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Le Petit Restaurant
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| In the Aosta Valley, just outside the Gran Paradiso national park lies a corner that is consecrated to the best mountain cuisine. It is Le Petit Restaurant in Cogne, recently awarded the much-coveted Michelin star. This small restaurant, with just four tables, is situated within the Hotel Bellevue, a charming hotel that the Jeantet-Roullet family has run since 1925; every detail, from the antique wood of the furnishings to the menu perpetuates a tradition that is profoundly linked to the area. |
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The four tables of Le Petit Restaurant are set out in a small room separated from the hotel's main restaurant. A warm atmosphere is created by the wood, coffer ceilings and early Twentieth century paintings portraying the women of Cogne in costume and the windows that look out over the Gran Paradiso massif. Each table is distinguished by a small wooden sculpture of an ibex, fox or marmoset, and are laid with classic elegance: family silver and Limoges porcelain dishes alternate with others that are modern and of unusual shape, all in white. The restaurant's quiet atmosphere is completed with an antique Persian carpet that covers the entire floor. |
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The young Chef Sergio Sesone (just 28 years old) proposes imaginative reinventions of the area's dishes. The family dishes are broken down into the basic ingredients- cabbage, potatoes, Fontina cheese, butter, black bread, polenta - and are then reunited in new creations that are lighter and closer to today's tastes. The specialities include the potato pancake on a fondue of mature Toma with pieces of sausage, and Favô, a traditional pasta dish made up of beans, Ditalini pasta, tomato sauce and melted Fontina, sprinkled with crunchy croutons of black bread fried in butter. The meat dishes are dominated by game, in particular deer and pheasant, and foie gras, served in an original trio of tastes: crème brûlée de foie gras, terrine and foie gras poêlé, namely slightly warmed in a pan. To conclude, the desserts: The oufs à la neige, a cream that is typical in Cogne, served with warm meringue balls, passed in milk and like soft snowballs, is a must. The wine cellar contains 630 Italian and international wines selected by Carlo Jeantet. |
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 Le Petit Restaurant
Le Petit Restaurant
Rue Grand Paradis 22
Cogne (Aosta)
Tel: 0165.574825
Closed: Wednesday (only in low season), closed from 3 October to 17 December
Places: 16
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