What happens when you bring the talents of design, beauty, cusinine, art, and nature under one roof? Dessance happens. Prepared to be swept away.

Under the inspired direction of the multi-talented entrepreneur Philippe Baranes, Dessance opened its doors in January 2014. Baranes, classically trained in the arts and with a master's degree in management from the Louvre school, the initial concept was to open the first dessert bar in France.

Offering a menu of desserts made to order in front of the customer, Dessance was unlike any boutique pastry shop and tea room in Paris - it was a real culinary revolution. Without doughs, the team focused on creative expression around fruits, vegetables, and other seasonal plants by favoring the natural sugars. While the restaurant received enormous international success and a double page in the New York Times, the French clientele struggled with adopting the cutting edge format.

"My maternal uncle was a painter and had no children, so I spent many weekends in his studio in Batignols to see him paint, to touch his paint supplies, to introduce me to color, and work with the materials," explains Baranes.

"At the same time, they explained to me who Modigliani was - his myth.

When I was 17, I told my father that I wanted to be a painter. He replied that I had to have a 'normal' education, and then if you're going to be a painter, you will do what you want. This is how I ended with a master's degree in management and went to the Louvre school."

"In art, we understand that constraint is the basis of all creation; When we paint, we have the constraint of the canvas due to its limits. Well, in the kitchen, it's the same. All creation is bound by its limits. Dessance evolves according to an expression of nature, an expression that transcends and respects it."

“Eating healthy has to be a pleasure. Dessance gives life to the taste of the vegetables, herbs and wild greens.”

— Philippe Baranes

And with that ethos, Philippe evolved the purpose of Dessance, combining his original vision with demand from the Paris market. They began to offer tasting menus around the original concept of "sweet," using sugar as a seasoning, using seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

To satisfy a greater number of people, the Dessance team then began to incorporate savory dishes into their menu offerings. The restaurant now offers two distinct experiences: A land & sea menu in five courses. And a 5-course vegetarian menu.

The land & sea menu creates dishes with a unique balance of plants, fish, and meat.

The vegetarian menu tends towards a vegan menu with nothing animal but an expression of the plant (no dairy, no egg, and no gluten either). In 2022, Dessance will begin an entirely vegan menu, as well as a lunch service.

“You can’t go through with an innovative idea if you listen to everyone. I love creating places which possess soul and a strong identity, based around food which is simultaneously beautiful, delicious and healthy.”

"My grandmother gave me an education around nature," shares Philippe, "She had a knowledge of the wild world. Each season was about using the environment's resources in which we find ourselves and always in a playful way. In the mountains, we ate and drank everything we found in our immediate environment. And in the early spring, when the snow melted, the young dandelion shoots growing on the molehills were collected, the fir buds were used in infusion or salads.

In May, we collected nettles for soups, elderflowers with which we made infusions, and lemonades. We collected wild fruits such as wild strawberries, blueberries, alpine raspberries, and small wild cherries in July. I learned how to make infusions.

At the end of August, we would hunt for hazelnuts, the walnut leaves which she made a sweet aperitif wine, apples and small pears which we made a jam that garnished the rissoles (a small pastry). And finally, with autumn, it was time for chestnut mushrooms."