For most people, ski holidays in France are not complete without a delicious Savoyard Fondue, but for some a meal in a gourmet French restaurant is an absolute must as well! Hotels and ski chalets have become more and more luxurious with owners paying more attention to service and quality in most French ski resorts in recent years. Restaurants are following the trend by offering more elaborate and even gourmet menus up on the slopes or in the ski resorts themselves. Innovating and focusing on what the mountain has to offer seems to be the latest fashion as chefs use only local produce in their mouthwatering gourmet dishes.
Of course, if you choose to spend your ski holidays in one the most exclusive and prestigious ski resorts in the world such as Courchevel, then you will be spoilt for choice when looking for excellent cuisine this ski season. There are now no less than six gourmet restaurants awarded with either 1 or 2 Michelin stars in this popular French ski resort! However, if 1 or 2 stars are not enough, then Megeve’s gourmet restaurant, Flocons de Sel, is the one for you – it is, in fact, the only mountain hotel/restaurant to be awarded 3 Michelin stars! Megeve is a great choice for family ski holidays as this ski resort has a wonderful friendly atmosphere and great facilities for children. Also worth mentioning are the 2 gourmet restaurants, Les Bas-Rupts and Les Jardins de Sophie, in the ski resort of Gerardmer in the Vosges region, both having been awarded 1 Michelin star. For those who like to go off the beaten track during their ski holidays, the Le Bois Fleuri gourmet restaurant in the ski resort of Corrençon is a delight. So it seems that many French ski resorts, large and small, have decided to invest in gourmet restaurants offering excellent food to make the pleasure of the senses on your ski holidays extend to your taste buds too. Only the ski resorts in the Pyrenees seem to be the exception, but this is mainly because the very good restaurants are often down in the valley, rather than the heart of the ski resorts or up on the ski slopes themselves.
Photo : Bistrot Chamonix
If you believe that these gourmet restaurants in French ski resorts are only for the most well-lined pockets and specialists of haute-cuisine who spend their ski holidays in France, then I am happy to inform you that this is often not the case. Even though located in prestigious ski areas such as Chamonix Mont Blanc or the Three Valleys, some restaurants make a particular effort to appeal to all audiences and budgets and to offer affordable menus, especially at lunchtime. One particular gourmet restaurant, the Bistrot in the heart of Chamonix, with its one Michelin star, offers a lunch menu at a very modest 19 euros which includes the specialty of the day and a dessert from the à la carte menu! A real experience for your senses and a well-earned treat during your ski holidays. The concept of making excellent food accessible to everyone seems to be at the heart of many a modern gourmet chef’s philosophy.
For most people, ski holidays in France are not complete without a delicious Savoyard Fondue, but for some a meal in a gourmet French restaurant is an absolute must as well! Hotels and ski chalets have become more and more luxurious with owners paying more attention to service and quality in most French ski resorts in recent years. Restaurants are following the trend by offering more elaborate and even gourmet menus up on the slopes or in the ski resorts themselves. Innovating and focusing on what the mountain has to offer seems to be the latest fashion as chefs use only local produce in their mouthwatering gourmet dishes.
Of course, if you choose to spend your ski holidays in one the most exclusive and prestigious ski resorts in the world such as Courchevel, then you will be spoilt for choice when looking for excellent cuisine this ski season. There are now no less than six gourmet restaurants awarded with either 1 or 2 Michelin stars in this popular French ski resort! However, if 1 or 2 stars are not enough, then Megeve’s gourmet restaurant, Flocons de Sel, is the one for you – it is, in fact, the only mountain hotel/restaurant to be awarded 3 Michelin stars! Megeve is a great choice for family ski holidays as this ski resort has a wonderful friendly atmosphere and great facilities for children. Also worth mentioning are the 2 gourmet restaurants, Les Bas-Rupts and Les Jardins de Sophie, in the ski resort of Gerardmer in the Vosges region, both having been awarded 1 Michelin star. For those who like to go off the beaten track during their ski holidays, the Le Bois Fleuri gourmet restaurant in the ski resort of Corrençon is a delight. So it seems that many French ski resorts, large and small, have decided to invest in gourmet restaurants offering excellent food to make the pleasure of the senses on your ski holidays extend to your taste buds too. Only the ski resorts in the Pyrenees seem to be the exception, but this is mainly because the very good restaurants are often down in the valley, rather than the heart of the ski resorts or up on the ski slopes themselves.
Photo : Bistrot Chamonix
If you believe that these gourmet restaurants in French ski resorts are only for the most well-lined pockets and specialists of haute-cuisine who spend their ski holidays in France, then I am happy to inform you that this is often not the case. Even though located in prestigious ski areas such as Chamonix Mont Blanc or the Three Valleys, some restaurants make a particular effort to appeal to all audiences and budgets and to offer affordable menus, especially at lunchtime. One particular gourmet restaurant, the Bistrot in the heart of Chamonix, with its one Michelin star, offers a lunch menu at a very modest 19 euros which includes the specialty of the day and a dessert from the à la carte menu! A real experience for your senses and a well-earned treat during your ski holidays. The concept of making excellent food accessible to everyone seems to be at the heart of many a modern gourmet chef’s philosophy.
Being lucky enough to have parents who were crazy about skiing, my love for the mountains started when I was 4 years old on our first family ski holiday to Austrian ski resort of Obergurl. One ski holiday a year was never enough and tears rolled down my face as I looked out the back window of the car on the drive down the valley on the way home!
