How a Restaurant Is Keeping Iceland's Food Traditions Alive

Gunnar Karl Gíslason is the founding chef behind Dill, the 1st restaurant in Iceland to receive a Michelin star. We discuss Iceland's unique food traditions and how they are keeping them alive.

Gunnar Karl Gíslason is the author of North: The New Northern Cuisine of Iceland and the founding chef behind Dill, which was the first restaurant in Iceland to receive a Michelin star. In this episode, we trace Iceland’s food traditions through the individuals that are helping to keep them alive. I’ve added videos and photos below to bring some of the stories to life. I hope you walk away with just a liiiiittle bit of wanderlust as Gunnar shares a virtual taste of Iceland’s  food traditions and rich culinary history.

🍽 Restaurant Amass on creating a zero waste kitchen

🧂 How one foodie re-instated Iceland’s saltmaking tradition

🇬🇱 The story behhind the Greenlandic Diet Revolution

🐠 Iceland’s Ocean Cluster on using the whole fish to create new business

📖 Gunnar’s Cookbook North: The New Northern Cuisine of Iceland

🔮 Restaurant Alchemist on the R&D behind fine dining experiences

---

Episode Transcript

Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech Podcast Host  1:53
So you're calling in from Iceland. When did you first think about becoming a chef?

Gunnar Karl Gíslason  2:08 

It’s probably when I was around 16. I was actually working as a dishwasher at the point. I had been in a school where we would learn the basic of the trade. I went there not because I wanted to become a restaurant person, I went there because I was piss poor at school in general. But somehow I very quickly figured out that it was the kind of environment and something that I really love doing. Before that, I was going to be a farmer. Working with my hands and body was something that I really loved doing. So, coming into a kitchen it felt, in a way, a little bit similar. When I began washing dishes at this restaurant, I just learned that if I was very quick they would allow me to help a little bit in the kitchen. So, I became quicker and quicker at washing dishes just so I could help the chefs. And then in a little while, I went to kind of the best restaurant in the North and applied for a job as a student.

Analisa Winther, Nordic FoodTech Podcast Host  3:18 

Which one was that at the time?