Hello readers!
Before the year-end, squeezing in a review of Le Cèpe restaurant in Meribel, Haute Savoie, France.
My family and I trooped over there for Christmas dinner a few days ago. My husband and I had ducked out of cooking Christmas dinner since the words 'ski holiday' are an oxymoron when skiing self-catering with kids (and we had something like 12 last count in our extended group over about four apartments!). Having lugged tree back to our apartment on the resort bus on the 23rd, we felt we had done our bit! Le Cèpe had been sensational when I visited this summer with a group of yoga bunny friends (digression: if you are wondering what kind of yoga weekend ends up in a Michelin bib resto, well this was my kind of 'health' weekend: the emphasis was on self-care and well-being, yessiree!). However, I wasn't sure what Le Cepe would be like for families.
Well, people, it was just as warmly welcoming with kids. They were willing to accommodate an unheard-of-in-France start time of 6pm (!!). Actually by the time we rocked up at 6.45pm (we had called ahead and they said no problem), there were lots of other tables already there and not all with youngish children like ours. We had a wonderful booth-type table at the back, snug and special, but all of the tables are great - this is definitely not a place where tables are packed in too closely.
If you go, I recommend you kick off your night with their signature champagne cocktails. We had one of each: a Meribel was champagne, saffron and a juicy raspberry, while Ceps was champagne laced with ceps, of course. The latter smelt pungently of mushroom but on the palate this translated into a crisp, savoury depth. Geeeeeorgeous, especially with a satisfying amuse bouche of pesto'd-beef on toasted brioche. The owner, who is a charming and welcoming woman from the region, brought out a bag of frozen flowers from her freezer and we tried to work out what the 'daisies' mentioned on the menu could be. With the help of Google, we figured out that the flower is, in fact, meadowsweet. Many of the dishes here are enriched with locally-foraged mushrooms, herbs and flowers. As we mulled over the menu's temptations, one of the chefs came by with the catches of the day on display. Many were from nearby Savoie rivers and lakes.
Having risked some fairly tricky icy slopes during the day, living life on the edge continued into our starters. We opted to share a Savoie sausage that came with a mini-guillotine and a bowl of snails - demanded by our kids! Our little ones have lived in France for the last three years and have gourmet parents (especially my other half) so they are pretty adventurous eaters. The snails appeared in a thick herb soup - it was richly flavoured with the snails adding a meaty saltiness. I was delighted to polish it off when the kids opted for the sausage although we did have to keep warning them to keep fingers out etc and help them out with the mini guillotine. All great fun, culinarily exciting and a perfectly atypical start to a festive meal.
The atmosphere at Le Cèpe is relaxed and the emphasis is on ensuring guests have a fun evening while delivering spectacularly good food. For main courses, not one of us went for the traditional option of capon with the usual trimmings. Instead, I had a generous serving of plump scallops, others went for fish or lamb; the adults' dishes were accompanied by a fabulous 2015 Mercurey from the Domaine Michel Juillot. An absolute treat to find such good seafood or fish in the mountains! Even our youngest had a simple and delish plate of grilled salmon. She polished this off and also the whole of her dessert. We shared three colourful desserts. The service throughout was very kind, attentive and patient - and completely unfazed by our rather noisy bunch of diners.
It's quite expensive so depending on your budget this could be more of a special occasion place (it certainly is for us) but if you are in the area and feel like a treat, I strongly recommend it! I'll post some photos shortly when I download my snaps from the holiday. If only our skiing for the rest of the week had been as reliably outstanding...
If you have eaten at Le Cèpe or other good recommendations in the Savoie, let us know! I'll post some other reviews from there in coming months...
Before the year-end, squeezing in a review of Le Cèpe restaurant in Meribel, Haute Savoie, France.
My family and I trooped over there for Christmas dinner a few days ago. My husband and I had ducked out of cooking Christmas dinner since the words 'ski holiday' are an oxymoron when skiing self-catering with kids (and we had something like 12 last count in our extended group over about four apartments!). Having lugged tree back to our apartment on the resort bus on the 23rd, we felt we had done our bit! Le Cèpe had been sensational when I visited this summer with a group of yoga bunny friends (digression: if you are wondering what kind of yoga weekend ends up in a Michelin bib resto, well this was my kind of 'health' weekend: the emphasis was on self-care and well-being, yessiree!). However, I wasn't sure what Le Cepe would be like for families.
Well, people, it was just as warmly welcoming with kids. They were willing to accommodate an unheard-of-in-France start time of 6pm (!!). Actually by the time we rocked up at 6.45pm (we had called ahead and they said no problem), there were lots of other tables already there and not all with youngish children like ours. We had a wonderful booth-type table at the back, snug and special, but all of the tables are great - this is definitely not a place where tables are packed in too closely.
If you go, I recommend you kick off your night with their signature champagne cocktails. We had one of each: a Meribel was champagne, saffron and a juicy raspberry, while Ceps was champagne laced with ceps, of course. The latter smelt pungently of mushroom but on the palate this translated into a crisp, savoury depth. Geeeeeorgeous, especially with a satisfying amuse bouche of pesto'd-beef on toasted brioche. The owner, who is a charming and welcoming woman from the region, brought out a bag of frozen flowers from her freezer and we tried to work out what the 'daisies' mentioned on the menu could be. With the help of Google, we figured out that the flower is, in fact, meadowsweet. Many of the dishes here are enriched with locally-foraged mushrooms, herbs and flowers. As we mulled over the menu's temptations, one of the chefs came by with the catches of the day on display. Many were from nearby Savoie rivers and lakes.
Having risked some fairly tricky icy slopes during the day, living life on the edge continued into our starters. We opted to share a Savoie sausage that came with a mini-guillotine and a bowl of snails - demanded by our kids! Our little ones have lived in France for the last three years and have gourmet parents (especially my other half) so they are pretty adventurous eaters. The snails appeared in a thick herb soup - it was richly flavoured with the snails adding a meaty saltiness. I was delighted to polish it off when the kids opted for the sausage although we did have to keep warning them to keep fingers out etc and help them out with the mini guillotine. All great fun, culinarily exciting and a perfectly atypical start to a festive meal.
The atmosphere at Le Cèpe is relaxed and the emphasis is on ensuring guests have a fun evening while delivering spectacularly good food. For main courses, not one of us went for the traditional option of capon with the usual trimmings. Instead, I had a generous serving of plump scallops, others went for fish or lamb; the adults' dishes were accompanied by a fabulous 2015 Mercurey from the Domaine Michel Juillot. An absolute treat to find such good seafood or fish in the mountains! Even our youngest had a simple and delish plate of grilled salmon. She polished this off and also the whole of her dessert. We shared three colourful desserts. The service throughout was very kind, attentive and patient - and completely unfazed by our rather noisy bunch of diners.
It's quite expensive so depending on your budget this could be more of a special occasion place (it certainly is for us) but if you are in the area and feel like a treat, I strongly recommend it! I'll post some photos shortly when I download my snaps from the holiday. If only our skiing for the rest of the week had been as reliably outstanding...
If you have eaten at Le Cèpe or other good recommendations in the Savoie, let us know! I'll post some other reviews from there in coming months...
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