Eating and Exploring in the Beautiful Alpine Town of Annecy
By Luke PyensonAlmost 20 years ago, I spent a dreamy summer living with a host family in the Alpine town of Annecy, situated on one of Europe’s most magnificent lakes. The town is, in many ways, unchanged since then –crisscrossed by flowerbox-lined canals an almost luminescent shade of blue, and ever popular with package tourists in safari gear. But there’s also an undeniable current of cool running through Annecy, clearer to me on a recent visit than ever before.
Known to many in the illustration, design, film, and television industries for its annual Animation Festival, Annecy is also home to a developing food scene that goes beyond the typical cheesy Haute-Savoie specialties like fondue, Raclette, and tartiflette (a gratin made with local bloomy-rinded reblochon).
Because of the town’s tourist appeal, there have always been chalet-type places serving stuff like this, and they reinforce a sort of timeless postcard reputation – but these days, there’s so much more going on. Tartiflette is delicious, but it doesn’t tell the full story of a region bursting with top-quality fruit and vegetables, exciting foraged foods, and innovative farmers and fisherman. And yes, the lake is insane – there is nowhere like it – but wait til you taste the fish…
BREAKFAST & COFFEE
Start the morning at sourdough specialists Boulangerie Aristide, which opened on a canalside corner in 2021. The full-flavored, crusty loaves are a good bet if you’ve got the means to slice and enjoy them; otherwise, you’re here for the exceptionally flaky croissants, burnished canelés, and dainty buckwheat cakes.
It’s always important to know a bakery’s nearest third-wave coffeeshop, and in this case it’s Hiatus Coffee – though a short walk along the Thiou River would bring you to Baïda Mon Amour (named for a song by the Algerian crooner Cheb Hasni), or Café Bunna.
LUNCH
Annecy itself is stunning, but the smaller villages around its eponymous lake are worth visiting, too. One of the very prettiest is Talloires, home to the Michelin two-star Auberge du Père Bise–Jean Sulpice, a mythic address open since 1903. Chef Sulpice, the youngest French chef to ever helm a spot in receipt of a Michelin star, took over the inn and restaurant from the last generation of the Bise family in 2017 and has infused his vast knowledge of Alpine terroir into the menu.
Lunch at the property’s laid-back Marius Bar is a perfect way to experience his unique cuisine – seasonal salads and crisp baguette spread with smoked féra (a whitefish indigenous to the lake only fished by two people), celery root “risotto” with comté and vin jaune; mushroom soup with a perfectly cooked egg. Foraged herbs and spices like St. John’s Wort and wild caraway show up in almost every dish.
ICE CREAM
Back in town, it’s time for ice cream, and there are two competitors within view of one another. Occupying prime waterside real estate is Glacier Perrière, which has the flash, but I prefer the old-school Glacier des Alpes. Its smaller, more focused menu includes nods to local products like génépi (a herbal liqueur), and each scoop comes topped with a tiny taster scoop of another flavor, to lock in your return visit.
DINNER
When I was an exchange student, I can’t recall Annecy having anything remotely like Choral, the intimate small-plates neo-bistro run by chef Alban Chanteloup and sommelier Aymeric Velluz. On a leafy residential street corner, Chanteloup taps into experience cooking in Asia and Australia to bring new flavors and techniques to top Savoyard ingredients – a hyperlocal breed of chicken, for example, is lacquered with Korean-leaning glaze and served with cucumber kimchi. For dessert, Choral’s chocolate tart – using cacao sourced by French chocolate whisperer Nicolas Berger – has already become its calling card, with good reason.
Velluz learned the ropes in the Auberge de Père Bise wine program, and the bread on each table? It’s from Aristide. Exciting changes have come to Annecy’s food scene, but it’s still a small town – and that’s part of the charm.
STAY
Hébé Hotel, open since 2021, is a stylish option close to Annecy’s train station and a little removed from the touristy old town core. Its minimalist Scandinavian approach feels appropriate in this mountain setting, even if it lacks some of the coziness of more rustic chalet-style accommodations. Comfortable beds, smart design, and friendly staff make it a sure bet.
More from Luke Pyenson on Something Curated:
- The ultimate guide to eating bagels in NYC
- The finest patties in NYC
- The world’s best pizza city
- A personal guide to the best ice cream in NYC
Luke Pyenson is a food and travel journalist based in New York City, and the co-author of Taste In Music: Eating on Tour with Indie Musicians. Header image by Luke Pyenson.