Restaurant Le 1920 (Megève, FRANCE) ★★★★★

For decades, Megève has been the playground for the rich and famous thanks to its abundance of luxury spa hotels, chalets and ski resorts. The indulgence doesn't stop there. Imagine all the exquisite fine-dining options in the area, too and you know it's worth a visit at least once in a lifetime.



After a short drive from Annecy, we finally arrived at 5-star hotel Chalet du Mont d'Arbois in hilly Megève.



We have been looking forward to this lunch at Le 1920, the fine dining restaurant of Le Chalet du Mont d'Arbois since the beginning of the trip. Chef Julien Gatillon has been a great story since arriving at the restaurant in 2012. After sharpening his skills with Michelin 3-star chefs Benoît Violier and Yannick Alléno, he brought his game to Le 1920 earning him 2 precious stars in the Michelin Guide in the process.



Chef Gatillon's cuisine is all about respect for the best local produce and traditions. On the menu, we were able to find traces of the great French dining tradition including Bresse chicken, line-caught sole meunière, classic Paris-Brest and of course, Rothschild traditional soufflé, a signature dessert at Le 1920.



It was a gorgeous day out there so we decided to take it outside at the outdoor terrace.




Unfortunately, I still have a long drive back to Milan in the afternoon. Instead of the full blown tasting menu, we opted for a shortened version called "Initiation Menu" which was comfortably priced at 90 euros per head.



Our amuse bouche consisted of 3 interesting nibbles including a savory puff filled with fish in the middle and a green pea panna cotta topped with shredded ham.



But I like this one the most, foie gras and passion fruit chutney on a piece of crispy toast.



The first course from the Initiation Menu was lightly seared salmon fillet served with watercress coulis and "mimosa" condiments which was a nicely decorated set of mayo made with egg white (white), egg yolk (yellow) and parsley (green). I really enjoyed this dish tremendously with the earthy flavors from watercress and parsley elevating the seared salmon to a whole new level.



This was followed by green zebra tomato with creamy buratina. Before they served up the zebra tomato, they made sure that the plating was right on the money with condiments like pesto sauce, sun dried tomatoes, crispy croutons, shaved cheese and marshmallow (made with cheese) all in position. 



Now, they're ready to place the green zebra tomatoes onto the serving plates.



Very lovely presentation...!



This was a very sophisticated dish with light mozzarella cheese and tomato mousse stuffed into the middle of the green zebra tomato. I thought the flavors really harmonized each other perfectly. What a wonderful dish that was.



Our main dish was roasted young duck from Vendée, a region in the Southwestern part of France.



The first part of this dish featured the roasted duck served in gorgeous pink, along with candied cherries, chanterelle mushrooms and a sauce made with cherries and red wine.



Comparing to the Challans duck, this was almost equally flavorful but the meat was noticeably softer.



Then, we had the leg which was simply served with mashed potatoes and garden salad. We watched as they slowly poured the duck jus on top.



For dessert, they went back to the basics with this Rothschild traditional soufflè.



The texture was perfect especially with the orange zest. 



The soufflè was served with a small bowl of orange granita on the side.



Lastly, a very nice petite fours including a small tartlet with Piedmont hazelnut, mint macaron, black tea tart and chocolate raspberry choux pastry to wrap things up.



In between courses, I made sure I had enough time to admire all those beautiful paintings on the wall.

We were given a brief guided tour of the hotel following the meal.



I could probably spend an afternoon chilling out on this balcony with a cup of coffee in my hand.



This meal ranks right up there with the ones at Maison Pic and Maison Troisgros as three of the most memorable meals on this trip. Now that we're done here, I can focus on driving us back safely to Milan.

<Note: Le 1920 has been relocated to the new Four Seasons Hotel where Chef Julien Gatillon continues to work towards his third star.>





Food Rating: 8.5/10
Price: €€€
Address: 373 Chemin des Follières, 74120 Megève, France
Tel: +33 (0)4 5021-2503
Website: www.mont-darbois.fr