Auberge Nemoz is an adorable family run restaurant/ chambre d'hotes nestled in between Le Sept Laux (Prapoutel, Pleynet and Pipay) and Le Collet d'Allevard. It's won plenty of awards from being recommended in the Michelin guide to being recommended by the Routard guide. Everything about this place has a personal touch, my favorite being that all the menus are hand written! The history of the Chalet is that it has been passed down for generations and built and rebuilt(there was a fire) by the family.
Due to Raclette's heartiness of cheese, more cheese, potatoes and some pickles... and more cheese- it is typically eaten in the winter time and very traditional of any mountain top chalet restaurant. Raclette in French resembles the word "Racler" which means to scrape and who doesn't love scraping bit of crusty burnt cheese onto their plates?
Nowadays, everyone has metal raclette machines at home but at the Auberge Nemoz, they do it the old fashion way - in front of a crackling fireplace. The smokiness of the wood adds another dimension to the cheese that metal raclette machines will never give you.
My joy of course was to watch the gooey burnt cheese getting scraped onto the plate. It requires the server to pass quite often to rescrape every few minutes (or you have to patiently wait) but the warm gooey cheese is worth the wait. Raclette cheese is similar in taste to Gruyere cheese (click here for the previous blogpost on Gruyere Cheese) which is light, nutty and slightly acidic in flavor. 
The cheese is always served with potatoes and cornichons (thats french speak for mini pickles) and often times for you carnivores, a nice plate of charcuterie (prepared meets, usually of the dried variety like sausage, proscuitto etc). The Alps regions (both Swiss and French) are always full of dried meats that can keep over the long harsh winters.
The Rhone Alpes Region, just like all other French regions produce some sort of wine or alcohol. Although the summer times are warm, the weather is (as you can imagine for a mountain region) milder and thus the majority of the wine produced is of the white or rose variety. We chose to go with a local bottle of Rose to go with the cheese. It's pretty typical to eat any cheese dishes with white/ rose wine as the acidity helps to cut the heaviness of the cheese (trust me, when you think about the solid form of Raclette before you eat it, you will drink the wine to help cut the solid block of cheese in your stomach a few hours afterwards).
The family also has horses with which they offer treks into the mountains with as well as adorable cats and bunnies. Behind the chalet is a series of trails that take you into the mountains. We had decided after our hearty meal to head towards the waterfall that was about a 20 minute easy hike in. We had a wonderful meal at Nemoz, with all of its' rustic charm and warm handmade touches. I keep on bugging my husband to go back -- hopefully he'll give in soon.
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| Taking in the fresh air of the Alps |
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| I loved the carved wood details and pieces of Raclette cheese sitting on the fireplace |
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| It's the Grinch! |
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| More carrots then this bunny can manage |
Hameau La Martinette
38580 La Ferriere
+33 (0)4 76 45 03 10
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