Freshness has always been one of the simplest luxuries in cooking. Restaurants seek out seasonal produce, work closely with local farmers and build menus around ingredients at their best. But few things can bring food closer to its source than growing it within steps of the kitchen — and serving it only moments after harvest.
At Sól in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, this idea turns dinner into something more memorable. The fine dining restaurant is built into a working greenhouse, where guests eat surrounded by the same living environment that supplies part of their meal.
This connection to nature and the changing seasons lies at the heart of Sól's philosophy. The greenhouse is not simply an unusual backdrop for dinner: it brings guests closer to a process that would normally remain far beyond the dining room.
Here, farm-to-table is not just an idea. Part of the farm and the table quite literally share the same space.
Dining Among the Growing Rows
Sól occupies an elevated dining space within the greenhouse, overlooking the cultivation areas below. Glass floors in parts of the restaurant make the relationship particularly visible: from the table, guests can look down onto rows of produce beneath them.
The dining room itself is restrained, with glass, greenery, stone and natural materials allowing the greenhouse structure to remain visible rather than disguising it behind a conventional restaurant interior.
But the plants surrounding the restaurant are not there simply to create atmosphere. They are part of a living, productive environment that changes with the seasons and gives the kitchen an unusually immediate relationship with its ingredients.
What is ready to be picked can travel little more than a few metres before reaching the chefs — making cultivation, cooking and dining part of the same continuous space.
Where the Greenhouse Meets the Menu
That relationship becomes most tangible on the menu. Produce from the greenhouse is paired with carefully selected Icelandic seafood and meat from local producers, bringing the restaurant's own harvest together with ingredients from the wider Icelandic landscape.
The current menu includes Ocean Perch Crudo with angelica, tomatoes and pickled shallot for ISK 4,280 (approximately €30), Halibut with mussels, vendace roe and pickled celery for ISK 7,280 (around €52), and Lamb Saddle with potatoes, skyr, parsnip and angelica for ISK 8,780 (around €62).
Sól also offers a three-course menu for ISK 12,800 (approximately €91), currently combining Tomato & Burrata with strawberries and gremolata, Lamb Saddle, and a Brown Cheese dessert with licorice, verbena and rhubarb.
The same philosophy extends to Sól's drinks programme, where ingredients from the greenhouse also find their way into the glass. One example is the basil and strawberry Gimlet, made with fresh basil picked just steps away from the restaurant.
For guests who want to experience this connection more closely, Sól takes the idea further with 'From the Greenhouse to Your Table'. The evening begins with a guided tour of the greenhouse and a tasting of the restaurant's house-brewed craft beer, followed by a ten-course tasting menu with a curated alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage pairing.
The experience has limited availability, requires advance reservation and is offered for the whole table with a minimum of two guests. Current pricing and availability can be checked directly with the restaurant.
*Euro equivalents are approximate and based on the exchange rate at the time of publication; menu items and prices may change.
Visiting Sól
Sól is located at Óseyrarbraut 27c, 220 Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, within the Greater Reykjavík area.
Table reservations are currently available Wednesday to Sunday, from 17:30 to 21:30.
For current menus, reservations and details of special dining experiences, visit the official Sól Restaurant website.
