In a coarse but colorful looking building covered in graffiti on Frakkastígur in the old east-town of Reykjavík, a new bakery just opened. The owners of the building are members of the Ananda Marga yoga movement and move slowly in renovations according to Helga Stefánsdóttir one of the owners. The aim is to open a yoga center on the second floor when renovations are completed and fire precautions are in place.
Brauð & Co bakery, partly owned by Ágúst Einþórsson, a learned Konditor educated and stationed in Denmark for a few years, is a welcome addition to the bakery flora of the city. They exclusively offer sour-doe bread and when possible, breads made from organic ingredients. With him in the operation is self-proclaimed sour-doe enthusiast and singer of Hjálmar, Sigurður Guðmundsson.
Einþórsson says the reception in the neighborhood has exceeded their expectations by far; people wander into the bakery and can hardly believe their own eyes when confronted with the contrast of the exterior of the building and the delicious interior of the bakery. He goes on to say that there is no hurry to paint the house, he has nothing against the graffiti, that it’s the quality of the bakery that matters. His mission is to revisit the old and basic bread making methods and introduce what sour-doe bread is actually about. People are free to their opinions about the exterior of the house how they pleas so long as they judge the bread on its own merit.