Frantzén — Restaurant in Stockholm

Ok here we go folks. Time for the main culinary event of any trip to Stockholm and/or your entire life. Björn Frantzén finally got his third star after opening Frantzén 2.0 back in 2017. The new venue is essentially perfect in every way and it clearly shows that this has been designed from the ground up. Quite literally as they have a lobby where you are welcomed and then you take the elevator up to the lounge while Welcome to the Jungle is playing for some reason.

In the lounge they serve a couple of snacks while you peruse the beverage options. Much like any restaurant of this standard they offer a selection of wine packages and juice options. After the snacks they take you to a box where they show and describe the ingredients that they will be using tonight. Don't worry if this takes a while because they will happily refill your glass of hilariously expensive champagne while you listen to the cheerful server describing the ingredients.

Then it is time for the main event. The dining room is located downstairs and it is a long bar style table around the kitchen. Beware of that while it is interesting to see the chefs work you will be sitting next to other diners. This is thus not exactly the most romantic setting for a date or something.

The food is perfect. That is the only way to describe it. Standout dishes include a langoustine that you eat with your hands, a sublime piece of cod with a mound of caviar on top, and lamb cooked over an open wood flame.

After dinner you get served petit-fours in the lounge which was a great way to end the meal.

The service is excellent as in any 3-star restaurant. Friendly yet not imposing. I did notice that the timing of the servings was perfect as well with just the right amount of time between dishes.

We paid about 16000 SEK(~$1600) for two people including wine, champagne, and coffee. This is of course a lot, on the expensive side even considering the quality and location, but I think that it was still worth it.

Oh! They also have the best bread of any restaurant I've ever been to and that is saying a lot. They will keep asking if you want more until you tell them to stop. It is delicious I know but please save room for the petit-fours!

So there you go. You paid $1600 for dinner for two but you still feel like you got your money's worth. Does it...

We were lucky enough to snag a reservation for Frantzen’s last day of service before their Christmas break, so naturally, we booked a trip around it, and went and enjoyed what is said to be the best restaurant in the Nordic region. I have to say, this is my first visit to the Nordics, my first fine dining meal in the Nordics, and my second? Neo-Nordic meal, but boy, did we feel like we were dining at the highest level of execution. Our meal starts in the “living room” per se, where we are greeted with our amuse bouchés.

A blend of amazing seasonal tarts, as well as some real Frantzen classics - the raraka, the assortment of ingredients being shown to us while eating on foie gras macarons, kick off one of the best dining experiences we have ever had.

Then we are taken downstairs, where our meal kicks off proper. The best langoustine we have tried , hands down, the unforgettable aged pork broth chawanmushi, a very finely cooked monkfish, served with beurre blanc with acidic and hot undertones; the famous black truffle and cheese french toast, and the ever so lovely almond onion soup. A good selection of wines by the glass, with occasional top ups by the serving staff, and an AMAZING non alcoholic beverage programme. The best we have ever tried.

The meal concludes upstairs, back in the living room, where we enjoy the tower of petit fours and the ever so famous miso madeleines. Frantzen is truly one of the best establishments in the world, offering premium ingredients (A5 wagyu, caviar, truffle) at no extra supplemental charges to the menu. This makes it, in my books, terrific value.

The service staff are professional, kind, but also joke around. The space feels almost casual, like you are surrounded by friends, dining in a friend’s place. This all contrasts the seriousness of the food you are about to try, world class if I’ve ever seen one.

A faultless evening, truly memorable, young, knowledgeable staff, perfectly executed food, this all amounts to an evening to remember. Definitely worth the hassle of trying to secure a booking, and I am sure as hell doing...

After trying to make a reservation for two months with no luck, I finally received a notification two days before the booking date, once I had arrived in Stockholm, that there was a cancellation and asked if I wanted to take the spot. Having given up hope, I was excited to get another chance. This three-Michelin-starred restaurant blends Nordic and Japanese culinary styles. However, their chawanmushi had cheese in it, which felt a bit unusual for someone used to more traditional Eastern flavours.

My favourite dish was the langoustine, which was steamed and served on a crispy layer, paired with sauce and eaten by hand—both fresh and delicious. Another standout was the aged turbot, served with fresh Japanese wasabi. The taste was incredibly unique, and I learned that the wasabi was grown in Iceland. Farmers had imported wasabi seeds from Japan and successfully cultivated them locally, eliminating the need for long-distance imports.

The chef’s menu also included caviar on French toast and foie gras with quail, both of which were quite salty—likely a reflection of the local taste. The dessert, served with a roasted pastry, was delightful. When the chef saw that we had finished it, they generously brought us another one, but we were simply too full to eat any more. There were plenty of post-meal sweets, and guests were free to relax in the lounge, sipping coffee and enjoying dessert for as long as they liked.

Overall, Frantzén left me with the impression of great generosity. For two people, paired with non-alcoholic drinks and a 15% service charge, the total bill came...