Verbier: A ski paradise deserves exceptional dining
Verbier is not just any resort. Home of the Freeride World Tour and gateway to Mont-Fort at 3,330 m, this Valais resort attracts a demanding international clientele who expect excellence in everything, including at the table.
But after an epic run down from Tortin or a powder session off Mont-Gelé, who really wants to head back out into the Swiss cold to find a restaurant table? Especially as the best addresses (Le Sonalon, La Marmotte, Le Mont Fort) are fully booked weeks in advance during the school holidays.
That is where a private chef comes in: you come back to the chalet tired but happy, and a moitié-moitié fondue made with Valais cheeses is waiting for you by the fire. Luxury can be that simple. I turn the chalet you have rented into a fully catered chalet, with menus written for your group alone.
My approach? French technique applied to Valais produce. I go up to the Bagnes dairy for the AOP raclette cheese, stop at the Martigny market on Fridays for dried meat and seasonal vegetables, deal with Lake Geneva fishermen for fresh féra, and turn it all into dinner in your chalet kitchen.
You come back from the slopes on the Médran gondola, the fire is crackling, and a traditional raclette with Bagnes cheese melted over the flame is waiting for you, with a glass of Fendant from Chamoson. That is the chalet experience I offer: the one where dinner becomes the real summit of the day.
