The story
Crafted with passion, served with love
A Taste of Italy in Reykjavík's Most Striking Buildings
La Primavera Ristorante occupies two of Reykjavík's most distinctive addresses: a floor inside Marshallhúsið and a perch on the fourth floor of Harpa, the city's celebrated concert hall and conference centre. The combination of dramatic settings and Italian-leaning hospitality makes it one of the more memorable places to eat in the Icelandic capital.
Recognised for Good Reason
The White Guide, Scandinavia's authoritative restaurant guide, rates La Primavera at a very fine level — and the details of that review say as much about the restaurant's personality as its food. A reviewer arriving to a well-made negroni sbagliato looks up to find the words Scandinavian Pain blazing in neon pink across the bar, a work by celebrated Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson. It is a room that knows exactly what it is: a little irreverent, visually alive, and entirely at ease with the particular tension of Italian warmth meeting Nordic cool.
Lunch, Dinner and the Wine List
La Primavera serves both lunch and dinner, with a wine pairing programme that suggests the kitchen takes its list seriously. The restaurant publishes separate lunch and evening menus — hádegi and kvöld in Icelandic — and has even produced a cookbook, Tuttugu og fimm, pointing to a kitchen with a defined point of view rather than a generic crowd-pleasing approach.
For anyone looking for a considered Italian dining experience in Reykjavík, La Primavera makes a compelling case from two very different — and very Icelandic — vantage points.
Recognition