Words by

Alice Demurtas

The chefs behind Le Kock will be organising a series of pop-up events this week, hosted by Apotek Restaurant in downtown Reykjavik.

Although the Apotek team has overseen various pop-ups in the past year, from cocktail workshops to meet-ups with celebrated chefs such as Slippurinn’s Gísli Matthías Auðunsson, this will be their first time hosting the undisputed kings of Icelandic burgers.

Karl Óskar Smárason, Knútur Hreiðarsson and Markús Ingi Guðnason, who were all educated at Matur & Drykkur, opened their restaurant just out of town at the end of 2017. They quickly gained a cult following, as well as the reputation of trouble-makers in the local food scene for daring to juxtapose the word ‘gourmet’ and ‘burger.’ Their somewhat bizarre menu with top-notch ingredients, however, also won the 2018 Grapevine Award for Best Burger in Reykjavík.

“We all come from fine dining experience,” Markus told The Grapevine back then. “The thing about fine dining chefs is I don’t think they actually like doing it. We actually like to cook and eat this food. No one is doing gourmet fast food in Iceland. We saw it as an opportunity to do it. To just go for it.”

This week, however, they will temporarily leave their Ármuli location to bring their no-nonsense attitude to the elegant halls of Apotek. The pop-up, which will be open for lunch time from Thursday to Saturday, is also intended to be a taste of what’s to come, since the chefs plan to open a new Le Kock right in the heart of Reykjavík.

The original menu at Le Kock is an homage to Icelandic childhood nostalgia combined with an American vibe. Their selected choices for the pop-up will include:

• A Spicy Kock soup with smoked haddock, shellfish, potatoes, chives and tomaotes for 1,990 ISK;
• A classic cheeseburger and Greek fries for 2,900 ISK;
• A Philly cheese steak sandwich with jalapeno relish, pickles, smoked cheese and magic potatoes 2,900 ISK;
• Their Magic Potatoes with pickled chillies, kock-sauce and spring onions for 1,000 ISK;
• Greek Potatoes, with feta cheese, grapes, nuts and ranch dressing for 1,000 ISK.

Pop by Apotek in Austurstræti 16 from Thursday 17th to Saturday 19th from 11:30 to 14:30 and see what the future tastes like.