Having booked your flights to Geneva for a weekend of physical exertion in the mountains, attention has to turn to your stomach. The beauty of skiing is that it gives us all an excuse to over-indulge on the calories. Mountain cooking is simple and unfussy, laden with goodness. Then there’s the après-ski – as every good skier knows a beer or glass of gluhwein at the the end of a long day on the slopes can ease those aches.
L’Atmosphere – Chamonix, France
A real local’s favourite and living up to its name, L’Atmopshere is one of the buzziest restaurants in Chamonix. Sitting beside the tumbling melt-water of the river that dissects the town, the restaurant’s terrace looks up towards Mont Blanc. The French menu caters to greedy mountain appetites. Seasonal produce from the region is backed up with a wine cellar that holds more than 300 different wines (many of them local) to wash it all down. Renovated in 2008, the restaurant is warm and cosy and slap bang in the centre of town, so perfect for heading out into the frosty night to explore the bars and clubs that have turned Chamonix into one of the most happening resorts in the Alps. Search and compare: cheap flights to Chambery
Dick’s Tea Bar – Val d’Isere, France
An alpine institution, Dick’s Tea Bar is the biggest and best-known nightclub in the French Alps, and certainly the best of the bars in Val d’Isere. Often imitated, but never successfully. First opened in 1979, Dick’s has long been the place to get your groove on after hitting the slopes and come 2am some of the dancers are still clumping about the club in ski boots and all-in-one jump suits. The cocktail bar is the centrepiece, with around 1,000 people daily flocking to it. On the drinks menu is Dick’s Ice Tea – the alcohol-laden, electric-blue version of the Long Island Ice Tea – and the Ski Boot, a four-litre vodka cocktail served in a ceramic ski boot. With a great location near the nursery slopes and the famous World Cup downhill, it’s pretty much impossible to walk past it after a day on the slopes. Search and compare: cheap flights to Val d’Isere
The Farm – Verbier, Switzerland
If there’s one club for après-ski in the Alps then you have to head to the Farm – the home away from home for European royalty, the jet-set, hedge-funders, oligarchs, goggle-eyed tourists and all those looking to bring their weekend on the slopes into disrepute. Found off the main street, The Farm is packed to the rafters most weekends – at which point the only way of guaranteeing entry is to splash the cash – book a table and divvy up the bar tab between your friends. Dancing on the tables is de rigeur and if you can escort one of the limber ski-bunnies out, good for you. While it might be out of mere mortals price ranges it is definitely a good way to check out how the other half live. Search and compare: cheap flights to Verbier
La Folie Douce – Val Thorens, France
Part of the Three Valleys lift system La Folie Douce in Val Thorens is one of those mountain restaurants that needs to be experienced. Known for its challenging skiing we recommend getting in a really full morning, then enjoy a late lunch and join the party, which gets underway at around 3pm when the tables are stacked away to make room for extraordinary mountain top revelry as skiers clump to the beat in their over-sized boots. The interiors are modelled on an alpine milking parlour with the pale-wood illuminated by the bright mountain light shimmering off the snow. Be sure to keep an eye on the time for last lifts back to whichever of the resorts you are staying in – otherwise it could be an expensive taxi ride home! Search and compare: cheap flights to Val Thorens
NordKapp – Monterosa, Italy
If there’s one thing the Italians know how to do really, really well – that’s eat. The small but perfectly villages that make up Monterosa are as justifiably famous for their food as they are for their daredevil skiing. The tiny NordKapp is arguably one of the best restaurants in the area, with an imaginative menu featuring gourmet seasonal dishes created by owners Luca and Pryia. They work closely with local farmers and hunters to provide diners with the freshest possible produce and a modern take on traditional favourites, such as pappardelle with fava beans, cipollotti and rabbit and roebuck stuffed with red wine polenta and pear compote. Search and compare: cheap flights to Turin
