In the midst of ski season, as well as that of cheap flight sales, many will be looking ahead to ski holidays on the slopes of Europe. See below for travel inspiration for 2017, and follow your appetite to one of our top Michelin-starred restaurants in the ski resorts of France, Switzerland and Italy…
France
Flocons de Sel *** Mègeve
Credit: floconsdesel.com
Set in the affluent resort of Mègeve, the Flocons de Sel restaurant is part of the five-star hotel complex, featured in the boutique hotel and fine-dining guide Relais & Chateaux. It makes it to the list of 25 three Michelin-starred restaurants in France, and is headed by chef Emmanuel Renaut.
‘The great chef has a passion for the mountains: even though his dishes bear his personal hallmark, they also seem to be exceedingly close to nature’, noted the Michelin guide inspectors.
This could perhaps be in reference to locally foraged mushrooms or the Féra du Léman, a trout found in Lake Geneva.
Book online at floconsdesel.com
La Bouitte *** Saint Martin de Belleville
Credit: www.la-bouitte.com
La Bouitte is the jewel in the crown of Les Trois Vallées’ culinary scene, boasting three Michelin stars and two star chefs: father and son team René and Maxime Meilleur.
‘The art of invention and their love of the Savoie shine forth’, praised the Michelin guide inspectors, who also note its ‘particularly interesting wine list’.
The restaurant has just celebrated its 40th birthday, yet the menu remains fresh and innovative, featuring venison with rose hip marmalade and frogs legs with black garlic. This is family-run gourmet restaurant that can’t help but impress.
Switzerland
Bumanns Chesa Pirani ** St Moritz
Credit: Instagram Gualtiero Spotti @gualtiero_spotti
Nestled in the Engadine Valley, a 10-minute drive from St Moritz, you can find Bumanns Chesa Pirani, so named after its owners Ingrid and Daniel Bumann. Michelin guide inspectors describe them as ‘the kind of restaurateurs you would like to find more often’, who have even ‘been known to help diners dig their cars out of the snow’.
The restaurant is a reflection of its Alpine surroundings, with saffron from Mund colouring the tasting menu, and its interior is paneled with pine from the Engadine Valley. Be sure to return in autumn when local hunters provide the game dishes!
After Seven ** Zermatt
Credit: www.backstagehotel.ch
After Seven is part of the boutique hotel Backstage Vernissage, designed by artist Heinz Julen and located in Zermatt’s cultural centre. Head chef Ivo Adam, who also heads the Seven restaurant group, has a minimal yet concentrated style which is best expressed in his own words:
‘It is often said that more is better, but most of the time this is not best. This is the case when setting up a plate and in life.’
The Michelin guide applauded his four to seven course menu as ‘varied and exciting’, and terms the restaurant as ‘cool, modern, trendy’ with an ‘urban alpine atmosphere’. Also, if you would like to combine your love of gourmet food with cinema, then ‘Cinedinner’ is an option – where a special menu is served alongside a film projection.
Italy
St Hubertus ** San Cassiano
Credit: www.rosalpina.it
St Hubertus restaurant is the star attraction of the Rosa Alpina Hotel, in the little Alpine village of San Cassiano, part of the Alta Badia ski resort, in the Dolomites of northern Italy. If you’ve had a long day on the slopes go for the six-course tasting menu, or if you’d rather there are also exquisite single dishes on offer.
Head chef Norbert Niederkofler shapes the menu on his own philosophy, ‘cook the mountain’. This is manifested in his dishes of homemade mountain lamb ham, crispy local suckling pig and white fish tartare from Lake Iseo. One Michelin guide inspector was awed by the restaurant’s ‘elegant and majestic feel’, with a ‘profusion of wood’ creating a modern yet classically Tyrollean style.
*Written by Laura Seal for Decanter.com
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