Once you have discovered the top Michelin-starred restaurants in the Alps and Haute Savoie, why not continue your gourmet journey with our look at the best-starred restaurants in Savoie?
Famed for its cheese, the Savoyard area is equally as renowned for its top-class restaurants, with no less than 20 Michelin-starred establishments throughout the region.
From Courchevel to Val d’Isere via Meribel and Aix-les-Bains, each destination has its own terroir and therefore its own exceptional restaurants. Read on to find out more.
★★ Le Kintessence, Courchevel 1850
Address: le K2 Palace, 238 rue des Clarines, Courchevel, 73120
Budget: €€€€
The world-famous resort of Courchevel has the largest concentration of starred restaurants in the Alps.
Among them is Kintessence, in the K2 Palace, which has made a name for itself with its innovative and elegant cuisine. This has earned it two Michelin stars and three Toques Blanches from Gault et Millau.
These awards are partly due to Jean-Rémi Caillon, the chef at this superb restaurant, and to his pastry chef Sébastien Vauxion, who also runs Sarkara – an unusual restaurant where the menu is based solely on sweet creations.
This talented pair combine surprising flavours in their dishes, putting the spotlight on local produce and flavours. They use their art and creativity to reveal the potential of their ingredients in unusual dishes.
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★★ Les Morainières, Jongieux
Address: Route de Marétel, Jongieux, 73170
Budget: €€€€, expect to pay at least 148€ for an adult menu
One of Savoie’s best fine-dining restaurants is Les Morainières, run by Ingrid and Michaël Arnoult.
Surrounded by the Jongieux vineyards, Les Morainières is located in the perfect setting to enjoy some great food. Tranquillity and a slower pace of life reign, and are reflected in the chef’s dishes, whose compositions are both delicate and modern, careful and refined.
But this taste for creativity is not just found in the presentation of the dishes. His flavour combinations also reflect his innovation – take for example his crayfish tartar from the Rhône, enhanced by his subtle mandarin jus and tagetes anisata flowers.
Or the pike-perch, lacquered with a Bresse chicken jus, butternut squash and pumpkin seeds, and his golden calf sweetbreads with chanterelles and agastache. Alternatively, why not sample the Tomme du Tremblay with whipped cream and Chanaz honey?
It’s a real pleasure for the eyes and the palate, in a place where time seems to be suspended.
★★ L’Atelier d’Edmond, Val-d’Isère
Address:: Route de Marétel, Jongieux, 73170
Budget: €€€€, expect to pay at least 148€ for an adult menu
© Maison Benoît Vidal
© Maison Benoît Vidal
Mountain cuisine is what drives Benoît Vidal, the two-starred chef of this elegant restaurant.
He is passionate about his area and keen to share this love in his dishes, which feature Arctic char, snails, Savoy trout and Chartreuse.
All of these seasonal ingredients are combined with surprising flavours from further afield, resulting in astonishing combinations with unusual tastes and textures.
Supreme of mallard with cocoa and squash, crayfish with a broth made from the heads and pine sabayon, and semi-smoked pigeon supreme with endive and citrus fruit all appear on the menu.
The mountain ambience is further evoked by the setting at this authentic wooden chalet with a slate roof. Inside, the vast dining room is rustic and wooden, arranged around a large central fireplace.
And the surprises don’t stop there. La Maison Vidal has more than one trick up its sleeve! Located right at the foot of the slopes, you can ski right to the restaurant! It’s the perfect place for a gourmet break while you’re on the mountain.
L’Atelier d’Edmond is open from Tuesday to Saturday, from noon to 1.30 pm, and will offer you a full menu to recharge your batteries before you put your skis back on.
One of the best restaurants in Savoie, you really don’t want to miss this one!
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★ Sylvestre Wahid, Courchevel
Address: 28 Rue de l’Église, Courchevel, 73120
Budget: €€€€, expect to pay at least 395€ for an adult menu
© Sylvestre Wahid
We’ve returned to Courchevel to discover the cuisine of Sylvestre Wahid, whose restaurant of the same name has been awarded a Michelin star.
A real culinary journey awaits you within the walls of this cosy establishment – a gastronomic experience based on the chef’s signature dishes, inspired by local and seasonal produce.
He says: “I make the best of this wonderful area in order to offer you a really emotional experience. Here, rarity mingles with gastronomy, pleasure with sharing. Discover some of the exceptional ingredients that I enjoy cooking for you.”
The open kitchen means that you can follow this culinary ballet, even before your dinner is served. However, only a lucky few will get to taste these dishes. The restaurant has just four tables, so you’ll need to book well in advance if you want to eat there!
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★ Lamartine, Le Bourget-du-Lac
Address: Route du Tunnel-du-Chat, Le Bourget-du-Lac, 73370
Budget: €€€, expect to pay at least 70€ for an adult menu
© Lamartine
If you’re spending a few days in Aix-les-Bains, and are looking for somewhere for a very special dinner, Lamartine is a perfect choice.
This wonderful restaurant is set on the banks of Lac du Bourget, in the peaceful town of Bourdeau near the spa town of Aix-les-Bains.
It’s in this romantic and enchanting setting that the Marin family opened their restaurant in 1964. Since then, it has been passed from generation to generation, becoming increasingly successful. So much so that in 1989 it was awarded a Michelin star, which it still retains today. It’s something that the current managers, Marie-Christine and chef Pierre Marin intend to hold on to.
“Our job is one of passion, rigour, violence and love – a job of perfection, even if that is hard to achieve,” says the chef, in an interview to mark the restaurant’s 50th anniversary.
Pierre strives to achieve this perfection by applying a modern twist to classic dishes that combine lake and mountain ingredients with harmony and precision.
The menu includes Arctic char with mushrooms from La Motte Servolex, or scallops, served with celery butter.
This starred restaurant is definitely worth the detour!
★ Atmosphères, Le Bourget-du-Lac
Address: 618 route des Tournelles, Le Bourget-du-Lac, 73370
Budget: €€€, expect to pay at least 74€ for an adult menu
© Gault et Millau
© OT Savoie-Mont-Blanc
Also on the banks of Lac du Bourget is the Michelin-starred restaurant of chef Alain Perrillat-Mercerot and his wife Delphine.
Atmosphères is appropriately named. As soon as you enter, Alain and Delphine will immerse you in a cosy atmosphere where the pleasure of hospitality and the love of flavour creates an unforgettable gastronomic experience.
Proud of his region, Alain offers a menu in harmony with the Savoyard terroir and the lake, which provides a spectacular backdrop to the restaurant.
He has made the traditional local dishes his own, giving his imagination free rein to conjure up recipes with unexpected and original flavours. With every dish, he invites you to explore the region with him and to discover a new take on its flavours and aromas.
The wine list, which also focuses mainly on wines from the Alps, enhances the dishes with precision and accuracy.
With one red and two green stars from Michelin, as well as three Toques Blanches from Gault et Millau, Atmosphères is one of the region’s must-try restaurants.
★ Baumanière 1850, Courchevel
Address: Le Strato, Route de Bellecôte, Courchevel 1850, Courchevel, 73120
Budget: €€€€, expect to pay at least 190€ for an adult menu
© Gault et Millau
La table de la Baumanière 1850, in Courchevel, is another of Savoie’s best starred restaurants.
Creativity and ambition run in the blood of chef Thomas Prod’homme, whose cuisine gives pride of place to the region, its passionate producers and its seasonal produce.
Coffee with mushrooms, walnuts, root butter smoked with pear wood, seaweed, chestnuts and pine buds are amongst the flavours on the menu.
Diners have the chance to see and taste original and unique dishes. For example, his trout with Jerusalem artichoke vinaigrette and pine buds, his endive with pear and walnut and smoked root butter, pigeon leg with mulled wine jus, spelt and offal or calf sweetbread with braised salsify, yoghurt and sweet clover jus.
It’s a gastronomic adventure you won’t forget.
★ Azimut, Courchevel-Le Praz
Address: 273 rue de la Madelon, immeuble l’Or Blanc, centre station 1300, Le Praz, Courchevel, 73120
Budget: €€€, expect to pay at least 65€ for an adult menu
© OT Savoie-Mont-Blanc
We weren’t lying when we told you that Courchevel has the largest concentration of starred restaurants in Savoie! Azimut is another of the unforgettable restaurants in the area.
Sandrine and François Moureaux, owners since 2007, have always had “the bold desire to make fine dining accessible”, according to the restaurant’s website.
There’s a choice of menus according to your taste and budget. The Lunch Formula includes a starter, a main course, and cheese or a dessert for 65€, while the 75€ Azimut menu offers you snails in parsley with sweet potato boulangere, reblochon cheese and aniseed broth, a supreme of guinea fowl with parsnip purée and cocoa nibs and a whisky sauce, followed by a selection of cheeses and a trio of caramelised apples, rice pudding mousse and salted butter caramel sauce.
Two other menus are also available: The Discovery menu at 105€ and the tasting menu at 150€.
According to the website: “Here, the desire to please, to discover and to delight is palpable. Everyone is driven by a passion for gastronomy. Here, pleasures are shared, tasted and enjoyed.”
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★ Le Farçon, Courchevel-La Tania
Address: Immeuble Kalinka, La Tania, Courchevel, 73125
Budget: €€€, expect to pay at least 68€ for an adult menu
© Gault et Millau
It’s in the small, quiet resort of La Tania, just a few kilometres from the busy resort of Courchevel, that you’ll find Le Farçon, the restaurant belonging to chef Julien Machet which has held a Michelin star since 2006.
Describing himself as a Savoyard pedlar, Machet will take you on a culinary stroll through the history of the Grand Duchy of Savoie. He offers you three “routes”:
- The tomato route – three courses at lunch or four in the evening.
- The salt route – four courses at lunchtime and six in the evening.
- The great route – six courses at noon and nine in the evening.
But we can’t tell you any more about the menu, because the chef will decide that on the day, according to the produce that is available.
And as gastronomy also has no age limit the chef also offers a children’s menu, with portion sizes and flavours adapted to their appetite. It allows children to take their first steps into the world of fine dining and to share a unique and unforgettable moment with their family.
★ L’Ekrin by Laurent Azoulay, Méribel
Address: Le Kaïla, 124 rue des Jeux Olympiques, Méribel, 73550
Budget: €€€€, expect to pay at least 65€ for an adult menu
Let’s end this list of 10 of the best-starred restaurants in Savoie with a visit to Laurent Azoulay at L’Ekrin.
Situated in a luxury hotel, L’Ekrin offers a unique culinary journey in a refined, yet intimate setting. The journey will take you back and forth between the chef’s native Provence and his adopted Savoie, with creative and colourful combinations which blend fish and mountain flavours.
On the savoury side, we have to mention his bouillabaisse with fish from the Mediterranean and Alpine lakes and Savoie saffron broth. His black pork from Pralognan is casseroled with hay, parsnips, candied salsify and beetroot juice and his Savoie trout is cooked with white mushrooms, truffle and crayfish.
On the sweet side, try the chocolate Ekrin, Montelimar nougat, hot chocolate with Chartreuse, cocoa sorbet and truffle, as well as his poached Savoie pear with Ventoux saffron and caramelised walnuts.
It’s a gourmet escape that you won’t forget in a hurry …
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After our tour of the starred restaurants in the Alps, a visit to the 10 best-starred restaurants in the Hautes-Savoie and a stopover in the 10 best-starred restaurants in Savoie, our culinary journey through the Alps ends here.
So if you are in the area, and are a lover of good food, don’t miss out on the opportunity to dine in one of these superb restaurants. And share your experience on our social networks with #ovonetwork, to get our tastebuds tingling too!
One thing is certain – with all these starred restaurants, nobody should be left hungry!
