Gourmet chalets in Les Menuires

15th May 2016, by Dave Watts

Just one of the dishes that impressed Dave – guinea fowl with potato terrine, swiss chard and raisin, pine nut and caper salsa

Avid readers of this blog will recall that I stayed for three nights in April in a ski-in/ski-out chalet run by Powder n Shine in the attractive Reberty area of Les Menuires.

Owners Francesca and Steve run three chalets there and pride themselves on providing top notch service and gourmet cuisine. The dinners I had there certainly lived up to their claims. Highlights for me included deliciously moist guinea fowl with potato terrine, swiss chard and raisin, pine nut and caper salsa; roast winter squash velouté with toasted seeds, curry oil and crème fraiche; warm plum and armagnac clafoutis with yoghurt ice cream and toasted almonds.

Each starter and main course was served with a specially selected wine and both food and wine were introduced as they were served by the chalet hosts. When one of the guests mentioned enjoying pudding wine, a bottle was provided the following evening. And meals were preceded by canapés and aperitifs (including champagne).
Breakfast was outstanding too – including excellent freshly-made fruit salad.

The chefs they employ have generally worked in top restaurants including some with Michelin stars – including The Fat Duck, Petrus and The Ledbury. So it’s no surprise the food is delicious.

The rooms didn’t quite match the food – quite small with tired bathrooms. But Francesca recognised that and is renovating and upgrading two of the chalets this summer (the other chalet had already been done) – reducing the number of beds to form bigger and better bedrooms, all with new bathrooms; installing outdoor Jacuzzis; improving the already huge living rooms.

I can’t wait to try the improved facilities next season, when hopefully the weather will be better too (my April visit was blighted by the Foehn – a warm, strong southerly wind coming over from Italy – which meant many of the top lifts were closed). For more on Powder n Shine’s food, see the blog recently posted on their site.

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