Food and Fun is an annual culinary festival in downtown Reykjavík, celebrated for the 18th time from February 27 until March 3. The festival brings chefs from all over the world to Reykjavík. There, they get the chance to work with local restaurants and Icelandic ingredients. During the festival, Reykjavík is the place to be for foodies and food lovers!
History
18 years ago, when February and March were still off-season months in Iceland, the idea was born to organise a competition between Icelandic and foreign chefs to brighten up Icelandic winter. In this competition, culinary professionals from all over the world work together with Icelandic restaurants. The goal is to develop exciting menus based on surprising combinations and flavour experiments. Bringing more people to Iceland in the dark winter months to enjoy a food festival has been a success. The festival has thousands of visitors each year!
Icelandic ingredients
The emphasis of the festival lies on Icelandic ingredients, like fresh fish, free-range lamb and organic dairy products. The best Icelandic basics are mixed with exotic ingredients, resulting in exciting new creations. Culinary professionals from all over the world have shown great enthusiasm for working with Icelandic produce. Because of the festival, Icelandic skyr is now also used as an ingredient in several savoury recipes, where it was originally only viewed as a sweet dessert or breakfast item. New viewpoints, angles, and outlooks bring professional cooking to a higher level.
New – off menu
New this year is the “off menu” feature. In this category, gastro pubs and street food vendors join the festival and will be serving unique dishes specially prepared for the festival. Off menu will show a different side of the Food and Fun experience. It will make it possible for guests to try individual courses from international top chefs. Bjórgarðurinn, Brass, Kore, and Public House join in this category.
The Food and Fun Chef of the Year Award
During the festival, famous chefs are invited to rate the recipes and food that has been designed for the festival. From all the finalists, three are chosen to compete for the Food and Fun Chef of the Year Award.
Restaurants that join in 2019, are: Apótek Restaurant, Essensia, Geiri Smart, Grand Hotel, Holt Restaurant, Grillið, Kolabrautin, Kopar, La Primavera, Mathús Garðarbæjar, Nostra, Reykjavík Meat, Skelfiskmarkaðurinn, Sumac, Vox, and more!
