Chef Fridgeir Ingi Eriksson of the elegant, fine dining The Gallery Restaurant at the Hotel Holt in Reykjavik, Iceland shares his culinary vision and provides a delicious taste of the restaurant with his recipe for Flounder Fillet under False Fish Scales with Whipped Nut Oil and Vanilla Seasoned Meat Stock.
Icelandic-born Executive Chef Fridgeir Ingi Eriksson is passionate about all things culinary. This former rock guitarist has honed his culinary career by working with top toques that included a 1-year apprenticeship at Lea Linster’s Restaurant in Luxemburg in 1998, (Lea Linster – Bocuse d’Or 1989), returned to Iceland in 1999 and worked at The Gallery Restaurant as the Second Chef to Ragnar Ómarsson, (who was Iceland’s Candidate and received 5th place at the Bocuse d’Or 2005), and received his first culinary notice when he was selected Commis of the Year.
In 2000, he was the Icelandic Candidate at the Nordic Commis Competition. In 2001, he received his culinary diploma and was Hákon Már Örvarsson’s Commis (Bocuse de Bronze 2001), and was selected as the Commis of the Competition. He worked at The Gallery Restaurant until 2002 when he went to France to work at Philippe Girardon’s Michelin-star restaurant, Domaine de Clairefontaine, (Meilleur Ouvrier de France 1997), as Chef de Partie, and was later promoted to Second Chef de Cuisine in 2004.
The Gallery Restaurant
When I first met him in April 2007, he had returned to Iceland after competing as Iceland’s Candidate in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or 2007 competition in Lyon, France held in January 2007, and had returned to The Gallery Restaurant to work as the Executive Chef and business partner, working with his father, Eiríkur Ingi Fridgeirsson, a chef by profession, who has been the manager of the Hotel Hólt since 1986.
Meeting with Chef Fridgeir Ingi Eriksson again in late September 2009 while I was staying in Reykjavik, and had dinner at The Gallery Restaurant, I continued to be impressed by his culinary approach, enthusiasm, and creative artistry. We had quite a lot of catching up to do discussing his progress over the past 2 years as he has high objectives and goals that he has set for himself and the restaurant.
Since we had last met, he redesigned the restaurant’s kitchen that now features a custom-designed stove from France that he lovingly calls "the piano" that weighs 1.5 tons (1550 kilos), designed the new attractive china for the restaurant, and changed the window treatments and table linens that complement his French-style cuisine and the restaurant’s many Icelandic paintings that line the walls.
Also new at The Gallery Restaurant are the cooking classes held from October until March that provide guests with hands-on instructions in the kitchen where they learn to prepare a 3-course menu and then enjoy their creations with a selection of wine eating in the dining room of the restaurant.
It looks like the family tradition may continue as Chef Fridgeir Ingi Eriksson told me that he is teaching his 5-year old son to play guitar with him, and that his son loves to join him in the kitchen and cook, while younger son, Julian, age 18 months, enjoys eating everything; it should be noted that Grandfather Eiríkur Ingi Fridgeirsson is duly proud.
Chef Fridgeir Ingi Eriksson graciously shares a taste of The Gallery Restaurant with his recipe for Flounder Filet under False Fish Scales with Whipped Nut Oil and Vanilla Seasoned Meat Stock that is a creative and attractive presentation, and uses small, coin-size pasta and radish slices used to create the fish scales.
Flounder Filet under False Fish Scales with Whipped Nut Oil and Vanilla Seasoned Meat Stock
Homemade Pasta Ingredients:
| 2 | Egg yolks | |
| 2 | Eggs | |
| 2 | Tablespoons | Olive Oil |
| 2 | Ounces (150 grams) | Flour |
Method: Mix the ingredients together with your hands, add additional flour if necessary to form a dough. Roll dough out into a thin sheet. Use a small, round cookie cutter to cut circles to place on the flounder to look like fish scales.
Flounder Ingredients:
| 1.1 | Pounds (500 grams) | Flounder |
| 1 | White radish | |
| Homemade pasta | ||
| 6.7 | Ounces (2 dl) | Meat stock |
| Dash | Vanilla | |
| 2 | Pieces | Fennel |
| 6.7 | Ounces (2 dl) | Nut Oil |
Method: Cut the flounder filet into portions. Cut the radish into thin slices and cut the pasta into same size as radish. The shape of the radish does not matter, it is only important that it is thinly sliced. Peel and wash the fennel, cut into julienne, and then par-boil. Next, heat the fennel with a teaspoon of nut oil and roasted almond slices and finely diced apricot. The nut oil is whipped with the vinegar and then with a little more nut oil until the sauce is thick.
The Gallery Restaurant is open daily for lunch from 12:00 pm until 14:30, and for dinner from 6:00 pm until 10:30 pm.
Read about Hotel Holt in the Hotels and Resorts and Restaurants section and also Chefs’ Recipes in Icelandic.
The Gallery Restaurant
Hotel Holt
Bergstadastraeti 37
101 Reykjavik, Iceland
Telephone: +354-552-5700
Fax: +354-562-3025
Email: holt@holt.is
www.Holt.is
Read other articles on Iceland in the Destinations, Hotels and Resorts, Restaurants, Chefs’ Recipes, Spas, Fashion, and Adventures sections.
For information on Iceland, please visit the Iceland Tourist Board website, www.IcelandTouristBoard.com.
For information on Icelandair, please visit: www.Icelandair.com.
For information on Budget Rental Car, please visit: www.Budget.is.
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