Le 1947 à Cheval Blanc - Courchevel
60% of the tables in the dining room
Rating: 18/20
Where: Courchevel 1850, France
When: Dinner for 2 on 19 March 2022
Cost per Person: $420 tasting menu
Accolades: 3 Michelin Stars
Why: Intimate restaurant, luxurious version of “mountain” cuisine, great skiing
Le 1947 is located in the Cheval Blanc hotel in Courchevel, a ski town in the French Alps. The restaurant's name comes from the most famous vintage of the Cheval Blanc wine - both winery and hotel chain are owned by the French luxury conglomerate LVMH (they also have a Louis Vuitton store on site).
It's a restaurant of superlatives: the highest three-star restaurant (over 1 mile above sea level), one of the smallest (only 5 tables - the only three-stars with fewer seats have either a single table (e.g. Ultraviolet) or counter seating), and open for the fewest days in the year (only four months in the winter season). So making a reservation requires a bit of planning, I suspect that a last-minute reservation is unlikely to succeed.
Although staying at the hotel Cheval Blanc would obviously be the most convenient option when dining at the restaurant, rooms there start at $2,000 per night - probably more than dinner will run for two. And even if one was to consider splurging for a night to remember, the hotel usually has a five-night minimum requirement, to make sure that the non-billionaire riff-raff stays somewhere else. Falling squarely into that category, we chose to stay at the Hotel Les Sherpas, a five minute (if slightly chilly) walk from the Cheval Blanc, at a fraction of the price, and just for a single night.
Walking back to hotel after dinner
But let’s get back to the restaurant Le 1947. It is located on the lower level of the hotel, and there is not much of a view if one discounts snow drifts. But given that the restaurant is only open in the winter, it will be dark outside anyway by the time dinner starts at 7:30pm.
Dinner started with several amuse bouches. First, we dipped our fingers into a liquid and then salt with herbs - interesting, but not that tasty 13. A small tartlet with ingredients I forgot and a cracker with sunchoke were much better (19 each).
Dinner can be ordered either a la carte (with a suggestion of two appetizers, a main course, and two desserts), or as a tasting menu. The latter just happens to be a particular selection from the a la carte menu. We went for the tasting menu, with a pescatarian version for my wife.
The next amuse bouche was uni and caviar on a fennel puree. My wife loved the fishy flavor, while I found the dish somewhat off-putting - the puree too bitter, and it wasn't clear to me what the dish was trying to be 16.
The first actual course was a farmer's soup with leek and ham, topped by scallops. The scallops were perfectly cooked, and were added to the (much warmer) soup only table-side, presumably to avoid overcooking them. The farmer's soup itself was delicious but on the rustic side 18. Unfortunately, the pescatarian and non-pescatarian version of the dish were swapped when serving - it took us a while to figure this out, since they looked very similar.
Next was a pike fish cake, nicely baked with a crunchy crust, accompanied by a celery "extraction". This special technique of the chef distills the sugars from the celery while maintaining most of the flavors. My wife thought that the resulting sauce was way to sweet, but I found this quite enjoyable. Possibly the best fish cake I've ever had 18.
The main course, Bresse chicken, was served in three rounds. First, chicken liver over caviar on toast. The toast was also drenched in fat, making for a supremely heavy dish, just way too greasy for me 14. The pescatarian replacement was a truffle toast (without the fat), a much lighter and much better dish with intense truffle flavor 19.
The breast of the Bresse chicken was next, served alongside sauteed spinach topped with crumbled bits of chicken skin. The chicken meat was moist and perfectly cooked, the spinach intensely flavorful. Yes, it was still "just chicken" in the end, but this was very close to perfection for such a dish 19. The spinach side was phenomenal 20. What a contrast to our dinner two nights prior at Georges Blanc, whose signature dish of Bresse chicken was so much worse than what we enjoyed here.
The pescatarian main course was local char served with a pike tartlet 18. This dish was also pretty good, but the best thing on the plate was also the spinach side.
At this point I noticed that my (clearly dirty) knife was not picked up by the servers along with the other utensils, but in fact returned to the place setting after every course. A few minutes later, the waiter came by to clean the knife, explaining that it is a local Savoy tradition for men to keep "their" knife on them all day, just wiping it off on their trousers. Hence keeping the same knife throughout dinner.
The final presentation of chicken was chicken leg meat with crispy skin, accompanied by truffles and a sphere of lovage and potatoes. Very good as well, not quite as flavorful as the previous iteration 18. The pescatarian version simply omitted the chicken. A bit boring, but we appreciated that the kitchen stretched the single-serving char to match the three-serving Bresse chicken - that was truly a nice touch that many restaurants might not bother to do.
The cheeses from the cheese cart were mostly underwhelming, except for a hard cheese that we tried at the suggestion of the server. In addition, there was a prepared cheese dish. The chef's "cheese extraction" was similar to a cheese soup, but somewhat less flavorful than we would have hoped 15.
Desserts started with a butternut squash ravioli 18 (adjusting upwards to compensate for the fact that I loathe butternut squash) with buttermilk ice cream 19. An alternate dessert was variations on orange, but this dish was missing texture (and a point) for me 16.
Finally, a fir extraction with coffee 16 was accompanied by a delicious chocolate mousse 19, and followed by chocolates 18.
Overall: A good dinner, with some local touches. I almost wish the waiters had talked more about the philosophy behind the dishes whenever they came - we got bits and pieces of the "why" seemingly by accident. Some were motivated by local traditions, others by experiences of the chef. One can definitely feel a "sense of place" to the cooking, you wouldn't serve the same menu in Paris. (And in fact, you would not mistake this for its three-star sister restaurant in the capital.)
Given the location and price point, however, I feel similar (or better) quality dinners can be had more easily elsewhere. I'm happy we went, but feel no imminent need to return - especially since the main reason to revisit a restaurant - the changing of the menu with the seasons - doesn't apply here, since it's only open from December to March 18.
Tasting menu