My friend Christina gave me a list of recommendations for our trip. I was skeptical when she suggested visiting a tomato farm. Antz, Liv and I are not big fans of tomatoes but I knew if Christina says it’s good, it’s worth a visit. I called a couple of weeks in advance to make a reservation but my bad luck Liz curse struck again. The afternoon I wanted to go turned out to be the only day of the year they were closed for maintenance. I had to adjust our itinerary to make a reservation. Luckily, we got the last available spot of the day!
We drove an hour and a half from Reykjavik to Friðheimar farm. The Ring Road is Iceland’s main road but it’s mostly a two lane road so they have this subtle reminder to not speed. Those cars are from an actual accident. The irony is I nearly had an accident trying to get a photo of this car wreck (just kidding, Antz took the photo). We passed this reminder several times while in Iceland which was helpful because I am usually a speed demon. I had to make a quick pitstop on the drive to snap this rad photo.
I damn near lost my mind when I saw this sign. Björk actually translates to birch in Icelandic and there are birch trees everywhere. Too bad I didn’t see the real Björk.
Antz had to convince me to not ask the owner if I could buy this flag to bring home to LA. Friðheimar is a working farm so during the summer months they put on a horse show. There are also ten hens that live on the property.
I really didn’t understand what the hype was about a tomato farm but when we arrived it was impressive. The tomatoes are grown in a temperature controlled greenhouse so they grow year-round. The owners buy the cutest, fuzzy bumblebees from Belgium to aid with the fertilization of the plants. I think the key to making these tomatoes taste so good is the natural Icelandic geothermal water.
Olivia was excited to cut her own fresh herbs to add to her food. When you arrive, you can check out the greenhouse and hit the all you can eat tomato soup bar. Everything has tomatoes, even the water! I tried my first blood Mary (sorry, I’ll stick to margaritas).
We met the owner Knútur, he was very kind and gave us a quick tour of the greenhouse. Liv was a little nervous around the bees but they are so fuzzy and cute.
The food was amazing, I must have had three bowls of tomato soup. By the time my entree arrived, I was stuffed. The tomatoes were sweet and perfectly ripe. Not soft and mushy like most restaurants in LA serve. The greenhouse was fascinating. We learned so much about horticulture. It wasn’t the smelly, traditional farm I envisioned.
On the way out we stopped by the Little Tomato shop and taste-tested tomato preserves and jam.
We bought a jar of green tomato jam and it’s still in our fridge at home!
The Friðheimar Tomato Farm is a must-see/eat stop in Iceland. The staff is friendly and genuine and the food is exceptional. The owner takes pride in his farm and really connects with his customers. I wish that same warmness would happen in Los Angeles. Most restaurants are over-priced and I often feel like there is not a lot of quality put into the food and the waiters can be rude and pushy. Maybe I’m just over pretentious LA.
Bláskógabyggð
IS-801 Selfoss
(+354) 486 8894
fridheimar@fridheimar.is
Open from noon – 4pm daily. I strongly recommend making a reservation.