It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, except that all the stores and restaurants in the vicinity…read morewere closed and we were absolutely starving! As we drove around in a desperate search for sustenance, we came across this lovely family-owned restaurant. It was a very pleasant surprise, with delicious food in good portions. The service was wonderful; the mother-and-son duo was very friendly and the son spoke English well. The mother spoke very good French as she laughingly informed us. If you eat here, you will not be disappointed!

When you approach the parking lot of this rustic, Alpine restaurant, the first thing you notice is…read morethe helipad. Huh? The restaurant is in the middle of nowhere! But the 1992 Olympics were held in Albertville, so I suppose some jetsetting billionaire said "The drive is too long, I will build a helipad for you!" Anyways, the food here is authentic Savoiard cooking. While I can't really judge it against others since I am a neophyte, it was very very good. We had the raclette and also the reblochon fondues. The dishes included the cheeses, potatoes, cold meats, cooked pork belly (yes, the French have been doing pork belly for hundreds of years, long before it got sexy hot in the U.S.) and sausage. It also came with pickled onions and a huge bowl of green salad. We had a small oven on the table which had very hot coals in it. You used this to melt the cheese, then pour the cheese over anything on your plate. Wow. Yum. The food here is simple, but very wholesome and it is fun to "cook" your own. That's why shabu shabu is so cool, too. We stuffed ourselves silly, and actually had glasses of armagnac at the end. Fantastic.

Excellent traditional French meal. We ordered the beef tasting menu--salad, scalloped potatoes,…read moreseared meat. Excellent! A unique atmosphere and quite fun experience.