Exceptional Service is Our Standard.

Essence Restaurant Group creates extraordinary dining experiences with our family of concept restaurants known for exceptional service, knowledgeable associates, creative cuisine and superior beverage. Hospitality is what we do—we live to create exceptional outcomes.

The Kindness Principle: Gratitude + Empathy = Compassion

We intend to have every outcome end in kindness. We believe in compassionate leadership and using gratitude and empathy to ensure we have compassionate relationships. By living the Kindness Principle, we stay on our path toward creating a compassionate environment. Being intentional with our sustainability efforts is always at our forefront, which is why we source fresh, natural ingredients from local growers and purveyors whenever possible.

Servant Leadership is our DNA.

We are servants first and practice compassionate leadership through empathy. By fostering a transparent and safe hospitality environment for our associates, our team is able to enthusiastically work together towards achieving bottom-line results for the common good of the organization.

Additionally, we believe in taking intelligent risks and embracing our failures because without failure, there is no opportunity to learn. We become wise when we take risks, fail and learn from our mistakes.

Our culture is our greatest asset, and the guest experience is based on the condition of our culture. To ensure we are continuously striving for improvement, we measure our culture every year by conducting an annual team-member survey.

Essence Mission Statement:

To be West Michigan’s most respected restaurant destination through creating a safe and transparent hospitality experience. We accomplish this by practicing the Kindness Principle—to foster compassionate relationships and servant leadership principles to ensure profitable financial performance, a creative, driven culture, and local, sustainable and environmental business philosophies. Servant Leadership is the skill of influencing people with authority to work enthusiastically towards bottom-line results that are for the common good of the organization.