Le Pas de l'Ours Michelin star - Chef Reynaud pairs Alps with the slopes outside

Chef Franck Reynaud's Michelin-starred restaurant holds arguably Switzerland's deepest Valais wine cellar. Every dish pairs with wines from the slopes visible through the dining room windows. The wine-food terroir connection is immediate and visible - point at a vineyard through the glass, then taste its wine in your glass. This is wine country dining with zero degrees of separation.

What to do there

3 things to do

1. 1 Find the ONLY 18-Point Restaurant in Valais Adventure · Price: very high

   Chef Franck Reynaud's L'Ours is the ONLY restaurant in all of Valais canton to hold 18/20 Gault Millau points — plus 1 Michelin star. Reynaud was named 2018 Gault&Millau Chef of the Year and received 2023 'Swiss Culinary Merit.' He combines Provencal roots with Alpine ingredients: mountain cheese from pastures ABOVE Crans-Montana and dry beef from local farms. At Hostellerie du Pas de l'Ours, Rue du Pas de l'Ours, Crans-Montana (look for the Relais & Châteaux sign), book weeks ahead for the small dining room and ask for a table by the window — you can point at the vineyards through the glass and then taste wine FROM THOSE VINEYARDS in your glass.

   Backup: If L'Ours is fully booked or budget doesn't allow, try the Bistrot des Ours downstairs (same building, same owner): CHF 65 for 3-course market menu, CHF 89 with 2 wine pairings. Still Reynaud's cooking, more casual.

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2. 2 Taste the Cheese from the Slopes You Can See Adventure · Free

   Reynaud uses mountain cheese made ABOVE Crans-Montana — from pastures at 1,800m+ where cows graze on alpine plants all summer. The cheese literally comes from the mountains visible through the dining room windows. At your table in L'Ours (or Bistrot des Ours), when the cheese course arrives or appears in a dish, ask: 'Which alpine pasture is this from?' or 'What altitude were these cows grazing at?' Watch the staff's eyes light up — this is a question that shows you GET Valais terroir. Valais makes Raclette du Valais AOP (protected since 2007), but also mountain cheeses, Tomme, and Hobelkäse. Then look out the window at those exact mountains where the flavor was created.

   Backup: If no cheese course, order a side of Raclette du Valais AOP — it's the canton's protected cheese, made from raw unpasteurised milk. First documented melted by fire in 1574.

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3. 3 Hunt a Valais-Only Wine on the List Wine · Price: moderate

   L'Ours holds one of the deepest Valais wine cellars in the region. Look for wines that can ONLY exist in Valais: Petite Arvine (first recorded 1602, citrus/wisteria aromas, saline finish), Humagne Rouge (velvety, fruity), or Cornalin (originally from Aosta, now ONLY Valais, renamed from 'Rouge du Pays' in 1972). At your table, when the sommelier presents the wine list, ask: 'Which wine on this list can I ONLY taste in Valais?' They'll steer you to these grapes that don't grow anywhere else on Earth in commercial quantities. Order by the glass if dining solo, by the bottle if sharing. When it arrives, ask which vineyard — then look outside to see if you can spot it on the slopes.

   Backup: If the Valais-only wines are expensive, order Fendant (Chasselas grown on Rhône slopes) — Switzerland's most planted white, bone-dry, perfect with cheese. It's Valais in a glass for €10-15/glass.

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