Steinþór Helgi is a music professional, promoter of Sónar Reykjavík, new father, and general well-known flaneur and man-about-town. Here’s how he’d spend a perfect day in Reykjavík.
First thing in the morning
I just had a son. He‘s only 2 months old and my absolute favourite part of the day is waking up with him. Or more like watching him in the morning, because he tends to sleep a lot. He is so peaceful, innocent and beautiful. The same could actually be said about Reykjavík super early in the morning. I sometimes wake up really early and walk around town on my way to work and it‘s like taking a meditation class, everything can be so calm and nice. I‘m not a big fan of breakfast (it‘s really just a marketing stunt by Kellogg‘s) so a really thick and black Americano at home will usually do it. But I absolutely adore going out for lunch.
Around lunchtime
Reykjavík has so many good restaurants that are actually fairly priced during lunch. I mean, just how many amazing dishes of fish can you find around town during lunch for something like 1890 to 2490? Having said, that my favourite place for lunch is still the small and cosy Coocoo‘s Nest. It’s really the best pound-for-pound restaurant in Reykjavík. And their brunch, don‘t even get me started. I‘m not a big fan of the typical brunch, which is just a big plate of eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc. That‘s why I also love the brunch at Hverfisgata 12. I have wild dreams about their cheese & ham sandwich and their Korean chicken.
In the afternoon
If I‘m not working, I just love having some quality time with my girlfriend and our little baby boy. Walk around town, drop by at some friends, having a beer/coffee at Stofan, Kaffi Vest or maybe Kaffi Vínyl. But to be honest I also just really dig staying on my couch watching football or NFL. It‘s my guilty pleasure.
For dinner
For your evening, you simply cannot start it any better than at Hlemmur Mathöll. The impact that new place has made for downtown Reykjavík is immense. Skál is my favourite place there. Amazing cocktails and every single dish is delicious. And they just started serving nature wine which I‘m really getting into.
In the heat of the night
You could actually make a good point saying that wine and alcoholic drinks, in general, are an interest of mine. And my friends? I love them for saying that, and for few other things as well. We get together quite frequently but trips downtown have become not as frequent as they used to be (could be the age, but then again I‘m not a mathematician). But if we do go it‘s usually for some rave-y techno night at Paloma. Or somewhere where the Plútó crew is playing. They‘re my favorite DJ group around.
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