The temperatures are getting cooler, so we want to eat fondue, or at least raclette!
Now that's it, it's officially winter. Not in terms of the calendar, but the temperatures and the weather make us feel that the good days are far away now. Rather than dragging our spleen out into the cold, we have what you need to cheer you up. A hot, fatty dish, one of the French's favorites: Savoyard fondue. With its distant cousin, raclette, they are the two pillars that support the morale of the French when the weather gets toughout. We therefore offer you a small selection of the best restaurants to enjoy a good fondue in the Southern Alps. Even if we know that this is not the specialty of the region, there are still beautiful brands that are doing very well !
L’Alpin, in Briançon
Savoyard fondue, and generally all dishes based on melted cheese, is a mountain thing. We therefore suspected that we would inevitably find the right shoe for us in Briançon, a town located at an altitude of 1,326 meters, and we were not mistaken: the Alpin is exactly what you need if you want to taste a good mountain specialty. Tartiflette, fondue with several cheeses and even porcini mushrooms, or truffles, or even raclettes: you will find something to put a little warmth in your belly, at rather affordable prices for dishes of this quality. Attention fans, they have also planned a special menu for the evening of December 31!
The Col Bayard Dairy, in Laye
We already told you about this pretty little place in a previous article dedicated to cheese makers (you will end up believing that we have an obsession with cheese…). If the Laiterie du Col Bayard, located in Laye, is run by very talented cheesemakers, it is also a very pleasant restaurant where you can easily taste several types of fondues: some are made with wine, others with Hautes-Alpes beer and in any case, it looks delicious. There are also two different raclettes, and even “cheese menus”, entirely composed of cheese for the real addicts.
Les Peupliers, in Baratier
We continue with another fairly well-known brand in the region: the hotel restaurant Les Peupliers, located in Baratier. Even if the hotel is quite famous, with services very appreciated by visitors, here it is mainly the restaurant side that interests us, in particular the small portion of the menu dedicated to “Mountain Specialties”: raclettes, sometimes even organic raclettes with wild garlic, but above all two fondues which are as desirable as each other, with the possibility of having a little Champsaur charcuterie to help the cheese slide better. Just what you need to combat the bitter cold of winter!
The Refuge, in Gap
We finish with a restaurant which is also well known to the inhabitants of Gap and the surrounding area: Le Refuge. Just from the name, we know that the “mountain dishes” theme will be well represented on the menu, and we were not mistaken: there are several types of fondues on the menu, with the possibility of adding morels to spice it up a little. Savoyard fondues, but also Burgundian ones, or even raclettes, in short, what you need to overcome the winter blues, in a very pretty setting which really reminds you of a mountain refuge. The perfect place to bust your belly!
