The story
In the hamlet of Les Guibertes, just outside Le Monêtier-les-Bains, Chef Fabien Ferdinand has returned to his roots. Le Chazal is his expression of the mountain landscape he knows intimately—a place where the forests and meadows of the Hautes-Alpes supply the pantry. The dining room, a small vaulted space with a few carefully set tables, feels both intimate and grounded. It is the kind of room that invites you to settle in and pay attention.
Chef Ferdinand’s path home passed through some of Europe’s most exacting kitchens. He trained with Pascal Alonso at Le Pré du Moulin, then with Guy Lassausaie in Lyon, and later alongside Pierre Gagnaire and Hélène Darroze in London. In 2016, he took over Le Chazal. His ambition was not to import the techniques of those grand houses, but to apply them to what grows and grazes in his own backyard.
The cooking here is modern, but the anchor is terroir. Chef Ferdinand forages for larch, meadowsweet, sage, and wild rosehip—ingredients that appear in dishes like a poitrine of wild duck with a confit leg and foie gras, or a turbot in three textures with a beech-smoked broth. The menus change with the season and the chef’s foraging walks. A Saint-Valentin menu might begin with a tranche of salt-cured, lightly smoked trout and a palette of condiments made with mountain lovage. A Saint Sylvestre feast could open with a bonbon of smoked char and finish with a selection of local brebis cheese from Les Guibertes.
The approach is precise, but the feeling is personal. As one critic put it, these are the plates of a sentimental chef—someone for whom technique is in service of memory.
Le Chazal has earned a place in the Michelin guide as a Recommended restaurant, a nod to the quiet consistency and clear vision Chef Ferdinand brings to this corner of the Alps. It is a recognition that matches the restaurant’s character: unshowy, deeply rooted, and worth the walk up the hill.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
Location
Facebook
Instagram