Tales of the Table · Tales of the Table
Naustið (1954–c. 2005) – Lost Tables
Naustið opened on 6 November 1954 in Geir Zoëga's 1882 fish warehouse at Vesturgata 6–8, founded by seven men including the trained hotelier Halldór S. Gröndal and Geir Zoëga jr., who persuaded his father to lend them the old building.
Naustið opened on 6 November 1954 in Geir Zoëga's 1882 fish warehouse at Vesturgata 6–8, founded by seven men including the trained hotelier Halldór S. Gröndal and Geir Zoëga jr., who persuaded his father to lend them the old building. Dressed with ship masts, bells and name boards, it promised to be open all day with some fifty dishes, and it was for decades one of the most glamorous restaurants in the country – the President hosted banquets there for the kings of Denmark and Sweden, President Kekkonen of Finland and Crown Prince Harald of Norway. In 1958 Naustið began advertising 'þorramatur', the first known use of the word, and its midwinter buffet of traditional food was soon copied across Iceland. Guests loved its booths and the legendary upstairs Símonarbar, but by the mid-2000s the restaurant had closed; when the interior was stripped in 2006, its fittings were photographed for the city museum and the booths were given to Hótel Látrabjarg and a pizzeria in Sandgerði. A Chinese restaurant, the Great Wall, opened in 2007, followed later by DaChin.
Later Chinese restaurants (Great Wall, DaChin)
Sources: