Lunch on the slopes is the real meal of the day in the mountains. My tables, the two seatings, and why the finest terrace isn’t always the right one.
There’s something people work out after two or three mountain holidays: lunch isn’t a break in the ski day, it’s the heart of it. You ski in the morning to get there, and in the afternoon because you’ve come out of it. A week is judged as much on its six lunches as on its snow cover.
Hence the importance of knowing what you’re booking. Mountain tables are not equal, and above all they don’t serve at the same point in the day.
The two seatings: the first thing to understand
Like the Riviera beach clubs, mountain restaurants run in two waves, and the gap in atmosphere is considerable.
- 12 or 12:30, the calm seating. You eat, you go back out, the afternoon is intact. It’s the one I book for families and for those who genuinely want to ski.
- 2:30 or 3pm, invariably the livelier. You settle in, the music climbs, and it isn’t unusual for the meal to slide straight into après-ski without anyone clipping back in. That’s fine, provided you chose it.
My advice, which sounds like nothing: decide first what you want to do with your afternoon, and only then choose the time. That’s the order that works, never the other way round.
Courchevel: my tables on the slopes
- Le Chalet de Pierres, on the Verdon piste, the institution. A south-facing terrace, a serious menu, and that very particular mix of poise and ease that makes Courchevel. If you only did one, this would be it.
- Cap Horn, more champagne-and-a-view than wild, with one of the finest terraces on the mountain. Perfect when you want to stay elegant without giving up the atmosphere.
- Le Panoramic, at the summit of La Saulire. You go up as much for the view as for the table, and on a clear day it’s the best viewpoint reachable on skis.
- La Cave des Creux: quieter, on the pistes, and one of my safe bets when you want lunch without a half-hour queue.
- Bagatelle and Le Tremplin, the frankly festive register. Le Tremplin sits at the foot of the 1850 slopes, so it’s ideal late in the day; Bagatelle is the lunch that drifts gently into a party.
- La Folie Douce, on the Méribel side, the high-altitude clubbing institution. Worth doing once, knowing exactly what you’re going for.
Megève: fewer, and calmer
Megève plays a different tune. The ski area is gentler, the mountain tables fewer than in Courchevel, and lunch runs longer, which, here, is a compliment.
- Idéal 1850, on Mont d’Arbois, the benchmark table, with a head-on view of the Mont Blanc massif that justifies the ride up on its own. My first recommendation in Megève, without hesitation.
- Le Refuge: simpler, warmer, exactly what you hope for from a mountain refuge. It’s where I send those who find the rest too worldly.
- La Folie Douce Megève, the local version of high-altitude après-ski, for those who want the afternoon to tip over.
What separates a good mountain table from a bad one
- The aspect. A south-facing terrace at noon in February is a whole day of sun; the same table in the shade at 3pm is ten degrees colder and coats over shoulders.
- The access. Always check which piste you arrive by and which you leave by. A magnificent restaurant above a red run your group won’t ski is a problem, not an address.
- The way home. Some tables sit on a sector an hour from home. At 3:30, with the lifts closing, that needs planning.
- The weather. Terraces sell on sunshine; on a foggy day the same address is of no interest and you’re better off switching to a warm dining room. I change bookings on the morning itself, often.
- The booking time, again. In holiday weeks the best terraces go weeks ahead, and “I know someone” doesn’t always cut it.
