Vitenparken

– When did you first realize your passion for cooking and decide to become a chef?

Food has always been a very big part of my life. Every memory my sisters and I have from childhood is connected to food. We connect every memory with the food we ate in the places we visited. I think it also comes from our grandmother. She is a very good cook.

I have always been interested in food. And have always enjoyed cooking it, but I didn't start working with it until recently. It was a hobby until I moved to Denmark. Previously I worked in a completely different field with young people, giving seminars, working with European relations, politics and so on. It wasn't until I moved to Denmark in 2007 that I started working as a chef and got an education. It's been 15 years now.

– What inspired you to pursue a career as a professional chef when you moved to Denmark?

When I moved to Denmark, I needed to find a new job. I thought if there's a chance, the chance is now. So I started working in the kitchen, and soon after I started my education alongside my job. It was just the right time.

– What is your creative process? What inspires you to create your menu, your food? Where do you get your inspiration?

Anything can be inspiring to me. I have a pretty creative mind. I get new ideas from everything I see . New ingredients, new flavors, other people, other chefs inspire me… It’s still like that after 15 years. And that’s what’s fun. I’ve told myself, when I lose this, the thirst to make something new and the thirst to learn something new, then I’ll stop. Because then it’s not fun, then it’s just a job.

- How would you describe your style?

I would describe it as honest. I don't do a lot of unnecessary things. I really like to let the ingredients do the talking. I learned very early on that you can very easily make bad food with good ingredients, but you can never make good food with bad ingredients. It all starts with good ingredients, and you can make amazing meals from that without being too fancy or without doing unnecessary things. I would describe it as honest, clean.

– You are originally from Iceland and you lived in Denmark, and now live in Norway. Do Nordic countries influence your cooking style?

Yes, I would say that my food is Nordic. It’s not entirely Norwegian. It’s not entirely Danish or Icelandic, but it is Nordic. The Nordic philosophy is the same in that raw materials are most important. However, I also draw inspiration from everything… I can sometimes cook a lot of Asian, Indian or Mexican. So I get inspired by everything, but yes, I would say that the style is Nordic.

– Here at Vitenparken we try to focus on sustainability, including sustainable gastronomy. How does that affect your work and creative process?

For me it's very important. The cliché is that you should cook with your heart and soul. But I think it's very important to use your brain too. That's what we try to do at Vitenparken . If we have a choice, we always try our best to use organic and local ingredients. We also use this knowledge [about sustainability] when creating our menus.

– Vitenparken is a knowledge center. It is very different from your previous workplaces. How does that affect your creative process?

It influences my creative process a lot. I have many projects that require me to create new things. Every month there is something special that has to be invented. I really enjoy that and it is part of our main philosophy to play with food in a responsible way. Inventing new things and methods is always fun.

– You also have a project called Haffi's Table. Can you tell us more about it?

Well, this is mainly because we did a lot of fun and creative things with food for closed groups, like “ Taste Research One” and we thought we could let the wider public experience that. It was a fun project for me and the rest of the kitchen staff to create a really nice menu for just one night. So it’s like a pop-up restaurant within our own restaurant.

– What are your plans for the next ten years?

I think we will continue to grow. There has been steep growth in the last five years I have been here. The next logical step is to be able to offer something like a restaurant experience not just as a pop-up but on a regular basis. We are also always working on becoming more sustainable.

 

Interview by Elina Gobeti

The interview was translated from English.

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Christmas beer tasting with Haffi 4.11.2022