Savoie
The scent of cheese invading your nostrils will tell you instantly if this restaurant and cheese-mongers is for you. Herein is the ultimate primer on…
Must-see restaurants in French Alps & the Jura Mountains
Dauphiné
This rustic restaurant serves upmarket Alpine cuisine – pork knuckle in Munster cheese, roasted Camembert with calvados – along with well-executed Italian…
Savoie
Every Savoyard speciality is prepared with love at this friendly bistro. But between tartiflettes (potatoes, cheese and bacon baked in a casserole),…
Savoie
At the top of the La Daille gondola (and next to La Folie Douce, the famous piste-side bar), La Fruitière distinguishes itself with zippy metal-and-wood…
Annecy
If your group is torn about where to dine, the Moroccan and French dishes served in this airy salon setting will please all palates. The menu is evenly…
Savoie
At the top of the Super Morzine ski lift (1600m), dining tables spill from this chalet-style restaurant onto a pleasant terrace. The ‘Swamp Frog’ whips up…
Savoie
This no-frills tavern fondly remembers the agrarian past with barrels and farming implements, before going about the important business of melting cheeses…
The Jura Mountains
Loved by vignerons (winegrowers) and other locals, this unpretentious, convivial little place serves fantastic French country fare, but only at lunchtime…
Annecy
A few blocks south of the old town, this unassuming restaurant follows the seasons, drawing inspiration from local market produce. The menu's carefully…
Chamonix
This minuscule shopfront kitchen nourishes fondue-weary diners with big portions of sticky miso aubergine, cauliflower korma and other earthy dishes…
Chamonix
Brimming with chatter and bonhomie, this semiformal, wood-panelled establishment serves substantial, Italian-influenced dishes such as deer with polenta…
Savoie
Likeable La Marmite, trendily decked out in slate and timber, makes generous use of Alpine produce: truffled fondue and ravioles du Dauphiné (pasta…
Chamonix
This relaxed, welcoming tearoom serves more than a dozen kinds of hot chocolate including cardamom-spiced, Grand Marnier–laced and 'chocomiel' (with a…
Grenoble
In a setting somewhere between your great-aunt's living room and a garden centre, this grungy but loveable cafe offers mostly vegetarian and vegan set…
The Jura Mountains
The restaurant within century-old Hôtel le Lac is a time-warp back to a lost era of fine dining. The Louis XVI salon (huge mirrors, chandeliers, baroque…
Besançon
With a terrace spilling out on to tree-shaded place Granvelle, this glass-fronted brasserie mixes brassy style with virtuoso French cooking, like scallops…
Dauphiné
A cut above the rest of Bourg d'Oisans' restaurants, La Muzelle fills its menu with perfectly seared tuna, beefy mains from burgers to steaks, and a good…
The Jura Mountains
Carve up pizzas or twirl hunks of bread in fondue beneath 17th-century stone vaults of this cellar restaurant, just off Poligny's main square. Menu…
Grenoble
Tipping French cuisine upside down (sometimes literally), little La Tête à l'Envers has an ever-changing menu that presents seasonal ingredients in…
Chamonix
Making stylish use of a 100-year-old mule stable (the faux cowhide recalling its rustic origins), the Cauldron offers Savoyard cuisine with a twist, in a…
Savoie
This rustic chalet-style restaurant radiates Alpine atmosphere and warmth. Sylvie and Serge serve up succulent steaks and lamb grilled over an open wood…
Grenoble
Festooned with vintage bric-a-brac, with time-scuffed floors and a narrow open bar-kitchen, Le Petit Bouche enjoys a loyal following. Its classic bistro…
Dauphiné
The beamed dining room of this stylish wooden chalet is a fine place for a tête-á-tête over boîte chaude (baked Mont d'Or cheese), ravioles au Comté …
Grenoble
Reserve ahead for the generous menus at this whimsically decorated bistro – decked out in homage to the 1963 French caper flick Les Tontons Flingeurs…
Grenoble
Emilian and Pugliese dishes jostle with the food of Naples and Sicily in this perennially popular trattoria. Enter through the kitchen and loosen your…
Chambéry
Specialising in the cheeses of Savoie for three generations, this family-run fromagerie, located just across the square from the Marché des Halles, is the…
Annecy
If you're in the mood for well-executed versions of international Japanese standards – prawn tempura, okonomiyaki (pancake), aubergine in miso sauce – you…
Grenoble
Built in 1874, this covered market is crammed with local cheeses, patisserie, wine and deli fare including quenelles (breadcrumbed torpedoes of fish) and…
Annecy
A zestier alternative to heavier Savoyard cuisine, this build-your-own Thai noodle bar does a roaring trade from a small shopfront. Choose a rice or…
Savoie
Stimulate your tastebuds with (mostly) Mexican home-cooking in this jaunty, scarlet-beamed dining room. Tamales and empanadas, a range of lip-smacking…
Besançon
Organic brunches, vegan platters, and kiwi and chia smoothies are the order of the day at riverside Öst. The mostly veggie menu has colourful salads,…
Chambéry
This trim crêperie is evangelical about the health benefits of its protein-rich traditional galettes (savoury buckwheat crêpes), which arrive attractively…
The Jura Mountains
More distinguished than the average brasserie, the 'Three Mallets' serves up exemplary omelettes, platters of Haut-Doubs ham and sausage, and steaks…
Besançon
A casual 'little address' that's big on cheese dishes and Jura specialities. Coarse farmhouse pâté and 'Morbiflette', a potato dish slathered in veined…
Dauphiné
The Gargoyle’s Foot is as well-suited to diners seeking hearty mountain meals like fondue and beef grilled over a wood fire, as those in need of a…
Grenoble
Regional cuisine takes centre stage at this small and friendly restaurant, like trout in Vercors-style sauce (lemon and capers), gratin of Beaufort cheese…
Savoie
A small-town gem of a patisserie, Chaumontet is a pleasant spot to nurse a pot of tea while deliberating between macarons, zesty 'Exotik' gateau and nutty…
Savoie
Grab-and-go or settle beneath the wood-beamed ceiling for excellent crêpes with hams, cheeses and smoked salmon expertly folded within.
Grenoble
Warm your insides with one of 17 kinds of fondue, ranging from classic cheese and forest mushroom to beefy fondue bourguignonne. Raclette and tartiflette …
Dauphiné
This efficient brasserie, bedecked with outmoded skis, farming implements and heart-shaped accessories, whips up good galettes (savoury crêpes), steaks…
