Resting more than two days a week is every worker's dream, but for Björn Frantzén’s employees, the dream became reality.
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Björn Frantzén needs no introduction: among the most awarded chefs ever, he runs different restaurants around the world. Stockholm’ eponymous, along with the one in Singapore, which he called Zen, have both been awarded three MICHELIN stars and earned a place among the world's top 50 restaurants. But expansion is not over yet. Villa Frantzén has opened in glitzy Bangkok, and Studio Frantzén in London, inside the luxurious Harrods. "Almost 10 years ago I traveled all over Japan, studying kaiseki food and tradition in depth."
2023, too, is due to be a time of new launches; restaurants are going to be opening in Dubai, Shanghai and Singapore, while Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Macau are on the horizon as well.“Almost 10 years ago I travelled throughout Japan, studying the food and the kaiseki tradition in depth,” says Frantzén. “Remember that the French only took the idea of tasting menus from Japan, but in French cooking there is so much more gluten, lactose and fat that a tasting menu is too heavy.”
“I create every dish on every one of the menus,” the chef says, he does not want to have any negative surprises should one of his kitchen staff members leave. But it rarely happens that staff members abandon Frantzén ship. In fact, the chef explains that many of his employees have been with him for more than 10 years. "If you build a team of great people, eventually they will want to grow and take on more responsibility. It makes sense to help them do that within the group by opening new restaurants, otherwise they will leave. It works for them, and it works for us."
One of Frantzén's most forward-looking initiatives concerns the working hours introduced for the staff in some of his restaurants: those hired in Stockholm and Singapore, in fact, are now working four days a week, while taking three days off.
According to the Swedish entrepreneur, this solution is going to help the company's productivity by a great deal, since happy workers perform their roles with twice the commitment and enthusiasm. "Many of the people who have been with us now have children, so they deserve to spend some time with their families on weekends."
Source: theworlds50best.com
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Photo: @Frantzén
