Dining in Les Coches-Montchavin
Given their size Les Coches and Montchavin offer a reasonable range of dining and grocery options.
Mountain Restaurants
Of course La Plagne and Paradiski has dozens of places to eat on the mountains ranging from small intimate huts with gourmet standard table service, to large fast food cafeterias. The half-dozen options closest to Les Coches and Montchavin are, like most businesses in the villages, small family-owned and run establishments.
Le Plan Bois chez Laurette (+33 (0)6 09 34 37 88) is a quiet restaurant about 500 metres from the top of the Lac Noir Gondola and Plan Bois lift. The Le Carroley restaurant (+33 (0)4 79 07 16 91) on the piste of the same name also offers typical Savoyard mountain dishes, as does Les Pierres at the top of the Pierres Blanc lift.
Le Joli Bois (+33 (0)4 79 07 48 77; joli-bois.fr) by the Vanoise Express station(towards Les Arcs) has a changing daily fixed price lunch menu which you can enjoy on the panoramic terrace if the weather is good.
Other options include Chez Pat du Sauget (+33 (0)4 79 07 83 51; rochet-familyandco.com) at the top of the Montchavin chairlift and Le Cristal des Neiges (+33 (0)6 11 02 05 38) by the Lac Noir gondola.
Le Plein Soleil (+33 (0)6 73 72 87 55; lepleinsoleil.com) endeavours to mix in recipes from neighbouring countries and regions like Alsace and Austria as well as Savoyard staples, to give some variety to its cuisine. It organises après-ski fondues followed by a torchlit descent to the resort accompanied by ski school professionals.
Restaurants in Town
There are four restaurants in Les Coches with several more down in Montchavin. La Taverne du Monchu (+33 (0)4 79 07 80 44) in the village centre is located at the bottom of the slopes, facing the Plan Bois ski lift and serves Savoyard specialities including fondue, raclette and reblochonnade. For pizza try La Poze (Place du Carreau; + 33 (0)4 79 07 85 28) while Les Lauzes (L'Observatoire; +33 (0)4 79 07 55 10) is another traditional restaurant in a typical Savoyard chalet with great views. There’s a similar choice again in Montchavin with Le Moulin à Poivre (+ 33 (0)4 79 07 82 01) in the centre of Montchavin village good for crepes as well as other cuisine.
Grocery Shops
There are several food stores in Les Coches and a few more in Montchavin.
La Ruche - Produits du Terroir (Place des Commerces, Les Coches; +33 (0)4 79 07 81 44) run by Nathalie and Jean-François specialises in fine regional and mountain food including local high mountain pasture Beaufort cheese produced nearby by Jean-François himself, as well as many other items including cow and goat Tomme cheese, handmade sausage, local wines and the regional Génépi liqueur as well as honey. Homemade meals to take away include tartiflette, croziflette, diots with white wine, fondue Savoyarde and raclette (equipment loan available for these too).
Aux Gourmets des Coches nearby (+33 (0)4 79 07 19 57), run by Christian Berard Bergery, provides a similar range of local products and again take-out meals and loan of the fondue and raclette equipment needed to eat them. Monsieur Bergery also offers catering service and will organise free deliveries for orders over 50 Euros.
The local boulangerie and patisserie is run by Monsieur Christophe Lacroix (Place des Commerces; +33 (0)4 79 07 80 27). Here you can buy all the French favourites as well as home-made chocolates and ice creams. Mr Lacroix runs a second bakery in Montchavin.
There’s also a small Spar supermarket nearby (+33(0)4 79 07 13 10; spar.fr). In Montchavin, Les Tarines (Rue Principale; +33 (0)4 79 07 81 66) is a second bakery and there’s a small Sherpa supermarket (+33 (0)4 79 07 89 11; sherpa.net).