Why Courmayeur is the best ski resort in the world for foodies

Whether it’s being cooked for by Tom Kerridge up the mountain or tucking into homespun local pasta, this Italian resort is a gourmand’s dream, says Helen Coffey

Courmayeur serves up top-class cuisine (Le Massif)

“There’ll be food at the top. Unbelievable food – celebrity-chef cooked food! It will all be worth it.”

This is what I tell myself as I apply a vice-like grip to the person in front while we zip up steep slopes in the dark on a Ski-Doo. The driver is clearly unperturbed by the speed – he urges the beast on faster and faster, engaged in a furious race with the snowmobile in front. While others whoop and holler as we vrrrooom our way up the mountain, clearly relishing the ride, I settle for gritting my teeth, closing my eyes and repeating the above mantra. Food awaits. Drool-worthy, once-in-a-lifetime food.

I’m clearly not the best backseat driver, but even I gasp in delight as we round the final bend and the restaurant hurtles into view, strewn with fairy lights that mirror the star-spangled sky and given a cosy warmth by roasting fire pits dotted here and there in the snow. It’s the ideal setting for an evening of “rustic” fare, whipped up by multiple-Michelin-starred chefs Tom Kerridge and Claude Bosi – two reasons compelling enough to get me on the back of this death machine.

There’s a reason the annual dinner, sold as part of a gourmet package organised by bespoke tour operator Momentum Ski, is held in the Italian resort of Courmayeur. If you’re not fussed about food, it seems a waste to come to this chic, pretty-as-they-come village in the Aosta Valley.

Yes, the pedestrianised central main street, littered with artisanal shops selling everything from local truffle products to eye-wateringly expensive baby clothes, is utterly charming. Yes, the ski area itself is awash with head-turning valley views and close-ups of the unparalleled Mont Blanc, a stone’s throw away in Chamonix over the French border. Yes, the Skyway Monte Bianco, a cable car that rotates 360 degrees while climbing 3,466m (and known for its starring role in Kingsman 2) is nothing short of spectacular. But it’s the richness of the cuisine that really distinguishes Courmayeur, and has me daydreaming about my next trip before I’ve fully digested my final meal.

Guests take a nail-biting ride via snowmobile to the mountain restaurant (Momentum Ski)

Days before the gourmet tasting dinner up the mountain, I was already warming up my stomach at Chetif, the main restaurant of new five-star hotel Le Massif. Soft egg doused in breadcrumbs topped with truffle-spiked caviar; juicy prawns on a vibrant splash of blitzed avocado; ravioli loaded with local fontina cheese; crispy cod with Mediterranean vegetables: it was all a far cry from the heavy tartiflettes of France or the bland knodel of Austria.

The hotel opened at the beginning of the season, breathing new life into a building that had lain empty for 30 years, and besides the main restaurant there’s a steakhouse that offers meat cooked at the table, a laid-back lobby bar and a small but well-formed spa, with indoor-outdoor plunge-pool-turned-hot tub, sauna, steam room and a row of wonderfully contoured day beds. Rooms are rustic yet modern with raw wood walls complemented by dove-grey suede headboards and crisp, white bedding. While the bathroom has slate sinks, black, marble-effect walls and an oversized rectangular rainfall shower. It made a supremely convenient base for accessing the slopes, located two minutes’ walk from the main cable car up to the ski area.

A starter of burrata at Le Massif’s steakhouse (Helen Coffey)

Convenience is also the name of the game at Le Loge, the hotel’s slopeside clubhouse opposite the Checrouit gondola, which has a boot room for guests complete with “ski butler” and expansive lockers that open with the swipe of a hotel room key card. Up top there’s a restaurant with a terrace that turned out to be the perfect place for a languorous lunch on a sunny afternoon – we tucked into California rolls (there’s an extensive sushi menu) and more traditional dishes of rich venison ragu and gloriously gooey cheese risotto studded with cinnamon croutons.

Le Massif is new this season (Le Massif)

Of course, there was skiing too in the brief spells between eating. Two consecutive bluebird days saw us work up a sweat without moving a muscle, stripping off the layers before working our thighs on Courmayeur’s 41km of pistes. It’s a bijou ski area, fun to explore but a far cry from the overwhelming enormity of the French mega-resorts. This was a boon for first-timers – it’s not a place where you have to worry about getting lost or finding yourself in the wrong valley at the end of the day, staring into the abyss of a €200 taxi ride to get back to your hotel. Within a couple of lifts it’s possible to return to the central hub of Plan Checrouit, and the cable car down to the village runs until 11.30pm at night.

Courmayeur’s ski area is small but lovely (Le Massif)

That said, there’s plenty of enjoyable skiing to be had, with the speciality being long red runs that sweep all the way from the top point of 2,755m back to base at 1,205m. I had to stop every so often, not only to rest my legs, challenged by the smooshy spring snow and marshmallow-like moguls, but just to take it all in: the dramatic peaks of the Mont Blanc massif spearing the intensely blue sky, dazzlingly white-tipped under the March sun.

More low-key establishments were all about good food and drink, too – another mountain lunch, this time at Chateau Branlant, saw me demolish a light tagliolini tossed with fresh tomato, mozzarella and olives. Back down in the resort, bars served up tasty, filling antipasti for free of an evening to accompany perfectly sweet-sour Aperol spritzes, a snip at €4 a pop.

A glass of prosecco starts the night off right (Momentum Ski)

But the main event was still the final evening: the feast to end all feasts, cooked up by Kerridge and Bosi in a sweaty kitchen that turned out to be the size of a postage stamp.

Feet back on firm ground, I inhale a steadying glass (or three) of prosecco, just the thing to wash down canapes of grilled cheese sandwich strips and bites of burrata, truffle and honey while doing some amateur stargazing. But pacing oneself is key – there are still five courses to go.

Claude Bosi’s pork and foie gras terrine (Helen Coffey)

Ushered inside the cosy Rifugio Maison Vieille, we take our seats on long wooden benches and the whirlwind begins, dishes alternating between those cooked by Kerridge, Bosi and onsite chef Abdul Rahmi. Baked Cornish fish soup is followed by pork and foie gras terrine; spaghetti alla bottarga (dressed in tangy fish roe, garlic and olive oil) gives way to mains of chicken and langoustine pie and slow-cooked Wiltshire lamb. The latter was prepared by Kerridge in his UK kitchen, vacuum-packed and transported here – I’m pescatarian, but can’t resist trying a melt-in-the-mouth chilli and mint-infused forkful before it’s spirited away to be replaced by a dessert of pain perdu (buttery French toast drenched in cream).

The pasta course on the gourmet tasting menu (Momentum Ski)

We finally waddle out into the crisp night air to be greeted by fireworks. As the music volume pumps up inside and the dancing gets going, I happily concede defeat and clamber aboard my second Ski-Doo of the evening to be transported down the mountain. I close my eyes, cling on for dear life and think: “Yes. It was definitely worth it.”

Travel essentials

Getting there

Turin and Geneva airports are both a 90-minute drive from resort. Ryanair flies from London to Turin from £30 return.

Staying there

Le Massif has doubles from €175, B&B.

More information

Momentum’s Gourmet Ski Experience takes place next year from 12-15 March. From £1,950pp, including three nights’ accommodation, B&B, two gourmet dinners up the mountain cooked by Michelin-starred chefs, one dinner out with the chefs, two mornings’ ski guiding and shared transfers from Geneva or Turin airport.