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The former executive chef of Frantzén, Marcus Jernmark, has announced on Instagram that he will be opening a new restaurant in Los Angeles called Habitué. Frantzén in Stockholm, Sweden, is generally considered one of the best restaurants in Europe and is currently listed as the number six spot in the World’s Fifty Best Restaurants. The “futuristic” and multi-story townhouse in Stockholm originally opened in 2013 as Frantzén/Lindeberg before getting renamed as just Frantzén after 2013. After relocating in 2017 to its current location, it earned its third Michelin star in 2018.
Jernmark announced Habitué in a scantly detailed Instagram post, tagging former Saison (San Francisco) head sommelier Max Coane and chef Robert Sandberg as partners on the forthcoming restaurant. Jernmark was a longtime chef in New York City at places like Aquavit and Per Se before joining Björn Frantzén in Stockholm to oversee culinary development there and at its sister restaurant Zén in Singapore.
Coane was previously the wine director at the short-lived Fifty Seven in LA’s Arts District, which eventually became Petty Cash Taqueria before it turned into Bon Temps — and will soon reopen as Yangban Society. Meanwhile, Sandberg has garnered over a million Instagram followers working in such kitchens as Noma in Copenhagen and Maaemo in Oslo before working at Frantzén.
Jernmark hinted at his arrival in Los Angeles in a “postcard” of sorts on Instagram back on November 21, 2021 tagging himself on another photo located in Los Angeles on December 1. The news of Habitué broke late in the afternoon on December 13, with an encouragement for people to follow its Instagram account and sign up for a newsletter for more information.
The move isn’t completely unexpected as Jernmark was touring the city a few years ago, hitting restaurants like Scratch Bar in Encino. Habitué and its trio of talented culinary partners is another validation for the fine dining scene in Los Angeles, if indeed they open a more upscale place. With the Michelin Guide and even the World’s Fifty Best taking notice of restaurants in the Southland, it’s only a matter of time before more global talent comes to open establishments here.
Beyond this, there isn’t much information for Habitué; Eater will update news as it comes.
