When going to the Swiss mountains, most travelers will end up in the likes of Zermatt, Davos, Klosters, Lenzerheide or Engelberg…If you look for a place off the beaten tracks, with only a few small restaurants and hotels, a size of slopes easy to grasp and some cosy mountain huts, you may want to consider the village St. Luc in the Val d’Anniviers in the French part of the country. For those who look for party after skiing, just stay away!

My favourite place for dinner is the restaurant of the Hôtel Le Grand Chalet Favre in the centre of the little village. It combines alpine features with modern chic in a traditional building, antique furniture, low ceilings and rooms decorated with taste – just the right place for a cozy cheese fondue and some Walliser ham. The menu offers of course more than that and the chef is fantastic: Go for the Fillet of cod with white butter sauce and wasabi, a salad of poached pear with millefeuille of blue cheese from the Valais and nuts or a beef tartare and finish off with the homemade blueberry tart. No clue why, but most of the times I have dinner there I stick with the cheese specialities. If you happen to be in St. Luc on a Wednesday, go for the Raclette and don’t forget to have a glass of Johannisberg or a Petite Arvine to accompagny your food – the typical wines from the Valais are. Life can be really tough!