Dish in Focus: Beetroot – juniper – roses at Feuille
Feuille’s Joris Rousseau turns beetroot into a quietly radical pre-dessert that bridges his vegetable-first philosophy with a pastry finale
Feuille’s kitchen likes to work “roots, stems and leaves” and “flowers and fruits” into its signature set menu, so when Rousseau turns beetroot into a pre-dessert, the result feels less like a sweet course than a quiet finale to his savoury dishes. Available only on the dinner tasting menu, the dish is served as a hollowed-out beetroot filled with sorbet, yogurt foam, juniper oil and beetroot stem marmalade, combining the kitchen’s vegetable-first philosophy with sweet flavours from the pastry team.
Rousseau says the course arrives “between the moment our customers turn the page on the savoury courses and discover our sweet world”, and that transition is exactly where “beetroot – juniper – roses” finds its power. The dessert, created with pastry chef Dafne Daniels, takes a trio of earthy, floral and lightly medicinal flavour notes and turns them into a palate cleanser.
Using red beetroot from Farmhouse Productions, Chinese juniper from Eco Island Farm, and dried rosebuds from Yunnan, the plate consists of beetroot sorbet, a yogurt and rose foam, finished with juniper oil and beetroot stem marmalade, with everything assembled at the last minute in the beetroot shell. Rousseau says the presentation is meant to connect diners directly to the farm and remind them that “luxury isn’t necessarily about overpriced goods, but about the products themselves, like a simple beetroot that has been sown, nurtured and harvested in perfect harmony”.
This dish was the brainchild of pastry chef, Daniels, who joined the Feuille team a year ago. She created this dessert as one of her test dishes. “I immediately saw the potential in these two combinations in terms of texture and flavour,” says Rousseau. “Beetroot season was drawing to a close, so throughout 2025, we explored different beetroot pairings to find the one that best reflected Feuille and our philosophy.”
“We have the root [beetroot], combined with the sap [Chinese juniper] and flowers [rose]. The rising of sap is a springtime phenomenon, common to all trees, vital where water and nutrients from the soil rise from the roots to the buds, nourishing the tree and allowing leaves and flowers to develop. In short, it’s simply the beginning of creation.”