Eldstó Art Café & Restaurant A South Coast Oasis for Food and Art in Hvolsvöllur
T
hey say that Iceland has the highest nu mb er of w r iter s , a r t i s t s a nd musicians per-capita of any country on earth. Many of them congregate in the more well-known towns like Hveragerði,
Hafnarfjörður and Akureyri, but every village seems to have its fair share of resident artists. The notable exception however, is that Iceland has only a tiny handful of professional potters; so Hvolsvöllur is very blessed to have one of Iceland’s top notch potters living right in it’s very midst.
The Potter’s House
Occupying the old post office, right on the main road though town, Eldstó Art Café & Restaurant is also known as ‘The Potter’s House’. It is here that Thor Sveinsson and his wife G. Helga Ingadóttir run a unique combination of café and gallery where you can buy exquisite hand-turned pieces by the master potter, Thor, and enjoy a properly brewed espresso or cappuccino, tea or hot chocolate, light lunches and dinners. Helga is also a very talented jewellery designer and is the creator of the glazes used on all the pottery at Eldstó Café. She is quite the accomplished country, folk and jazz singer herself. Eldstó Café offers fresh soups and salads, home-made bread and pastries. Everything is served in Thor and Helga’s ceramic creations which you can purchase in the in-house gallery. The deep, rich colours of the ceramic glazes used on the pottery are made from Icelandic ash, (especially from Hekla Volcano) rendering the pottery very resilient as well as dishwasher and oven proof. New on the menu this summer are authentic Chilean empanadas, served with an excellent home-made hot sauce made with an intricate mix of aromatic fresh ingredients. Once you have tasted this you may well be spoiled for life and the store-bought variety will never taste the same again. Consider yourself sufficiently warned. Wonderful, on a sunny summer evening, are Eldstó Café’s grilled marinated lamb or veal kebabs, with a fresh vegetable salad
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which may be enjoyed either inside or out when the weather permits. Wine and beer are also available.
Mentioned in various guides to Iceland such as Frommer’s and Lonely Planet, Eldstó Art Café & Restaurant is well worth a visit as you travel Iceland’s south coast this summer. –
Eldstó
EMV
Austurvegi 2 • 860 Hvolsvelli
+354 482 1011 eldsto@eldsto.is www.eldsto.is
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