The story
Benoît Vidal’s path to Annecy is marked by a relentless pursuit of his own voice. Born near the Pyrénées, he trained in Paris and later worked alongside Michel Guérard and Régis Marcon. His first head-chef role at Château de Divonne earned a Michelin star; at Mas des Herbes Blanches he repeated the feat. In Val d’Isère, at L’Atelier d’Edmond, he earned two stars by 2015. When that chapter closed in 2023, Vidal sought a place where he could truly belong. He found it on the edge of a forest, just minutes from Annecy’s old town and lake. In spring 2024, only four months after opening Maison Benoît Vidal, the Guide Michelin awarded him two stars.
The restaurant sits “Sur les Bois” – on the woods – at the foot of the Aravis mountain range. The building has been a welcoming house for decades; Vidal transformed it into his own. Inside, the atmosphere is one of quiet warmth, with an intimate dining room and an outdoor terrace. A separate “Côte Bistrot” offers a more casual, convivial lunch, changing weekly with two- or three-course menus built around seasonal and regional produce.
Vidal’s cooking is a botanical lexicon. He uses elderflower, cow parsley, sorrel, meadowsweet, melilot, and caraway as punctuation in his flavour writing. The menus – Jour de cuisine, À l’Onde des Cîmes, Graines d’Eau, Sentier à Fleur d’Eau (vegetarian), and Des Sources aux Racines – are conceived as culinary walks through the territory. Each dish expresses the complexity of the local terroir, transforming raw ingredients into emotion. This is French cuisine rooted in deep respect for the ecosystem, where every plate tells a story of place and season.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
Location
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