René Et Maxime Meilleur

When you decide to choose a three stars Michelin restaurant, you 're pretty sure to have a memorable experience but sometimes, it 's a little pretentious and sophisticated. It really depends of the vision of the chef(s . At La Bouitte, René and Maxime Meilleur, father and son, have distilled the essence of excellence, cooking food with heart and a real passion for the best local products. Their cuisine is the most beautiful hymn to the Savoyard terroir. Magnificient fishes from the Leman lake, exceptional meats from the surrounding farms, divine herbs and berries from the mountains (Maxime loves to go and harvest herbs which is a source of inspiration of what they will cook for day lunch and dinner ... When René and his wife started 44 years ago, La Bouitte was just a restaurant of local mountain style specialties for hungry skiers but they had done it well and their little restaurant was pretty successful. One day when they went to Paul Bocuse in Collonges au Mt d 'Or to treat themselves in between two seasons, René had a kind of revelation and decided to turn his restaurant into a gastronomic one. Soon joined by their son Maxime, they started to climb little by little the culinary peaks to finally reach the highest point in 2015 with three amazing Michelin stars. The three stars reward a hard work of many years and after our recent dinner at La Bouitte, I understand how much it is well deserved. We definitively had one of our best dinner ever and at each dish, we had an emotion. Their cuisine tells a story and got this simple complexity which is a sign of an outstanding food interpretation. Each dish we had the honor to taste was absolutely magical creating at each bite, something just inexplicable but so enjoyable. The menu is pretty interesting because all set courses menus are a surprise and you just pick from an extensive list of products and ingredients, all from Savoy, the ones you 're not too into and then, the chefs create a unique menu in 3, 4, 5 or 8 acts. We opted for the 4 surprises plus all the little ones making of this incredibly affordable 3 stars dinner, already a real feast. Everything we tried was sensational... starting with excellent mise en bouches before the first starter which was a little garden of vegetables with a citrus vinaigrette and double cream from Gruyère . This dish was like a gourmet dream with young vegetables cooked to perfection, a little sour sauce to punch the dish and the softness of this delicious cream. So savory and totally well balanced. Then was langoustines (yes a special request because usually Maxime and René don 't cook this crustacean and they usually prefer local river crayfish but since I 've sent them an email weeks prior visit, they managed to find langoustines to please us... and this second starter combined with a spelt risotto and the softly and intense sauce was an other grace-filled moment. The main course was maybe the most amazing moment like reaching the Nirvana... a amazingly cooked and with an incredible melting texture arctic char associated with crispy skin filled with secret aromates and ingredients and a velvety sauce made with wine from savoy. We 've been in numerous 3 stars but this dish will remain for ever the most sensational. As an end, a very refreshing beer like made with Mirabelle (little yellow plum... before a raspberry soufflé simply perfect, not too sweet and seasoned with mountain herbs and flowers and escorted with little sweet bites all as delicious as the others and more specifically these legendary Biscuirons... a dinner to remember... and I prefer not to talk about breads and cheese trolleys because it would be obscene since it was a true sin of greed... (or delicacy I prefer this word... . Service was extremely well done, impressively kind and smily and was attentive at the littlest details. Waiters and Maitre d 'hôtel were so adorable, not snobbish at all to make guests just like at home and at each dish served, they had a little story to explain. One of the most remarkable service we experienced. Finally, a nice dinner wouldn 't be perfect without a good wine and the wine list of La Bouitte is like an encyclopedia, maybe a little pricey, but with the best Grand Cru bottles and a very interesting selection of local wines. We had a crispy and refreshing Apremont which was perfect match with our dinner. So yes, La Bouitte is an incredible 3 stars Michelin and this simplicity propels to the top René and Maxime, artisans and artists, who have as a unique objective to please their guests and make them having an unparalleled culinary emotion...

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We were chosing between the one in Courchevel with three Michelin stars and La Bouitte and ended up reserving a table at La Bouitte. We had a lovely dinner experience, having chosen the four surprises. All of the courses were delicious, beautifully presented, breads and butters great as well. They ask you before you order the surprises as to your dietary limitations, we have none but I recommend mentioning if you mind smoked flavour like I do. But again, that's just me, the rest was amazing. The staff was extremely pleasant and helpful, I chose the wine pairings and they were great, all French and all white I appreciated Burgundy Chardonnay pairing with sweetbread. I really enjoyed the fish with arugula the fish had wonderful buttery and nut taste and arugula had fried capers as a flavouring which made a spicy punch without the traditional acidity of capers. The whole dinner service was wonderfully paced with amazing staff and a knowledgeable sommelier, all of the details were great, nothing to complain about. I really enjoyed the combination of haute cuisine in the rustic Savoy style with heart and sould poured into the meals themselves. There are top rates restaurants that are a mere gimmick, this is a genuine thing. Do book, it's so much worth it! Also, the small desert section was extraordinary :

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I have known mr Meilleur since they had only one star Michelin, and the day I knew that he have got his third Michelin star, I immediately called him and we both cried on the phone. Being a regular every year of the reastaurant, the best in all trois vallées, one day we got stuck there with oir ski monitor Fred, due to a snow storm after our extraordinary lunch and that is when we knew that some rooms were made available that year. Since that god blessed sublime snow storm, me and my wife Elsa have always stayed one week there, skying fanatically 7 hours per dayenjoying great savoy food , starting the skying day with oysters , reblochon and crèma brulée at breakfast, and finishing it with a Corton- Charlemagne in front of our suite fireplace. The service is much more than service: its friends of all ages and capabilities that all of them talk to you disceningly, and make up every wish we may have. And still, a warm pool and a very good smallspa with its own local excellent products. So, no wonder my wife says its her preferred holidays!

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We have quite a number of stars mileage..., including many of them coming by 3... and of course most of these experiences were between very fine and superlative. However no all resist the retrospective analysis... Here with our dinner at La Bouitte, we are clearly close to the very best, the kind that will make a very long and lasting impression. Firstly, the cuisine of course: an interesting mix of extremely sophisticated preparation and (mostly simple and local products... seasonality, quality, hard work... that makes miracles (like this fantastic starter of simple vegetables.... ; service then: formal, friendly, not pretentious, everything you 'd expect... and last but not least, the welcome of the Meilleur family.... humility, friendliness and professionalism at their best. Wonderful wine list, excellent bread (and butters , and so on. Expensive of course, but nothing scandalous. We 'll be back as soon as we can!

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We visited the restaurant and did not stay in the hotel. The food in the menu surprise was absolutely superb faultless. Most impressive was the bread cart yes, a waiter pushes around a wooden cart of bread and slices it in front of you. The wine list is huge as you would expect, but the sommelier made perfect recommendations which were reasonably priced, perfect for the surprise menu and just adventurous enough for us to try something new. The Gigondas was a perfect voice of red. Would love to go back, after we have saved up!

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