced lemons on pizza, with rosemary, parmigiano, mozzarella, and some pepper. But it’s probably the third or the fourth most bought pizza we have. There are fans who come every week now just to get a lemon pizza.”
It’s easy to see why. With the perfect sourdough crust, plenty of creamy mozzarella, and the herbaceous, aromatic rosemary, the lemon adds a jolt of acidic zing that’s strangely moreish. It’s exactly the right kind of weird. So the next time there’s a sunny evening and I’m in need of a bite and a beer, I know exactly where I’ll be going — the Kópakabana and Krónikan.
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