Gastronomy in intimate terms with the summits

When he bought the "Chabichou" in "Courchevel 1850", Michel Rochedy, who is from the "Ardèche" region, couldn't help but be a good cook and in fact, a very good one. It is thus that great gastronomy has invested territories more focused on fondue,  "raclette", "crozets" and "diots" (local  traditional dishes mainly cooked with cheese, pasta and sausages), than on clever preparations made with luxurious ingredients.

After all these years, the mountain region has not only adapted but moreover the "Chabichou" has given ideas to many others.

For instance, its neighbour, the "Bateau Ivre" where Jean-Pierre Jacob has also started to propose an excellent and high level menu. All the restaurants in "Courchevel" then tried to align themselves, even if they considered that very good means, above all, very expensive, but the will was there. As a result, the whole resort can now offer a real choice of top class restaurants.

Following closely in the wake of all of this, in "Val d'Isère" a lot of goodwill has emerged, notably with the "Folie Douce" of Luc Reversade. Encouraged by the success of his altitude small food service, which could not propose average dishes, he got his restaurant enlarged in 1994. He gave this new place the name of "Fruitière" (cheese dairy in Savoie), the decor is inspired by a milk cooperative with its milk-churns from the farm.

Another performing restaurant to be noted in altitude is the "Fitz Roy" in "Val Thorens", whose terrace seats are grabbed for lunch by all the skiers racing down the "Trois Vallées" slopes. This place has always been held by excellent and high rated chefs and "Yoann Conte", who arrived this year, has a wonderful track record.

He has also to reckon with the direct competition of "Jean Sulpice", a very young chef, who previously worked in the "Ferran Adrià" restaurant, as well as "Pierre Gagnaire" and "Marc Veyrat", among others, and whose "l'Oxalys" restaurant proposes contemporary dishes largely inspired by local Savoie products revisited.

A little bit further down the valley, but still in the resort, lovers of Mont Blanc rush to the "Hameau Albert 1^er" in "Chamonix" where "Pierre Carrier" proposes a high class menu inspired by the whole of the "Savoie" region, in other words : "Piémont", "Savoie" and "Comté de Nice", and which is quite often astonishing.

Lastly in Megève, but the list is far from being closed, "Jean-Louis" and "Jocelyne Sibuet" have returned all the prestige to the resort by creating the "Compagnie des Hôtels de Montagne" and the "Fermes de Marie" opening the way  to young chefs like "Emmanuel Renaut", "Marc Veyrat's" former chef, who draws all the gourmets to his "Flocons de Sel".  Concerning "Veyrat", let's talk about him.  For the past few years, he arrives in "Megève" each year for the winter season to a fake, but wonderful farm baptized "la Ferme de Mon Père", and where the cooking, inspired by the mountain herbs, is absolutely extraordinary!