100 chefs will compete for victory in TV4's new major team competition this fall. It's a large team competition where star chefs can compete in challenges side by side with someone who owns a food truck or works in a school cafeteria.
Björn Frantzén is a program host and head judge. It's precisely the similarity to teamwork in a restaurant kitchen that attracted him to television.
It doesn't matter how good Cristiano Ronaldo, Leo Messi or Zlatan are. They need a damn good team to go all the way. That's what I think is the fun dynamic of this.
Frying pancakes
Björn Frantzén runs Frantzén in Stockholm, Sweden's only three-star restaurant, and a challenge in the competition could be to cook one of his signature dishes. But don't expect the challenges in "100 Knives" to be just about "fine dining".
It will be everything between high and low. Like frying pancakes, but without being able to Google a recipe. For example, I think the star chefs will have to struggle more than a preschool chef.
Attracted to television
Frantzén runs nine restaurants around the world and is opening another restaurant in central Stockholm this summer. So how will he manage his TV job?
We actually record during the day. I have Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays off. And there are evenings to work, too. I don't feel there's any concern that it will affect my restaurants. I never would have done it otherwise.
As a star chef, he doesn't need more of the spotlight, but the television industry has attracted Björn Frantzén for a long time. Now he's making his debut as a program host.
"I promised myself that I wouldn't sit at the end of my life rocking in a rocking chair and regretting things or wondering what would have happened if I had done this or that. You have to try some things in life," he says.
"100 Knives" will be broadcast on TV4 this fall.
Mikael Forsell/TT
Facts: Björn Frantzén
TT
He is 48 years old. He had his breakthrough in 2008 with the restaurant Frantzén/Lindeberg in Stockholm, together with partner Daniel Lindeberg. In 2017, the new restaurant Frantzén opened, Sweden's first to receive three stars from the prestigious Guide Michelin.
Frantzén also operates the three-star restaurants Zén and FNZ in Singapore and Dubai, respectively, as well as additional restaurants in Stockholm, Bangkok, Singapore, London, Dubai and Marbella.
This summer, restaurant Emberlin will open at Stureplan in Stockholm.
"We will open the first week of July. Stockholm is becoming so international now that you actually can do it. With that location, with that outdoor seating, it feels like you don't want to waste the whole summer if the builders finish on time," says Frantzén.
