Zén is back, shorter, sharper and run by a Singaporean team

Zén used to take four to five hours of your night. The renewal gives about one of them back.

If the old Zén marathon put you off, this is the version to book for the birthday that matters. The Bukit Pasoh shophouse went dark on 2 June for what it called a "renewal" and came back on 25 August, and the headline change is nowhere near the paint: lunch and dinner used to run four to five hours, and Björn Frantzén says the meal is now about an hour shorter. The three stars are intact and the kitchen is in Singaporean hands. It is still a serious spend, and each month's tables open on a set day (details in the box), so set a reminder rather than hoping.

Some context for anyone who missed the first act. Zén opened in 2018 in a three-storey shophouse on Bukit Pasoh as the Singapore sibling of Frantzén in Stockholm. It won two Michelin stars in 2019 and three from 2021, and has kept them every year since.

The quieter story is who's running it. Co-executive chefs Toraik Chua and Martin Ofner left in mid-2025 and early 2026, and The Peak reports no executive chef will be appointed for now. Instead the kitchen belongs to head chef Kelvin Ng, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Singapore, cooked at two-starred The Modern in New York and rejoined Zén in 2024. General manager Rachel Ezekiel and beverage director Warren Estrop complete a leadership trio that is entirely Singapore-born.

The flow through the building survives, rearranged. The ground-floor armchairs have gone, replaced by a 16-seat counter in dark limestone stucco where chefs plate seven canapés. Upstairs, past an ice display of produce such as Hokkaido hand-dived scallops and Kagoshima wagyu, come the main courses. The third-floor lounge, for desserts, waffles and digestifs, is now optional lingering time rather than a fixed act.

Stockholm studio Joyn handled the redesign in biscuit, hazelnut and cinnamon tones, with raffia wall coverings, a chandelier built from Ann Wolff's Snowball candle holders and a traditional Dala horse for good Swedish measure. The cooking stays Neo-Nordic with Japanese influences, with dishes such as shima aji crudo, chawanmushi with abalone and wagyu with oxtail pressé, and the menu changes three to four times a year.

Frantzén frames the change as a reply to changing habits: fine dining, in his words, is not dead but "needs to evolve". Our view is that a shorter three-star meal is an easier yes than a long one. Read the dietary limits in the box before you book; the kitchen can't accommodate everyone.

Good to know Zén is at 41 Bukit Pasoh Road and serves lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday. Each month's reservations open on the 1st at 10am; parties of five to eight book by phone (+65 6534 8880) or email. The kitchen can't accommodate vegan, milk-protein-free or coeliac diets.

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Zén | 41 Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore 089855