Tales of the Table · Tales of the Table
Café Ópera (1987–2007) – Lost Tables
For two decades Café Ópera was a fixture of the downtown dining circuit, tucked into the old 1852 corner house at Lækjargata 2. The interior had a bohemian, early-20th-century feel, with kitsch posters, paintings and a piano hung on the wall.
For two decades Café Ópera was a fixture of the downtown dining circuit, tucked into the old 1852 corner house at Lækjargata 2. The interior had a bohemian, early-20th-century feel, with kitsch posters, paintings and a piano hung on the wall. Its signature was the hot-rock steak: raw meat served on a scorching stone so guests could cook it at the table, often after a creamy lobster soup laced with cognac. In early 2007 the restaurant closed for a complete makeover. Only weeks later, on 18 April 2007, the great fire at the corner of Austurstræti and Lækjargata badly damaged the house, which also held Café Rósenberg and a kebab shop, and Café Ópera never returned.
The 1852 corner house at Lækjargata 2 was badly damaged in the April 2007 fire, and Café Ópera did not reopen.
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