Vín og skel: a wee tale of redemption

A few weeks ago YT and EPI went out for dinner with a couple of friends to a place called Vín og skel, on Laugavegur. Now, having been on intimate terms with the restaurant business in my North American incarnation [many moons ago], and having worked in some places that considered flawlessness to be merely the starting point, YT considers herself a bit of an expert when it comes to the many little nuances that make up the ideal dining experience. [As regular readers will no doubt know.]

Sad to say, the ideal dining experience is about as rare here in Niceland as a favourable review about an Icelandic bank overseas. Icelanders very often seem to equate ‘service’ with ‘servile’ and all too often complaints about service or food or similar are met with a haughty kind of arrogance. [Actually, to be fair, Icelandic society is not an anomaly in this regard – not many places live up to the North American standard of service in restaurants, at least not in Europe.]

So anyway, we had dinner at Vín og skel, YT gave it a wee review, and that review was, well, less than stellar. Not exactly bad because the experience wasn’t all-bad; in fact on the whole we had a very pleasant evening, thanks in no small part to the relaxed and friendly service and laid-back atmosphere. However, a few things went askew, and those were duly noted by our YT.

A few days after I posted that review on this blog, I received a message in my inbox from the proprietor of Vín og skel, who as it happens had been one of our servers that night. He began by thanking me for my detailed review, saying that obviously many things had gone wrong that night for which he apologized, and said he would like to invite us back to enjoy a meal at his invitation. He reiterated his thanks for the review, saying that they would take a close look at what had happened that night, adding that such critiques gave them an opportunity to make improvements. After all, Vín and skel took pride in providing good service and meeting their demands of its guests.

I have to say, I was flabbergasted. Not only because it is extraordinary for the proprietor of a restaurant to actually go out of his way to make amends in this way, but also because that sort of response to criticism, with not a trace of defensiveness or self-righteousness, is extraordinary in any situation. After some debate as to whether I should take him up on his offer [should I be independent in my ‘reviews’, would it limit my ‘credibility’, such as it is, etc.] and being somewhat uncertain about how to proceed, I decided in the end that I should take him up on it. I felt it was the right thing to do.

And so, last Friday evening EPI and I showed up for dinner at Vín og skel once more and – I am delighted to report – had an absolutely fabulous time. Our host welcomed us graciously and was amicable in every way. He began by offering us an aperitif; we ordered a glass of white wine each, to have with dinner, and were poured a delightful South African sauvignon blanc, crisp and full-bodied. He then brought us menus but we decided to leave the choice of food up to him, which was the perfect move because he chose for us the four-course ‘surprise’ menu, which made our dining experience all the more, well, surprising [and fun].

The appetizer was an amazing combo of grilled lobster and scallops [my favourite] on a mushroom risotto with a melt-in-your-mouth creamy buttery sauce. Talk about a roaring start. The second course was a small piece of kangaroo filet served with a peanut sauce and garnished with fresh coriander. [Incidentally, for my Australian readers: do you eat kangaroo in Australia? I’ve been wondering about that ever since…]. This was my first intro to kangaroo, which I’ve been curious to try for a while, and I enjoyed it a lot – it was a sort of cross between lamb and venison, at least to my palate. With the kangaroo our host brought a delicious Australian Shiraz [I took the name from the label and forgot it, but it had a picture of a dog – dingo? – on the front], that he left on the table [so much for our intention of having one glass of wine and going to bed early, ahem]. Next up was the entrée: monkfish [mmm…] wrapped in bacon [mmm] and cooked to perfection [i.e. not too long] with lobster sauce and a sort of carrot-tomato coulis. By the time we finished that we were – predictably – more than satiated, so when our host offered us dessert we opted for sitting a while and enjoying our Shiraz. When we were ready, he brought dessert: two types of cake [chocolate and a sort of apple-cheesecake] served on a single [large, square] glass plate with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, and coffee [espresso for EPI, regular for YT]. He also invited us to try a delicious port, which we simply couldn’t refuse [because that would have been rude].

Needless to say, throughout all this the service was flawless, absolutely attentive without being intrusive, our wine and water glasses were kept perpetually full and every detail was observed.

On the whole, the entire experience was absolutely delightful. We wound up sitting there for four hours and rarely have I enjoyed dining out so much. The food was truly perfect [ok, for the sake of credibility I’d say – if pressed – that the apple cheesecake was the least perfect, but really, it was an insignificant flaw] and the bistro-like atmosphere was so relaxed and easygoing that we felt almost at home. Topping it all, of course, was the extraordinary conduct and generosity on the part of our host. Now, I realize there may be cynics out there who would question the standing of his invitation and, by extension, of this appraisal – after all, we were no longer ‘anonymous reviewers’ … but even with that factored in, the way the proprietor of Vín og skel handled the entire situation can only be described as admirable. Many of us – in the service industry and elsewhere, in Iceland and even in North America – would do well to follow his example.

AND JUST A QUICKIE ON THE WEATHER

Sunny and cool, moderate winds, with a thin cloud cover. Weatherman claims spring will arrive tomorrow with higher temps and [bleh] rain and drizzle. Currently 1°C [34F] and the sun came up at 5.58 am, will set at 8.59 pm.