Iceland launches mobile restaurant across the country
After appealing to regular Icelanders to open their homes to tourists last year, the country has launched another innovative program that invites visitors to dine in a roving, mobile restaurant that serves traditional Icelandic dishes against the stunning backdrop of a waterfall and snow-capped glaciers.
Dubbed ‘Eldhús,' which is Icelandic for the word kitchen and literally means ‘Fire House,' the mobile "Little House of Food" was built specifically for the culinary road trip and seats six diners.
One of the head chefs is ex-Noma chef Tom Sellers. Noma, helmed by René Redzepi, was named the best restaurant in the world last year by Restaurant magazine.
The gastro-tour launches March 7 for 12 days and aims to promote Icelandic cuisine, little known in the world of gastronomy.
The Icelandic tourism board is no doubt trying to capitalize on the momentum being enjoyed by Nordic and Scandinavian cuisine right now, a recent trend that can be traced back to chefs like Redzepi and Magnus Nilsson, a Swedish chef who entertains guests in the remote, northernmost backwoods of Sweden at his restaurant Fäviken.
The people preparing the meals will range from fine-dining master chefs like Sellers, local chefs and Icelandic farmers, and dinners will be sourced from local ingredients. Guests will tuck into either haute Icelandic gastronomy, or traditional, hearty, homecooked stews.
Diners will share the table with other guests and eat with both the cook and the restaurant butler Heimir, who will be an Eldhús fixture.
The mobile restaurant follows on the heels of a tourism initiative launched last year in which the president of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson asked Icelanders to open up their homes to tourists and give travelers an authentic Icelandic experience. Grímsson himself hosted a pancake breakfast with his wife for strangers.
Similarly, Singapore also launched a mobile kitchen as part of its tourism strategy. But instead of touring their own country, chefs have been fanning out around the world for a year and have brought traditional Singaporean fare to cities like London, Paris, New York, and Moscow. Their final stop will be in Sydney, Australia on March 12.
For more information on Iceland's culinary road trip visit http://www.inspiredbyiceland.com/.
