Two Stars for Benoit Vidal | Val d'Isère Chalets

Val d’Isere. The resort we all love to love.

After all, it’s got it all. It’s high, it’s pretty, the hotels are swish, the chalets are luxurious, and the restaurants are classy. So very classy. Something that was once again proved by the addition of a second Michelin star for chef Benoit Vidal.

Yep, the chef of l’Atelier d’Edmond has earned a second award for his cooking, four years after receiving his first. The star was celebrating a specific use of local produce and the framework of the cuisine, accentuating flavours by highlighting one ingredient with the use of another.

That might not sound like a working theory to you, but you probably don’t have a Michelin star. In bringing “the mentholated accent of pine” and “the unusual taste of hay” to his cooking, and attempting to achieve the highest level of culinary skill and harmony, Benoit Vidal believes he is embracing the energy, the history and the humility of the mountain.

Benoit Vidal food photo credit Fabrice Beauvois

Most of us just head over to Val to enjoy the skiing and the lively nightlife, taking advantage of the food in between hitting the slopes and hitting the ever popular Dick’s Tea Bar in the evenings. We must be missing the humility of the mountain, as we all rush to get up the hill in the mornings, and get into the bar in the evenings.

For the kitchen, achieving this second Michelin star is more than just a badge of honour; it’s the culmination of four years of hard work, and the smashing of another goal. Certainly something to celebrate, and by all accounts a monumental achievement that all involved can be proud of. While the taste of minty tree and hay doesn’t exactly set me salivating, it’s a huge plus for Val d’Isere to add another feather to its culinary cap.

Benoit Vidal desert photo credit Fabrice Beauvois

Benoit demands incredibly high standards in his kitchen, and would never ask anyone to do something he couldn’t do himself- he appears to be a lead-by-example sort of chef, which you might think would make his kitchen a slightly less tense environment than some other top chefs we might mention, but we’ve never been, so we’re not sure.

From a position in Le Fornet, the restaurant is 2km from the centre of the village and easily accessible via the red shuttle. If you’re heading out to the Espace Killy area in the coming months, we do recommend checking it out.

If only to test out “the mentholated accent of pine” for us.