Frantzen (Stockholm, Sweden)

Did you miss me?  Wait, don’t answer that.  I absolutely know you’ve missed me (even if you’re sitting at your computer saying hell no).  I took the summer off to focus on other things besides food.  Hey, did you know that you can actually save money by not eating out?  I’ve learned so much.  Like.. Butterflies were once caterpillars and O.J. might’ve done it.   I had so much time on my hands that I actually went out and applied for a passport!  This little capitalistic booklet gives me the opportunity to now travel to places that I’ve been saving on social media.  Provocative!

Now that I’m ready to dine in areas with countries I can’t pronounce, I can now say it was totally worth waking up at 4 a.m. EST to make a reservation at this 3 Michelin-Starred establishment.  Frantzen, ranked number 21 on the World’s Best 50 Restaurants, is led by a former football player turned chef.  The restaurant represents a unique Nordic cuisine that’s inspired by local and international tradition with Asian flares.  The experience you get is truly a journey that’ll send your taste buds to depths they’ve never been during your 10 course experience.  From the minute you walk in until you leave the restaurant, you are treated like the one and only customer.

The courses ranged from Foie Gras Macaroons to Guinea Fowl.  The ten course dinner started off with four canapes to mentally prepare you for what was in store.  Trout Roe Tarlet, Foie Gras Macaroon, Raraka, and a Celeriac and Truffle bite.  The Trout Roe Tarlet was one of the best bites I’ve had in all my years.  It was creamy, salty, and had the perfect texture.  It had a cream cheese after taste with a robust salty flavor coming from the Roe.  The bite was the Foie Gras Macaroon.  A smooth, silky, buttery flavor that also had the perfect crunch from the exterior cookie.  The Raraka is one of their signature dishes which could be best explained as a home made fried potato topped with vendace roe.  This was one of my least favorite dishes of the night, but was still very good.  The potato flavor combined with the saltiness of the Roe added a familiar highlight from the previous dish, but one that was more hearty.  The last dish was their “24 Karat Gold” dish.   It was a Celeriac and Truffle bit with argan oil, and Swedish maple syrup which wrapped up the four canapes of the evening.  This dish was sweet, earthy, and one of the most beautiful dishes of the night.

Once you’ve finished with the canapes, one of the chef’s will take you to a desk where they will present to you what will be in your courses for the rest of your visit.  My courses consisted of Scallop Crudo, Onion Licorice Almond, King Crab, Monkfish, Cod, French Toast, and Guinea Fowl.  The Scallop Crudo and Onion Licorice dishes are the ones I’ll start off reviewing.  Before the Scallop Crudo is presented to you,  you are given a kitchen tour to see how the dish is made.  A fresh scallop that has been shucked from it’s shell is served sashimi style in salted plum water.  You can literally taste the ocean with each bite of this dish and worked well with the slightly tart flavoring of the plum.  The Onion Licorice Almond soup was the next dish.  This had a very mellow and sweet taste, with a slightly bitter edge.  Licorice can be known to be very bitter, and to make sure it didn’t over-power the rest of the soup was note-worthy.

Two Crab dishes were presented.  One in the form of a Japanese influenced style consisting of Blue Lobster, Crispy Rice and an Emulsion of Artichoke.  The buttery flavor of the crab to go with the crispiness of the rice showed me why I took a seven hour flight to this restaurant.  I was surprised by how much the mild flavor of the Artichoke was hidden within the other flavors of the dish because it can known to be over-powering, but it had the right balance.  The next dish was the Chawanmushi.  It consisted of Steamed King Crab, Foie Gras, Pak Choy, Aged Broth, and Truffle Broth.  Have you ever exhaled loudly after a bite?  Embarrassing right?  Well, this was me after trying to take my time devouring this dish.  Meaty, earthy, and salty flavors from the broth helped bring together the liver taste of the Foie Gras and the celery flavoring of the Pak Choy.

The Monkfish and Cod were up next.  The Monkfish was presented on top of a Fermented Mushroom Tea and Artichoke Miso.  The Monkfish had a very firm texture and a light flavoring, which worked well with the combination of the mild flavoring of the Mushroom Tea.  The Cod was next up and my favorite fish of the night.  It was topped with Caviar, Sake, Razor Clams, and Sprouted Walnut.  The light flavoring of the Sake to go along with the nutty flavor of the walnuts worked hand in hand.  I thought the dish would be a bit much with the amount of Caviar that was provided, but I could tell the fish was lightly seasoned so the overall dish wouldn’t be too salty.  If I had the opportunity to order this dish over a hundred times, I absolutely would.

The final two savory courses consisted of Truffle French Toast and Guinea Fowl.  The French Toast consisted of freshly shaved Black Truffles, “vacche rosse”, and vinegar aged on juniper wood.  Think of this dish as the perfect French Toast bite with a hint of sweet cream cheese and a mixture of chocolaty, nutty, and earthy flavor from the Truffle.  It was recommended to eat this dish in one bite, but unfortunately I inhaled it as soon as it was presented to me.  Last but not least was the Guinea Fowl.  It consisted of roasted pine nut, fermented pepper, and yellow pea condiment.  Guinea Fowl has a similar taste to pheasant minus the gamey flavor.  The meat was juicy and the girolles, which sometimes can be described as apricots, gave off a perfect flavoring with the spiciness of the Kampot pepper jus.

The desserts of the night consisted of “your choosing” and Salted Carrot Tea Ice Cream.  The Salted Carrot Tea Ice Cream had a very unique taste because it literally tasted like Carrots and Tea.  It wasn’t my favorite, but I can understand how one would appreciate the uniqueness of the dish.  You are also presented with a cart full of Macaroons and other desserts which can be the form of a Pig Blood or Peanut Butter and Jelly bites.  I was so full at the end of the meal, that I didn’t get a chance to really enjoy the desserts that were given.  The way the overall experience went, I’d bet that it would’ve capped off the perfect ending.

Overall, this restaurant is literally the best restaurant I’ve been to thus far.  The experience is unmatched, the presentation is award-winning, and the customer service is like you created the person yourself.  This restaurant is ten times better than your wildest standard of any restaurant you could image.

OVERALL RATING : FIRST CLASS EXPERIENCE