1* Restaurant
Restaurant 'Albert 1er'
Reopening on Friday 8th of December 2023, for dinner.
"Haute cuisine and high mountains share many experiences. For both, time, and sensation blend together; determination and fraternity are essential ingredients for their success. It is time to sit down, let we be overwhelmed by the world from above, and celebrate this sensitive encounter.
The gastronomic restaurant Albert 1er, honored with a Michelin Star, invites you to awaken all your senses. Damien Leveau, a young and creative chef, breathes life into a magical place steeped in a beautiful family history with a strong mountain sensibility, of which Perrine now represents the fifth generation of Carriers, with commitment and passion.
Right from the start, a subtle harmony captivates the eye, and a seamless dialogue emerges between the natural backdrop provided by the Chamonix valley and the understated elegance of the restaurant. Even before savoring the inventive dishes by the young Damien Leveau, you can appreciate the sophistication of the simple and intimate decor, whose color palette evokes, through its nuances, the colors of the Aiguilles de Chamonix. The profound presence of the high mountains in the surroundings of Hameau Albert 1er infiltrates your table. In perfect harmony with this captivating mineral world, architect Lionel Adam prioritizes purity. For this true Savoyard who has crafted the new decor of the Michelin-starred Albert 1er restaurant, "the mountain is lived and interpreted in multiple ways: through sports, arts, architecture, cuisine... One common denominator is taking risks."
A few artisans from the valley, thoughtfully chosen by Perrine, enrich the culinary arts with their creations. Discoveries that enchant, surprise, or amuse, also reinforce the identity and uniqueness of this gourmet interlude offered by the Hameau and its connections to the environment.
Everything converges to focus on the essential, in other words, the tasting of preparations that delight both the eye and the taste buds. Demanding, passionate, and bold, Chef Damien Leveau offers an inventive cuisine that highlights the qualities of the products he carefully selects from the Hameau's garden as well as from his dedicated producers.
"The Call of the Summits," the tasting menu at Albert 1er, invites you on a gourmet journey full of multiple surprises, always with the desire to reach higher, to climb, as in the mountains, in search of suspended emotions.
"Ephemeral" draws inspiration from seasonal products and regularly reinvents itself. Perrine Carrier compares it to a ray of light piercing through a foggy ceiling during a hike. The emotion is intense, experienced in the moment and then disappears. A memory that remains imprinted in our minds. Tomorrow, the plate offered will no longer be the same...
With "Hanging Garden," vegetables reign supreme. It challenges the chef and his team to find the right balance and imagine a light, sparkling, and inventive dish. Regarding this menu, Perrine mentions a few energy-charged places in the high mountains, those miraculously grassy patches between two glacier moraines where robust high-altitude plants manage to thrive in an otherwise mineral and hostile environment.
In the dining room, Raquel, the head waiter, is the perfect ambassador for the chef's cuisine. She enthusiastically relays the comments and compliments of admiring guests regarding the precision of the cooking, which heightens the intensity of his unique combinations of refined flavors.
As for the wine list at Hameau Albert 1er, it bears witness to over 120 years of history. Youri Greffe, the young head sommelier of the Michelin-starred restaurant, takes his role as a guardian of this living heritage to heart and derives genuine pleasure from sharing oenological knowledge with his guests.
At every table, it's not just about the bottle and the winemaker but also about the pairing with the chef's cuisine, the pleasure, and the significance of the moment that is being told. Here again, parallels with the mountains are evident. We offer the 'Sur le Fil' wine pairing for the 'Call of the Summits' tasting menu; Perrine Carrier then speaks of a snowy ridge, a roped team, an anchoring against a verticality, a clear and transparent view of the elements, a search for the line and balance...
The QuartzBar, located at the entrance of the Albert 1er restaurant, draws inspiration from the layers formed by the impressive icefalls under Mont Blanc. It's a friendly place to enjoy an aperitif, coffee, or digestif, and it comes to life particularly during evenings between 7 PM and 10 PM when Perrine lends the Maison's piano to a few passing artists.
