Why would a Michelin-starred chef, who builds his entire cuisine around raw ingredients and pure flavour, take an interest in chocolate?
Chocolate is one of the few ingredients that can do it all: it can be powerful, delicate, bitter or sweet.
13 September, International Chocolate Day, is the perfect opportunity to celebrate this ingredient, which Chef Philippe Colinet and his team treat as a product in its own right.
Whether in the form of chocolate bars, sweets or pralines, for holidays or other occasions, chocolate is found in every home. In fact, 97 per cent of French people eat chocolate at least once a week, making France the world’s seventh-largest consumer of chocolate and demonstrating the country’s passion for the treat.
At the Colette restaurant, in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, chocolate is not merely a supporting act. It is a star ingredient in its own right, explored in its purest form, just like the gamberoni, the red mullet or Yann Ménard’s tomatoes. The difference is that it comes at the end and is meant to round off the dining experience.
Aymeric Le Gallou, pastry commis at the Colette restaurant, will provide some technical insights into chocolate and the à la carte desserts.
Chocolate at the Michelin-starred gastronomic restaurant Colette, in a glance:
- - Senses Menu (7 courses, €205): dessert featuring 86% Peruvian chocolate, praline, lemon and coriander
- - Sharing Menu (€180): nougatine chocolate ganache dessert
- - Bistrot Le C, Pool Bar, Room Service: chocolate Opéra, sponge cake, coffee ganache
- - Chocolate partner: La Manufacture du Chocolat in Grasse, the only bean-to-bar chocolate maker on the Côte d’Azur
Why dessert matters just as much as the rest
In a tasting menu, dessert is rarely the course one looks forward to the most. It comes later, when one’s attention has begun to wane, when conversation picks up again, when one starts thinking about what comes next.
That is precisely why Philippe Colinet puts so much thought into it. A poor dessert can ruin a good dinner. A great dessert prolongs it.
At the Colette restaurant in Saint-Tropez, the end of the meal is not an afterthought or an add-on. It is conceived as a course in its own right, following the same logic as the rest of the menu: a central ingredient, a composition that reveals rather than conceals, a texture that surprises without seeking to impress.
As Aymeric, who works at the Colette restaurant, sums it up: ‘It’s like a theatre performance; it brings the evening to a close. It’s the last memory the guest will have, the last flavour on their palate.’
In 2026, two set menus each offer their own sweet chocolate finale. On the ‘Senses’ menu, chocolate brings the seven courses to a close. On the ‘Sharing’ menu, it is a trio: a thin tart with seasonal fruit, a Paris-Saint-Tropez choux pastry and a nougatine chocolate ganache, designed to be shared, as its name suggests.
Peru 86% chocolate: one ingredient, one choice
The dessert on the Sens menu isn’t made with chocolate. It is chocolate.
The 86% signifies a cocoa intensity that doesn’t set out to please everyone. “What makes it special is its lovely bitterness, and the fact that it contains just 14 per cent sugar,” explains Aymeric. It is a sophisticated, demanding chocolate that calls for a precise counterpoint.
Peru 86% chocolate, praline, lemon, coriander: ‘the dessert is constructed like a mille-feuille’. Three rectangular layers of chocolate ganache are combined with two strips of 86% chocolate ganache, between which two strips of praline are sandwiched. On top of these, caramelised puffed rice adds a crunchy texture.
The whole creation is then turned onto its side before being finished with candied lemon, coriander, a few flowers and a quenelle of lemon and coriander sorbet.
This construction allows the flavours of intensity, bitterness, freshness and texture to interact, without overcomplicating the dish.
La Manufacture du Chocolat de Grasse, the only bean-to-bar chocolate maker on the Côte d’Azur
Philippe Colinet does not choose his producers at random. He chooses them for the same reason he chooses Yann Ménard for his tomatoes or Loïc de Saleneuve for his cheeses: because they have complete control over their produce from start to finish.
Based in the historic centre of Grasse since 2015, an hour and a half from Saint-Tropez, Maison Duplanteur is the only bean-to-bar chocolate maker on the Côte d’Azur. Every recipe is crafted with passion and expertise. Recognised by the Collège Culinaire de France and as artisanal products, all their items are 100 per cent natural, preservative-free, gluten-free and contain as little sugar as necessary.
What is ‘bean-to-bar’? It means from bean to bar, with no middlemen and no outsourcing. The Manufacture oversees the entire production process, from the plantations right through to the finished chocolate, controlling every stage of processing.
It was this commitment to traceability that won Philippe Colinet over. An 86% Peruvian chocolate from the Manufacture is not interchangeable with any other 86% chocolate: it has a specific origin, a precise flavour profile, and a consistency that stems from the fact that a single company has overseen every stage.
Practical information – La Maison Duplanteur:
- - Business: Chocolate manufacturer
- - Location: Grasse
- - Distinctive feature: the only bean-to-bar chocolate maker on the Côte d’Azur
- - Production method: artisanal
- - Accreditations: Collège culinaire de France
- - Chocolate used at Colette: 86% Peruvian chocolate
- > Origin: Quillabamba Valley, southern Peru
- > Description: delicate, refined and aromatic, offering a fresh and floral profile, characterised by citrus notes, with a depth that gradually unfolds on the palate
- > Vintage: 2021
The chocolate Opéra: a classic reimagined at the Sezz hotel
And for those seeking a more immersive experience, the Chocolate Opéra is featured throughout the Sezz. On the Riviera, few restaurants offer this French patisserie classic with such meticulous attention to detail across three distinct areas within the same venue.
The Opéra is one of the classics of French patisserie. Created in the 1950s at Dalloyau, it has stood the test of time without losing its appeal.
At the Sezz Saint-Tropez, the Chocolate Opéra is served in three different settings: at Le C bistro, at the Dom Pérignon bar, and via room service. This is no coincidence. The Opéra is the Sezz’s universal dessert – the one that moves from one space to another, that is equally suited to lunch or a late evening, and that can be ordered in your room at 11 pm whilst remaining just as it should be.
Sponge cake, chocolate ganache and coffee ganache make up this reimagined Opéra. Here, the traditional buttercream gives way to a ganache, creating a version that is ‘lighter, less rich and less sweet’, according to Aymeric, the pastry chef’s assistant. It consists of two layers of chocolate ganache and one layer of coffee ganache.
The ‘Sharing’ menu: chocolate as a shared finale
The ‘Sharing’ menu is Colette’s third offering for 2026: a menu designed for sharing, tailored for tables where guests wish to enjoy the experience together rather than individually.
The sweet finale to the ‘Partage’ menu is a triptych: a thin tart with seasonal fruit, a Paris-Saint-Tropez choux pastry, and a nougatine chocolate ganache.
The chocolate nougatine ganache is the key element: the nougatine provides the crunch, whilst the ganache adds depth. The seasonal fruits used in the thin tart depend on what’s available at the market; in September, they’re figs and the last of the plums; in summer, strawberries from La Garde. The Paris-Saint-Tropez choux pastry is a nod to the local tradition, a reimagining of the Tarte Tropézienne in a delicate pastry form.
It’s a dessert meant to be physically shared: you hold out your fork, you pass it round, you comment on it.
Practical information — Colette gourmet restaurant
- - Address: Hôtel Sezz Saint-Tropez, 151 route des Salins, 83990 Saint-Tropez
- - Access: 5 mins from the centre of Saint-Tropez, 10 mins from the beaches of Pampelonne
- - Dinner only: 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm
- - Open in September: Thursday to Monday
- - Live music evenings: Monday evenings
- - Awards: one Michelin star and two Gault & Millau toques
- - Chef: Maître Restaurateur Philippe Colinet
- - Senses menu (7 courses): €205 — food and wine pairing €66 (3 glasses) / €110 (5 glasses) / €145 (7 glasses)
- - Sharing menu: €180 — food and wine pairing €110
- - Wine cellar: 120 wines
- - Booking: recommended
- - Open to residents and visitors from outside the area
- - Service: free valet parking
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Restaurant Colette, a unique setting, a singular signature and a modern concept
