Rub23 in Akureyri: The Fishing Village Rule That Still Runs the Kitchen

Tálknafjörður village sits at the end of a fjord in the Westfjords, where everything revolves around the harbor: Boats go out, boats come in, and what they bring back lands on the table that evening. Einar Geirsson grew up in a family of fishermen, absorbing a standard for fish that he would not recognize as a standard until much later.

“I learned early on to respect fresh ingredients,” he says. “I probably understand better today than I did back then how much that upbringing shaped me. That is where the conviction started

“If the ingredient is good, you don’t need to complicate things.”

Almost everything Rub23 does comes back to that sentence.

A decision made at twelve years old

Einar was around twelve when he decided he was going to be a chef. Not considering it, not drifting toward it. Decided.

“I always enjoyed cooking and baking, and I realized pretty quickly that this was a trade that brought together creativity, discipline and the pleasure of doing something good for other people.”

The years that followed were competitive ones. He cooked in a long run of culinary competitions, at home and abroad with the Icelandic national culinary team, finishing second one year and third another before being named Iceland’s Chef of the Year in 2003.

“The competitions taught me discipline, precision, and to always try to do things a little bit better.”

He is quick to put the title in its place. “That title gave me a lot of confidence, but what mattered even more was the experience of working with great people and learning from the best chefs in the country. The competitions taught me discipline, precision, and to always try to do things a little bit better.”

The other half of the business

At the end of 2000, Einar met his wife, Heiðdís. They have worked together ever since, and he describes it without any hedging: one team from day one.

In 2004 they took over Café Karólína in Akureyri. At the same time they were raising four children, Valgeir, Lovísa Kristín, Óliver and Alex Þór. He calls 2004 to 2007 the busiest chapter of their lives, and it is one of the few points in the conversation where he slows down to make sure the credit lands where it belongs.

“Heiðdís has always been my greatest support. Even during those long days and evenings I worked, she was the one who kept everything running smoothly — the family, the home, the bookkeeping, and much of the operation. Rub23 wouldn’t be where it is today without her!”

Sushi in Akureyri, 2008

When Rub23 first opened its doors in 2008, sushi was still somewhat new and unfamiliar in this part of the country. While Reykjavík had embraced it, many people in Akureyri, a town of just a few thousand people, hadn’t tried it yet.

“I wasn’t entirely sure how the locals would take to it, so we started carefully,” Einar says. “What surprised us, in the best way, was how ready people were to try something new. Slowly but surely, sushi became one of the cornerstones of the place.”

To help put this into perspective, Einar was reaching out to his neighbors in a community with strong traditions for cooking fish, typically boiled or fried, and inviting them to try eating it raw. And it turned out, they were open to the idea.

What Rub23 actually means

The name is not a brand exercise. It is an address and a technique.

“The 23 comes from our original address at Kaupvangsstræti 23, and ‘Rub’ refers to our own spice blends, which get rubbed into the ingredient before it’s cooked,” he explains. “The Rub method has been with us from day one. We believe in first-class Icelandic ingredients, simplicity, and flavor that gets to speak for itself.”

The rubs are the house signature: dry and wet blends made in-house, matched to fish or meat, applied before the heat rather than poured over afterward.

What to order at Rub23

Ask Einar which dish explains the restaurant, and he names two.

“I’d say the sushi pizza, and then the robata-grilled cod or Arctic char. The sushi pizza has become one of our best-known dishes, and the robata grill really reflects the kind of cooking we want to offer: simple food where the ingredient gets to shine.”

“Going out to eat is not about hurrying people along.”

He would rather you took your time over both. “A lot of people start with sushi and then move on to hot dishes. For us, going out to eat is not about hurrying people along. It’s about creating an experience where good food, good service and a comfortable atmosphere come together.”

Stepping back from the line

These days Einar is not cooking every service. His work involves running the company alongside his wife, the head chefs, restaurant managers, and kitchen and floor teams. “The place would never have become what it is without them”.

He has also watched the town change around him. “It has been a real pleasure to take part in what has happened to the food culture in Akureyri over the past twenty years. When we started, the choice was nothing like it is today. Akureyri has become a serious restaurant town, and it has been a privilege to be part of that journey.”

Eighteen years in, still not bored

What keeps a person in this business for this long? For Einar, the answer is almost mechanical. “No two days are the same. Every morning there are new tasks and new challenges waiting. That’s the restaurant business: alive, demanding and always changing.”

The time off goes to family, travel, an early round of golf before work, and, less predictably for a man in his position, motocross, enduro bikes and snowmobiles.

“For me, Rub23 has never been only about food. It has always been about people.”

When asked what he is proudest of, the restaurant does not come first. “Family always comes first. Rub23 has often been called one of our children. But the place would never have become what it is without Heiðdís, without all the wonderful staff who have worked with us over the years, and without the many guests who have trusted us and come back again and again. For me, Rub23 has never been only about food. It has always been about people. If a guest walks out the door happy, with a good experience, wanting to come back, then I feel we’ve reached the goal.”