Þorrablót dare + Apotek cocktails

Þorri is the old Icelandic midwinter month, roughly late January to late February. For those four weeks many restaurants run a Þorrablót platter — a sampler of the food Iceland's ancestors made it through winter on, before refrigeration was an option.

You are looking at hákarl (fermented Greenland shark, famously pungent), hrútspungar (pickled ram's testicles), lundabaggi (rolled lamb), blóðmör (blood pudding), sviðasulta (jellied sheep's head), and the much gentler hangikjöt (smoked lamb) and rúgbrauð (geothermally-baked rye). Café Loki across from Hallgrímskirkja does a tourist-friendly version with a guide to what everything is. Take the shot of brennivín afterwards. That is the protocol.

When you are done — and you will be done — walk eight minutes to Apotek on Austurstræti. Former pharmacy, high ceilings, long bar, heavy crystal, competent bartenders. Order a Manhattan, or a mezcal-based anything, and watch colour return to each other's faces.