Once upon a time in a magical French ski region called Les Trois Vallées, there lived a three-star Michelin restaurant called La Bouitte. This restaurant was no ordinary restaurant; it has special powers to make everyone in there fall in love with it.
This restaurant is my favorite restaurant in the world, and every single detail is considered. The restaurant itself is nestled amongst the snow-covered mountains of the Savoie, within a stunning alpine-chic 5-star Relais and Chateaux hotel (our welcome drink with our private balcony pictured below!). The dining room is an elegant take on traditional Alpine décor—authentic and stylish without being too kitschy. It’s a mix of cowbells hanging from the ceilings next to crystal chandeliers, wool curtains next to stools for your purse, hay on the walls next to white tablecloths… it is what your ideal chalet would look like. It isn’t stuffy and it’s inviting enough that it makes you feel like you eat there nightly (which we did… because we fell in love with this place on night one!).
Owners René and Maxime Meilleur pour their souls into the food and the drinks of this restaurant. The restaurant truly aims to capture and amplify the region itself, from the teas made from flowers picked in meadows nearby to the wine bottles with no label from Maxime’s friend. The hay butter was crave-worthy, and there was a dish that reminded me of an elevated cheese souffle that we loved so much that Greg bought the cookbook, translated the recipe from French to English, and made it for my 30th birthday. We were fortunate the last night there to sit in the chef’s room overlooking the kitchen.
After dinner each night we strolled upstairs to have the best night’s sleep in our lush rooms with warm hearts and thriving taste buds. When we woke up in the mornings, we would gush over every single dish we enjoyed the night before and stroll by the buzzing kitchen to fantasize about what we would be served that upcoming night. The entire experience was perfection start to finish, something to plan a vacation around, and I will be dreaming of this fairy-tale spot in the world until we meet again.
