Danico sits within the Galerie Vivienne, one of Paris’s best-preserved 19th century covered arcades, in the former boutique of Jean Paul Gaultier. Until sunset, the large glass windows looking onto the gallery are left open to the light and the life of the arcade outside. As evening falls, lime-green velvet curtains are drawn, the lights dim gradually to candlelight, and the room shifts – the flame reflecting off gilded table accents and an undulating mirror to produce an atmosphere that moves with the evening. A house and techno soundtrack, curated partly by staff members who DJ, sets the tone. Upstairs, a marble chef’s table overlooks an open laboratory where the preparation work behind the menu is visible from above.

That preparation work is considerable. The Danico Xplorer concept, launched in 2023, sends part of the team to a new country for ten to fifteen days every six months – meeting local producers, sourcing ingredients, and building the creative foundation for the next menu. Indonesia, Mexico, Japan, India, and Peru have each provided the basis for a menu, with the current edition turning to France and the breadth of its regional culinary traditions. Ingredients are brought back from each destination where possible, and on-site sourcing is done exclusively with local producers visited in person. The development phase that follows each trip runs for three to four months, with the whole team contributing to a final selection of ten drinks.

Technique across the menu ranges from rotary evaporation and centrifugation to sous-vide, fermentation, siphon work, and use of the restaurant’s pizza oven. Each cocktail is served in its own vessel, with custom ceramics commissioned for each Xplorer edition in colours matched to the menu design. About half the drinks are served without garnish; the other half carry more considered additions – a hazelnut crumble, a croissant, or a buckwheat and honey butter tuile on the current French edition. Non-alcoholic versions of two cocktails from the main menu are developed in parallel, served in the same glassware and built to the same flavour standard.

The menu itself is treated as a collectible object – each edition produced by Parisian artisan printer Imprimerie du Marais, illustrated by the same artist across every edition, and available to purchase. The first five editions were designed so that when gathered together, their spines form a single continuous illustration. Staff training follows the same spirit of immersion – the team travelled to Normandy for a day to visit a Calvados distillery as part of their education on the spirit, and the bar supports outgoing staff in finding opportunities internationally when they leave.