“We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of the dreams…” ~ W. Wonka
This post could have easily been titled… “Where Willy Wonka lives” and it would have been just as accurate. You see there is a place, a place where fantasy is reality and reality is… well, you get the picture. This last visit was my 3rd to Frantzén and while the review will mainly be about this meal, it will also be a bit of a compilation of my experiences there, as part of the magic of this place is the interwoven nature of the sights, sounds and emotions taking place behind a somewhat nondescript door at 26 Klara Nora Kyrkogata.
So for those of you wondering, the best restaurant in the world is in Stockholm, Sweden 🇸🇪. Yes, Stockholm. 🛑 My apologies to other fine dining establishments in NYC, London, San Sebastién and even Tokyo? But it is clear to me that there is no place in the world doing the things that the Team at Frantzén are doing (nor having as much fun doing them). This alone, this joy de vivre, makes it unique – but when paired with the innovation, food, staging and service? There simply is no other place like it.
What to say now in my 3rd review of this magical place? That the food is amazing? The room(s) are beautiful? the Team warm and engaging? All of those things are true. But it really is quite difficult to describe differently from my previous reviews an experience so amazing, so unique and also so familiar. Perhaps an alliterative approach will do it more justice? To me, Frantzen is: Fantastic, Fascinating, Faultless. It is Fearless, Fetching and a little Fiendish 😈 But more than anything, Frantzen is FUN. It represents something different in the world of fine dining, something transformative. It takes the act of presenting a world-class, Michelin 3-star meal, turns it on its head and sets it to music. Think Gran Cru poured along with Earth Wind and Fire or 40-day dry aged spring lamb with a side of The Smiths. Frantzén delivers a matchless experience with equal measures of creativity, excellence and wonder. If there is a finer, more gracious or singular restaurant anywhere? I don’t know it.
This last meal was dinner and it was once again a journey around the globe but with a Nordic worldview 🌍. From the first (Bottomless) glass of vintage Krug to the last sip of port, the seemingly endless array of dishes were to a point? Perfect. Velvety canapés, impossibly tasty deep-fried langoustine, Halibut with caviar made especially for the restaurant, Monkfish with a deep, fermented mushroom broth, grilled white asparagus, tender spring lamb w/ peas and mint.
But the star of the night… was a chawanmushi topped with king crab, local ramps, two types of caviar and an aged pork / truffle jus that was savagely delicious. This single dish was worth the price of admission and made the long journey here ✈️ merely an afterthought. It is beautiful, it is creative, its a dish that mesmerizes you and it is simply the single best bite of food I have ever had. 💯
Diners tip: For a brief moment I believed that the best chwanmushi anyplace was at @Quay in Sydney, with an impossibly light and flavorful crab / lotus root number…but the Chefs at Frantzén have rightfully regained the title 🏆 and I don’t see this one being easily surpassed.
If possible, the only thing better than the food at Frantzen is their amazing Team. Just like the unmistakable strings of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” which plays as you enter the lounge, they too embrace a spirit that has no boundaries, no rules. It’s in the greetings, the smiles, the willingness to engage and share. You are not so much a guest at Frantzén as you are a friend. A special friend. The rooms, lighting and music – all curated in a bespoke way to insure that your experience with them is first rate and unforgettable. Just like the song warns, they take you off with them to Never Neverland.
Frantzén is a place of wonder and warmth, curating amazement and executing with precision. But what matters most is the spirit and energy of this place. Carl, Julia, Klara and the entire Team simply make you feel and that really is the best of things. Simply put? Frantzén is my happy place.
Metallica playing at a Michelin 3-star restaurant? Yep, 🏴☠️ But that’s Frantzén. Unapologetic in it’s approach, they want you to have fun, to be yourself, to enjoy and to remember. My dinner companion commented, that “This feels like you’re having dinner at a friends house…” and nothing I can say captures the spirit of Frantzen better than that. The World’s top 50 list for 2019 is shortly to come out.. and regardless of where this remarkable place lands, it is clearly #1 to me and most likely will be for a very long time. Frantzén is a memory, a vision. It is beautiful, it is honest and it LIVES OUT LOUD.
In a galaxy full of Michelin stars ✨ Frantzen is a supernova… Shine Frantzén, shine.
Aspire 