FZN by Björn Frantzén - Dubai
Where the magic happens
Rating: 17/20
Where: Dubai, UAE
When: Dinner for 1 on 27 May 2025
Cost per Person: Tasting menu 2000 AED, Wine pairing 1400-5000 AED
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: Scandinavian cuisine with Japanese influences; amazing service
Björn Frantzén has clearly hit on a winning formula. The Swedish chef is now the only one with three three-Michelin-starred restaurants to his name. It started with his eponymous restaurant Frantzén in Stockholm, then Zén in Singapore, and now the not-easy-to-pronounce FZN in Dubai. The setups are all similar: one rings a doorbell to be let in, starts the evening in a lounge with some appetizers and a presentation of the ingredients to be used during the dinner. The main part of the meal transpires in a different space (usually a counter around an open kitchen), before concluding again in a lounge - possibly the same one as in the beginning. This progression through rooms and presentation of ingredients has had a big influence in the fine-dining world, and can now be found in many other restaurants around the world.
Usually, I wouldn't dine at a restaurant halfway around the world just five days after it received three Michelin stars. But I realized that Dubai wouldn't really be a more “convenient” destination for me at any point in the foreseeable future, either. With temperatures increasing from very hot to unbearably hot over the coming months, I figured that I might as well go sooner rather than later. The only downside was that I had to go by myself, since it was too short notice to drag one of my regular dining companions along. Interestingly, last-minute reservations were quite easy to come by. I have to assume that curious locals would already have visited since FZN’s opening in November 2024, and foreign travelers would tend to avoid Dubai in late May as temperatures were already topping 40 degrees Celsius with stifling humidity.
FZN is located in the sprawling “Atlantis - The Palm” hotel complex, but the restaurant was easy find when walking from the nearby Monorail stop - I literally couldn’t help but run into its sister restaurant “Studio Frantzén” on the way to the hotel, and FZN is accessible through an (admittedly less obvious) door to its left.
The restaurant served just a single tasting menu, so the only choice I had to make was what to drink. There were three wine pairings on offer, priced at 1400, 3000 and 5000 AED, and a non-alcoholic pairing for 750 AED. The eye-watering prices for the pairings were mostly explained by the substantial import taxes levied on wines in Dubai. I chose the 1400 AED pairing, and quite liked its sweeter wines (a Riesling, a Madeira and the dessert wine). The rest of the wines were decent, but not necessarily outstanding.
The dinner began with a few appetizers in the lounge, located two floors up from the restaurant’s entrance. First, a choux pastry filled with a cheese sauce. Served warm, it was crunchy and had a surprisingly light shell, meaning that even with the cheesy filling it didn't feel too heavy 17.
Next, a little taco shall made from celeriac was filled with a langoustine tartare, finger limes, and accents of vanilla, orange and fennel. The first thing one noticed about this dish was its punchy acidity, followed by the crunch of the taco shell. The finger limes really drove this dish, with the rest of the ingredients creating a nice background 18. A soft buckwheat blini was topped with an otoro (tuna) tartare, seasoned with ponzu, myoga blossoms, wasabi and Arima sansho pepper. Even though the ingredients were Japanese, this was definitely not the usual Japanese (i.e. restrained) level of flavors. The seasoning of the tuna was very strong and quite delicious. The dish was not spicy as such, it merely ended on an aftertaste of sansho pepper 18.
At that point, I was invited to take a look at the ingredients that would be used for the remainder of the dinner. Almost all of them were imported - even the eggs came from Denmark. Two more snacks were served during this presentation. The first one was based on “råraka”, a Swedish potato dish. This bite had a base of potatoes topped with creme fraiche, lemon juice, shallots, pickled onions and chives. A crunchy, creamy treat with some welcome acidity from the pickled onions 17. Next was a yuba tartlet filled with ricotta, green asparagus and seasoned with vadouvan spice. Another nice bite, with some crunch from the tartlet and the green asparagus 16.
After the ingredient presentation, I took the elevator down one floor and was led through the wine cellar to the prep kitchen. Here, nothing was actively being prepared, but a chef showed me how to chuck a live scallop, all the while explaining its anatomy and extracting the adductor muscle, the part commonly eaten. This scallop was then transferred to the main kitchen, to be served just a few minutes later. You can't beat such freshness, and it was a nice educational use of a kitchen tour. Arriving in the main dining room, I was introduced to all the chefs and seated at the wooden counter surrounding the open kitchen. There were also a few tables on the side, all having decent views of the kitchen as well.
The first dish served at the counter featured the aforementioned scallop, prepared as a tartare. It was seasoned with fermented apricots and colatura (an Italian fish sauce), and came covered with cone-shaped sliced turnips. A vinaigrette of apricots, tomatoes and orange blossoms was added tableside. The scallop felt very fresh, there was some spice in the tartare, and some light fruit flavor throughout. But unfortunately, the flavors of this dish were pretty light overall; their intensity was a big step down from the appetizers 16.
This was followed by a langoustine tail whose bottom was coated with puffed koshihikari rice. Next to it was a bowl with dipping sauces: a butter-yuzu emulsion and a choron sauce (a tomato béarnaise). (The bowl on the top left in the picture contained water to clean one's hands.) This dish was served very hot, and the rice made it nicely crunchy. Dipping the langoustine into the sauce led to a mix of tomato and butter flavors, a bit reminiscent of dipping fried seafood into ketchup. Quite good, and definitely far elevated from this somewhat unfair comparison, but still feeling a bit “simpler” than the preceding dishes 17.
Somehow, I managed not to take a picture of the next dish. It was a chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard) that was topped with grilled razor clams, uni (sea urchin) and a cured and smoked beef broth. The light custard was nice, the clams fresh with some texture, but the most notable feature of this dish was its acidic sauce. That sauce perfectly balanced any heaviness one might have felt from the custard or the beef broth. The latter added some mouthfeel thanks to its fat, and probably gave the dish some more oomph overall. A lovely combination. I definitely wouldn't mind returning to snap a picture of this dish (with the added bonus of trying it again) 19.
A turbot skirt filet was served with a beurre blanc, chopped walnuts, tahini and N25 caviar. Drizzled over the dish was some brown butter and walnut oil. I wonder if the addition of walnuts was a subtle nod to Middle Eastern cuisine? In any case, the nuts were the only aspect of the dish that I found a bit hard to get used to - there were nutty flavors throughout, in addition to some lightly crunchy walnuts hidden under the fish. Other than the nuts, though, this dish was pretty nice: the fish had some bite, and the sauce was not too heavy thanks to a judicious use of acidity. Very well executed, just not entirely my thing 17.
FZN's version of a French toast consisted of a spelt/sourdough bread, topped with a green onion emulsion, sumac-spiced grilled mussels, Japanese mustard and some charcuterie made from 30-day-aged Australian Angus sirloin beef seasoned with ponzu and lime zest. That's quite a list of ingredients, but they all pretty much blended together, which one could take as a good thing (the flavors were nicely balanced) or a bad thing (nothing really stood out flavorwise). There were hints of seafood, of fattiness, of crunchiness from the toast and some nice acidity that kept the dish from feeling too heavy 17.
Next, a dish that has been a staple at every Frantzén restaurant since the very beginning: a combination of onions, almonds and licorice. The exact presentation varies, and this time it was a onion puree veloute, with chopped toasted almonds, a milk foam, a licorice cream and almond oil. Tastewise, the dish revolved around caramelized onions and crunchy almonds; I couldn't really detect any licorice - which, since I'm not a big fan, is actually not a bad thing. The almond pieces were surprisingly large, maybe smaller might have been better? This dish managed to be a savory dish that had lots of aspects of a dessert, and it therefore went nicely with the paired Madeira 18.
Sadly, it was already time for the last savory course. The main course centered on a guinea fowl that had been grilled whole. The plate contained the bird's breast, along with some white asparagus, wild garlic and morel mushrooms filled with the farce of the bird. A sauce périgourdine (a truffle sauce), mints and cucumber flowers completed the dish. The breast was cooked firm, and went well with the sauce, which provided some acidity and umami. The morels were also acidic on the outside, and their filling felt like a nicely seasoned sausage - my favorite part of the dish. The overall preparation came across as a bit rustic, probably intentionally. My main nitpick would be that the dish ended up being a tad too acidic 17. This course was the only one paired with two different wines. In my wine pairing, those were two pinot noirs, one from Burgundy and the other from Sonoma Country in California. While slightly different, they both fit the food well. This last savory course was also accompanied by the only bread serving of the night. Parker house rolls were paired with three different kinds of butter, laminated together: a French salted butter, a truffle butter and a butter made with a shallot confit. The bread was served hot and had an airy consistency. The butters were a lovely complement 17.
The first of two desserts was a semi-frozen lingonberry marshmallow, topped with spruce oil, black currants, aged balsamic vinegar and a rose powder. The dish had a strong berry flavor. Frozen, crunchy, fruity, what's not the like? 17
Finally, two fresh, heart-shaped waffles that had been made with matcha and topped with roasted pistachios and vanilla oil. They were served with a mixture of cloudberry jam, matcha, pistachio brittle, a caramelized earl gray mousse, milky oolong oil and a carrot ice cream. Definitely a dessert heavy on different kinds of tea, at least ingredient-wise. From a taste perspective, the lovely waffles and their toppings had a noticeable crunch from the pistachios and a strong vanilla flavor. The dips merged into in a creamy mixture, where even the carrots didn't particularly stand out 17.
The dinner concluded with another sojourn in the lounge. Tea, coffee or stronger beverage options were offered. A small fruit plate contained a Japanese muskmelon and a Miyazaki mango. The muskmelon seemed to have a bit of seasoning, and was quite delicious. The sweet mango was equally good 18.
Eight choices of petit fours and some mini madeleines concluded the dinner. The madeleines were surprisingly light, and disappeared in no time 17. Then there were three kinds of macaroons. Pistachio/hoshigaki was neither very sweet nor did it taste very much of pistachios 16. Sea buckthorn/saffron had lots of sweetness, which did a great job of balancing the sea buckthorn's acidity. Lovely 18. Third, coffee/coconut had a strong coffee flavor 17. Two pate de fruits followed. Chamomile/gooseberry was quite sour, reminiscent of sour apples 15. Lingonberry/espelette was lightly fruity with a noticeable pepper note 15. Finally, three chocolate pralines. Raspberry/beets had a pronounced beet flavor - quite interesting 15. Yuzu/blueberry tasted mostly of white chocolate with a light yuzu flavor 15. Walnut/cep mushrooms was shaped like a walnut, and had a light mushroom flavor, but wasn't very nutty. A bit odd at first, but it that grew on me 14.
The service throughout the dinner was exceptional, even by three-star standards. The whole staff were very welcoming, taking time to ask me where I was from, marveling at the fact that I had been to both sister restaurants, and comparing notes on when they had worked there. Essentially the entire staff (front and back of the house) have been recruited from around the world, many from Frantzén's other restaurants. Water was always refilled, empty glasses and plates whisked away, napkins replaced, a real three-star level of service. And it seemed effortless - which means that it probably was nothing of the sort, since making it look easy is generally very hard.
Overall: A well-executed dinner of Scandinavian-inspired, Japanese-influenced cuisine with only minimal nods to its location in Dubai. The service was excellent: friendly and operating like a well-oiled machinery even though the restaurant had been open for less than seven months. Foodwise, I found the experience a bit weaker than my visits to Frantzén and Zén, more a strong two stars than its newly acquired three. What was the main difference then, since the food looked very similar at first glance? Probably the more aggressive use of flavors and seasonings at Frantzén that resulted in dishes that “popped” more, and thus made them seem more distinctive. At FZN, flavors tended to be a bit more mellow, or blended together more. But all nitpicking aside, this was a lovely dinner 17.
