The Crans-Montana List
Five editorial picks, ranked by the only filter that matters: why you are dining.
LeMontBlanc
Pierre Crepaud's panoramic one-Michelin-star kitchen at LeCrans — full-height windows onto the Mont Blanc massif and the most photographed dinner view in the Valais.
L'Ours
Franck Reynaud's Provençal-Alpine fusion at the Hostellerie du Pas de l'Ours — Crans-Montana's longest-running Michelin star and the village's most reliable client-entertaining address.
La Ferme Saint-Amour
Eric Frechon's Crans-Montana project — the three-Michelin-star Bristol Paris chef in a converted Valais farmhouse, the most surprising new opening in the Swiss Alps.
Le Pavillon
L'Ours's relaxed-chic brasserie sister — Reynaud's mid-village brasserie with the most reliable lunch and after-dinner programme in Crans.
Chetzeron
2,112 metres on the Cry d'Er ridge — the architecturally striking concrete-and-glass slope-side hotel that turned a former cable-car station into the resort's most photographed lunch.
Best for First Date in Crans-Montana
Intimate, conversation-friendly rooms. Impressive without being intimidating. The tables where first impressions are made.
Le Pavillon
L'Ours's relaxed-chic brasserie sister — Reynaud's mid-village brasserie with the most reliable lunch and after-dinner programme in Crans.
Chetzeron
2,112 metres on the Cry d'Er ridge — the architecturally striking concrete-and-glass slope-side hotel that turned a former cable-car station into the resort's most photographed lunch.
Best for Business Dinner in Crans-Montana
Power tables, private rooms, considered wine lists. Where the deal gets done.
LeMontBlanc
Pierre Crepaud's panoramic one-Michelin-star kitchen at LeCrans — full-height windows onto the Mont Blanc massif and the most photographed dinner view in the Valais.
L'Ours
Franck Reynaud's Provençal-Alpine fusion at the Hostellerie du Pas de l'Ours — Crans-Montana's longest-running Michelin star and the village's most reliable client-entertaining address.
The Top Five in Crans-Montana
Ranked against a single question: if you had one night in Crans-Montana, where would you go?
LeMontBlanc
Pierre Crepaud's panoramic one-Michelin-star kitchen at LeCrans — full-height windows onto the Mont Blanc massif and the most photographed dinner view in the Valais.
L'Ours
Franck Reynaud's Provençal-Alpine fusion at the Hostellerie du Pas de l'Ours — Crans-Montana's longest-running Michelin star and the village's most reliable client-entertaining address.
La Ferme Saint-Amour
Eric Frechon's Crans-Montana project — the three-Michelin-star Bristol Paris chef in a converted Valais farmhouse, the most surprising new opening in the Swiss Alps.
Le Pavillon
L'Ours's relaxed-chic brasserie sister — Reynaud's mid-village brasserie with the most reliable lunch and after-dinner programme in Crans.
Chetzeron
2,112 metres on the Cry d'Er ridge — the architecturally striking concrete-and-glass slope-side hotel that turned a former cable-car station into the resort's most photographed lunch.
The Crans-Montana Dining Guide
Crans-Montana is a two-village resort sitting on a south-facing plateau 1,500 metres above the Rhône valley in the Swiss Valais — Crans (the slightly more exclusive of the two halves) and Montana (the larger village, with the spa hotels and the Severiano Ballesteros golf course) — connected by an 800-metre walk along the Avenue de la Gare. The plateau gets 300 days of sun a year (the most of any Swiss Alpine resort) and the south-facing aspect is the basis of the resort's whole identity: ski in winter, golf and hike in summer, with the Mediterranean weather that no other Swiss village can claim.
The dining is correspondingly serious. LeMontBlanc at the LeCrans Hotel runs one Michelin star under chef Pierre Crepaud; L'Ours by Franck Reynaud runs another at the Hostellerie du Pas de l'Ours; and the recent arrival La Ferme Saint-Amour brings three-Michelin-star chef Eric Frechon (long-time chef at the Bristol Paris) to the village in a consulting role. Hotel-restaurants — Le Pavillon at Le Pas de l'Ours, Restaurant Le Mont Lachaux at the Mont Blanc Hotel — round out the serious dinner programme.
Neighbourhoods
Reservations & Practical Notes
LeMontBlanc and L'Ours must be booked four to six weeks ahead in February-March peak; two to three weeks shoulder season. La Ferme Saint-Amour is three to four weeks. Mountain restaurants take phone bookings two to three days ahead. Dress is alpine-elegant — a sweater and clean jeans is acceptable everywhere — with no formal jacket requirement. Service is included in Switzerland; rounding up 5 per cent is the polite local convention.
For a deeper editorial read, see ou