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Je suis végétarien / végétarienne

The Alps are a surprisingly good place for vegetarians - as long as you like cheese.

The staples of melted cheese in all its forms - fondue and raclette are the best known but there are many more - are combined with potatoes or pasta in countless ways. As a result, although the French don’t really go in for vegetarian food per se, there’s always lots of options without meat - though do beware of the onion soup as it will almost always be made with meat stock.

Also, a lot of this cheese is not made with vegetarian rennet, certainly in restaurants. However, you can buy cheese made with vegetable rennet fairly easily, in both the supermarkets and the health food shops. The soft goat’s cheese is also not made using it - this mild, fresh cheese is wonderful with the local honey which is, unsurprisingly, superb.

Almost everywhere does the local salad of toasted goat’s cheese on slices of bread with salad and walnuts, which makes a really nice lighter meal - Chambre Neuf does one of the best Chevre Chaud salads in town

Since pretty much every French restaurant in Chamonix has a reasonably good vegetarian choice due to the local obsession with cheese, I haven’t made a separate vegetarian list for the town - take a look at those recommended for vegans below for places with particularly good or more unusual menus.

On the slopes, things are again not too bad with cheese sandwiches (toasted or not) always on offer, and hummus sandwiches and veggie pastas, quiches, gratins and pizzas usually available. Ski area restaurants which have a particularly good veggie choice are:

At Les Grands Montets
The Cremerie du Glacierat Les Grands Montets, which you can either drive to (signed from the car park entrance, look out for the heliport signs as it’s right next to it) or ski/snowboard access through the woods from the Pierre a Ric piste (look out for the very small sign on the right near the end of the run). Specialises in Croutes, a kind of bread-based local pizza equivalent, and a wide selection of Gratins which they will happily do for you without meat. Lots of veggie choices including my personal favourite ‘Crozets’ (which is the local buckwheat pasta) baked au gratin with Morel mushrooms and Beaufortain cheese. mmmmm! Some of the croutes are in a creme fraiche based sauce which is good when you’re a bit over-cheesed.

Also at the base of Les Grands Montets is the Marmottons restaurant and bar which has a small but very nice veggie selection including spinach lasagne which I highly recommend.

Vallorcine has a brilliant restaurant in the train station, which is very close to the lift. L’Arrêt Bougnette (+33 450 546304) serves unusual Savoyarde specialities like Sarrazin (buckwheat) crepes as well as all the usual favourites to a mostly local crowd. Inexpensive, atmospheric and delicious, the menu varies but there’s normally plenty of vegetarian dishes. Worth either calling or dropping in to book, as it can get very busy.

Je suis vegan

…Or an equivalent French word as far as diet is concerned is végétalien.
Skiing and snowboarding vegans will probably prefer to bring sandwiches for actual on-piste eating (in fact a lot of people do this anyway as it saves a load of money). Most of the restaurants on the mountain do salads by the quarter which are sometimes suitable, and tomato-based pasta sauce is sometimes available, as are soups - but it’s probably best not to count on it.

Chamonix restaurants that are good for vegans:
In town, things are much better! There are several restaurants that either have vegan options available or will do a vegan menu if you contact them in advance, notably Munchies (Rue des Moulins, Chamonix. Tel: +33(0)450534541), Alan Peru and the Hotel Eden.

Otherwise, Casa Valerio is an excellent Italian that has some vegan pasta dishes, Satsuki is a very good Japanese place that does good tofu noodles and has with a lovely downstairs room that can be booked for a special occasion. There are two Indian restaurants, Tigre Tigre and Annapurna.

The much loved MBC does excellent tofu - I especially recommend it in their red curry - and also can adapt several other dishes for vegans, such as their fajitas.

Most of the wrap and sandwich places in the town centre do a vegan option (generally hummus), with a special mention to the lovely bagels at the recently relocated Grand Central, where you can also get fresh juices.

Self-catering vegans will be very happy as the quality of fresh produce in France is always great. In Chamonix itself, there’s a very nice wholefood shop called Biosphere in Chamonix-Sud, for more specialist products like tofu, and another in Les Houches.

Even the supermarkets carry basics like veggie burgers now. For a longer stay, I really recommend a visit to the excellent Satoriz wholefood supermarket in Sallanches, opposite the Carrefour (link to map here).

This is an excellent shop, along the lines of Whole Foods in the US, and if you’re going to be around for more than a few days, it’s well worth a visit - the staff are very friendly and helpful, and the quality superb. They do a good selection of wine as well.

Market day is Saturday and there are sometimes local organic and biodynamic farmers selling lovely fresh produce. The supermarkets are very good too, and usually have a selection of French organic vegetables.

Market in Chamonix, originally uploaded by smichels.