What it’s like to eat at FZN, superstar chef Björn Frantzén’s new Dubai restaurant


A lot of things in Dubai aren’t real. Take, for example, the artificial, palm-shaped island The Palm Jumeirah. It houses the extravagant Atlantis resorts, the Palm and The Royal, both teeming with a bevy of cosmetically-enhanced clientele. However, Swedish superstar chef Björn Frantzén setting up shop here is very much a reality. In November, after a year-long construction process, the long-awaited ‘FZN’ restaurant finally opened its doors in The Palm’s glitzy premises.

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Like Frantzén in Stockholm, dining at FZN is an experience unfolding over two floors and several stations. Pressing a silver doorbell at the ornate entrance, a door opens, and an elevator transports us to a hall decked with pickling jars, leading down to a cosy, art-filled living room with plush armchairs, sofas, and white-clad chefs tweezering with our appetisers in the open kitchen. Here, we enjoy choux de Bourgogne with a creamy cheese filling and a dusting of koji powder and a crispy taco of burnt celeriac filled with langoustine claws, mayonnaise, and finger lime.

Steely Dan's ‘Do it Again’ comes through the speakers. We wouldn’t mind a re-do, come to think of it, but instead we are taken to the marbled counter of the open kitchen, where a sliding door in the counter reveals a box containing some of tonight’s ingredients on ice. There’s live langoustines and scallops still in their shell, winter truffles from Périgord, and marbled wagyu beef fillet.

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At the counter, Frantzén’s signature råraka roll is served; a fried potato cylinder filled with crème fraiche and Kalix löjrom and topped with pickled beetroot rings. Pure indulgence. There’s an ornate Jerusalem artichoke tart filled with truffle purée and punched out circles of apple, Jerusalem artichoke and truffle, glazed with an intense koji oil and finished off with a sprinkling of gold leaf that seems rather unnecessary. But hey, this is Dubai, right?

Now, back to the elevator and one floor down to the dimly lit dining room. The centrepiece is the counter, with full view of the open, red-tiled kitchen where chefs tend to the open fire, emitting a comforting smell of smoke. Bishop Design has drawn the lines for the interiors and it’s like a Vegas casino in the windowless room, allowing guests to lose themselves in time and place.

We particularly lose ourselves in a serving of sweet and mineral sea urchin – uni – flown in from Hokkaido and served on a velvety chawanmushi – Japanese egg custard – along with pieces of grilled razor clams and a rich bouillon made with cecina – smoked and dried top round of beef. Simply irresistible. Björn Frantzén already has three-stars at Frantzén in Stockholm and at Zén in Singapore. In Dubai, he’s clearly aiming at completing his Michelin hat-trick. Down here, the FZN kitchen is helmed by Danish chef Torsten Vildgaard, who played a vital role in Noma’s rebirth as head of the test kitchen. Almost two years ago, he accepted Frantzén’s offer to become executive head chef in Dubai. After only three months open, chef Vildgaard and FZN are already making their mark; a few courses into the tasting menu, Vildgaard suddenly turns up in the kitchen, high-fiving all the staff. Turns out he’s been out reaping rewards at the Gault & Millau UAE Awards, taking home awards for ‘Breakthrough Restaurant of the Year’ and ‘International Brand of the Year’.

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“I’m very happy, and this is a fantastic way to start things here,” says Vildgaard. He spent a year sourcing the best ingredients and purveyors to convey Frantzén’s signature style; an effortless mix of bold Scandinavian flavours and French tradition, accentuated by nods to Japan and beyond and elevated by pristine ingredients handpicked from around the world. For instance, there’s a giant Norwegian langoustine, underside coated in powdered Japanese koshihikari rice and then deep-fried exactly 8 seconds before being served with a hollandaise-like ginger butter emulsion and sauce choron (tomato hollandaise).

There’s Frantzén’s signature caramelised onion soup with caramelised onion purée, almond milk foam, Spanish Marcona almonds, and a Scandi touch of liquorice cream and liquorice root powder. And there’s butter-poached turbot in a buttery whey sauce with browned butter, the fish covered with spoonfuls of Oscietra caviar upon serving. And of course, the signature fried sourdough bread, which Vildgaard dresses in front of our eyes with cream of parmesan, 25-year-old balsamic vinegar, and slivers of French black Périgord truffle. No leaf gold needed – this is luxurious enough on its own.

The evening concludes on the outside terrace of the lounge with a view of Dubai’s skyline. We might be on an artificial island, but the experience at FZN feels very real.