Agnar Sverrisson’s modern European food combines seasonal British ingredients with Icelandic specialities, serving rustic, Nordic-inflected plates that highlight textural contrast and clean, intense flavours. With accomplished technical skills developed in some of London’s best restaurants and honed during his time as head chef at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir, his dishes look deceptively simple, though they taste anything but.
Agnar Sverrisson was not a boy who dreamed of cooking – he took up his first position as a chef in 1992 'just to try to be something'. However White Heat – Marco Pierre White’s seminal book – was an early inspiration and he says reading about White’s cooking and passion 'literally changed my life'. His first head chef job came in 1998 at the Grill Room in Reykjavík, but realising that career progression as a chef meant leaving Iceland, he set off for the UK.
Still an ardent admirer of White, he ate as often as he could in both The Oak Room and Marco’s Restaurant, trying unsuccessfully for two years to gain a position under the chef. Instead he began work at Mosimann’s in Westminster, followed by a spell at Pied à Terre in Fitzrovia under Tom Aikens and a short time at Gordon Ramsay’s Pétrus, under Marcus Wareing. A year living in Luxembourg followed, working as sous chef to Lea Linster – the only female to have won the Bocuse D’or – at her eponymous restaurant.
His most significant professional training came in 2002, in his role as junior sous chef at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, working under executive head chef Gary Jones and owner Raymond Blanc. He describes his first two years there are extremely challenging. But Agnar (or 'Aggi', to his friends) rose quickly, an especially tough job in a kitchen of forty-two chefs. He was always asking questions and pushing himself, something Raymond admired. His time at Le Manoir taught him about seasonal produce, freshness and the clean, pure, precise flavours his food is famous for.
After two years at Le Manoir, he was offered the head chef position – an opportunity he was reluctant to take, as he already had plans for his own restaurant firmly in mind. But he knew it would open many doors, so he accepted. As he worked on his own plans, Blanc and Jones were with him every step of the way, offering support, flexibility, introducing investors and even multiple revisions of his business plan. Becoming both a mentor and friend, when Agnar was taken sick in Chicago, Blanc even had a ten-course dinner from the city’s best restaurant sent to his bed.
In 2007, after nearly three years of planning, Agnar opened his restaurant Texture. Months later, Texture was named New Restaurant of the Year by The Independent and its Michelin star came in 2010. It also holds four AA rosettes, as well as a variety of other impressive accolades.
Agnar describes the food at Texture as 'modern European with Scandinavian influences' and as the name suggests, there is a focus on 'combining and emphasising different consistencies'. The very best seasonal British produce is at the heart of his cuisine, which is more rustic and closer to nature in its unfussy presentation than the fine dining of Agnar's past. While it isn't an Icelandic restaurant, there are subtle hints of the country's influence, with ingredients from his native land such as lamb, cod, langoustine, skyr (a cultured dairy product like yoghurt) and wild herbs sprinkled throughout the menu. Traditional Nordic techniques such as salting cod also make an appearance, but they are used with a judicious hand. The food is light and healthy, with no cream or butter used in the menu, and the flavours are clean and pure.
Seafood is a speciality, accounting for around two-thirds of the menu – Raymond Blanc has described his restaurant as being 'to fish what St John is to offal' – with plates such as Icelandic cod loin with cod brandade, avocado relish and chorizo, and Skate with barley risotto, prawns and Sauternes sauce. Vegetables are also celebrated at Texture and the restaurant features vegetarian tasting menus with dishes such as English beetroot with goat cheese snow, oat biscuits and mizuna and Cauliflower textures (florets, pickles, ‘couscous’, purée) with quinoa and barley. Meats are also represented by popular dishes like Anjou quail with bacon popcorn and corn purée and Beef fillet and cheeks with horseradish purée, olive oil sabayon and a red wine jus.
In 2010, Agnar opened 28º– 50º Fetter Lane in Holborn, a wine bar and restaurant which serves a relaxed modern European menu, features thirty wines available by the glass and offers a programme of wine tastings, workshops and themed dinners. A second branch, 28º– 50º Marylebone Lane, in Marylebone followed in 2012 and a third, 28º– 50º Maddox Street, in Mayfair in 2013.
Although Texture very much remains his focus – there is a separate executive chef, Ben Mellor, at his wine bars – Agnar is still involved in the menus and his time with Raymond shines through. Dishes such as salmon gravlax and twenty-eight-day aged rib eye steak with béarnaise sauce highlight the modern European inflection of the menu.
Despite his role as head chef at Le Manoir, Agnar was previously little known. But he has finally made a name for himself as a highly skilled and accomplished chef, as well as an astute and successful business owner with four establishments (and counting) under his belt. His creativity and technical skill ensure intense, unadulterated flavours grace every plate that leaves his kitchen and the rustic influence of Nordic cuisine continues to dazzle.
