Chef Dana Hallani at her home, Jan. 23, 2026. (Credit: Aly Baalbaky/L’Orient-Le Jour)
Nothing about her betrays that she discovered cooking almost by accident, having never spent a minute at the stove in her childhood.
In her kitchen, Dana Hallani stirs her mushroom orzo attentively, watches the cooking process, then adds a pinch of sumac and thyme. Even when she’s not preparing local recipes, Lebanon always finds its way onto her plate.
"It’s stronger than me," she says with a smile.
At only 27, the Lebanese chef at the helm of the culinary start-up L’Étoile privée has forged a career against the grain.
She didn’t follow in the footsteps of her father, Assi, a singer adored in the Arab world, nor of her sister, Maritta, or her brother, Walid, both also young singers. She doesn’t play any instrument, doesn’t sing — not even in the shower!
During the 2020 lockdown, the young woman in her 20s discovered her passion for cooking. A business graduate from AUB, she flew to Paris to pursue a master’s in digital marketing.
She saw herself working in luxury, applied for internships at LVMH and Cartier, and imagined a career at the major houses, until the 2019 popular uprising and the COVID-19 pandemic upended her plans.
Secluded in her apartment towards the end of her studies, Dana discovered a cuisine she had never made her own up to that point. Mughrabieh, mezze: The young Lebanese woman improvised, tried again and learned the flavors.
The stove became a playground and testing ground. Little by little, she began to gather those around her with her dishes.
"My friends always left with containers filled," she recalls.
Back in Lebanon a few months later, Dana continued cooking, this time for her family. "My parents were very surprised. My brother thought my lasagna was the best in the world, even though it was my very first attempt," she says proudly.
The young woman then decided to change course. "You want to cook?" her father asked, surprised by her decision after five years of study.
"He thought I now knew what I wanted to do with my life, while I wanted to remake my life," she stresses.
But the surprise quickly gave way to support. "‘If it’s your passion, go for it. I’m by your side,’ my father told me."
Her mother encouraged her from the beginning, though she wasn’t familiar with the kitchen herself.
In the Hallani family, everything reflects support for their three children and the closeness of Assi and Colette, who are admired for embodying Muslim-Christian dialogue... despite their minor differences.
While the singer fills the living room with vintage pieces and Picassos, his wife, passionate about fashion, adds her own touch of modernity to the decor.
Behind the fireplace, the Quran rests next to an illustration of Jesus, a symbiosis their children have naturally inherited.
'I see my father in Alan Geaam'
By the end of 2021, Dana joined Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she earned a diploma in cuisine and another in culinary management.
The beginnings were less romantic than she had imagined. From the very first class, a fish was placed on her workbench.
"I expected to cut a fillet. I didn’t even know a fish bled that much," she says now, laughing. But for her, it was the most wonderful experience of her life.
Alongside her studies, the young woman worked at the restaurant of Michelin-starred Lebanese chef Alan Geaam in the 16th arrondissement. She admires his ambition, his high standards, and his constant drive to aim higher.
"He reminds me of my father," she confides. At his side, Dana learned "what school alone cannot teach" — discipline, teamwork, and how to manage time when orders pile up and the pressure mounts.
Being the only Lebanese person on the team, Dana Hallani always brought "a piece of Lebanon with her, especially spices," each time she returned from visiting family.
This spark led her to share her recipes online. Her videos, as fresh and spontaneous as she is, now delight more than a million followers, who were previously accustomed to lifestyle content inspired by her mother, Colette, who was crowned Miss Lebanon in 1988.
Graceful and charming, the young woman naturally turns towards the spotlight herself — not to talk about beauty or fashion, but to celebrate her cooking and her journey.
She’s even been on the cover of Marie Claire Arabia and Elle Arabia, sharing her vision of entrepreneurship, her attachment to her roots and her determination to convey Lebanon in every dish.
After graduating, she worked for a year at Geaam’s Auberge Nicolas Flamel but felt the need to return. "I learned a lot, but I wasn’t progressing anymore. The best I could aspire to was to become executive chef, but I wanted to create something for myself."
In 2023, she packed her bags and returned to her country, where she founded L’Étoile privée, which offers a tailored experience: private dinners tailored to guests’ wishes.
"I didn’t want to open a restaurant, but rather to offer a personalized service without fixed costs. It was the best option given the country’s unstable situation," she explains.
Summer 2023 started slowly, with bookings increasing gradually in fall... until the war broke out in Gaza. A series of cancellations, uncertainty, forced pauses: "I started from scratch again," she says.
But the young chef refuses to leave the country. "What’s next? To share Lebanon in every dish, as long as there are people at my table to savor and share it."
Instagram: @danahallani
