There are few things better than coming back from a day on the mountain knowing that dinner is already being taken care of.
Food has always been a big part of the Ski Basics chalet experience. From a freshly baked cake waiting when you return from skiing to sitting down together over dinner and a bottle of wine, we think good food is as much a part of a ski holiday as the skiing itself.
Our approach isn’t about fine dining or overly complicated dishes. It’s about taking familiar favourites and winter classics, giving them a little extra thought and serving food that feels just right after a day in the mountains.
So, what goes into creating a week of food in a Ski Basics chalet? From the people planning and preparing our menus to the ingredients we use, dietary requirements, afternoon tea and what you can expect around the dinner table, here’s a closer look at the food philosophy behind your stay.
Who creates the Ski Basics menus?
Our Classic menus are created by our experienced chalet management team, many of whom have spent years working in catered chalets and know exactly what works after a long day on the slopes.
We update the menus each season to keep things interesting for our returning guests, while holding onto some of the firm favourites that people look forward to coming back to.
Our Plus+ chalet cooks have more freedom to develop their own menus a little further, allowing them to bring their experience and individual cooking style into the chalet too.
Across both services, our chalet cooks are chosen not just for their ability in the kitchen, but for a genuine love of food, hosting and bringing people together around the table. Many join us after specialist chalet cookery training, while others come with extensive previous catering experience. Once in Meribel, the team completes further in-chalet training and prepares meals together before our first guests arrive.
And although there are tried and tested recipes behind our menus, there is still room for individuality. Every chalet cook can bring their own touches to the dishes they prepare.
The Ski Basics approach to chalet food
A day of skiing calls for proper food.
Our approach to food in the chalet is designed around comforting, freshly prepared dishes that help you refuel after a day outside on the slopes, while keeping enough variety that you won’t feel like you’ve eaten the same rich Alpine meal every night of the week.
You might sit down to beef bourguignon with creamy mashed potato and honey roasted carrots one evening, followed by something lighter such as chicken with couscous and Mediterranean salad another. There’s usually a mix of different meats, vegetables, carbohydrates and flavours across the week, alongside carefully considered vegetarian and vegan alternatives.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a week in the French Alps without a nod to the local food. Our Classic menu includes a Savoyard evening of tartiflette, charcuterie, salads and cornichons, followed by banoffee pie, while Plus+ guests can expect our own take on Alpine favourites alongside a wider selection of four courses per night, throughout the week.
It’s hearty mountain food, but perhaps not always quite as you know it.
Freshly prepared food in your chalet
One of the things that makes chalet dining so different is that your food really is being prepared just a few metres away from where you’ll eat it.
Our chalet cooks order the ingredients for the week ahead and prepare your meals fresh in the chalet kitchen. We keep things straightforward when it comes to sourcing, choosing good-quality ingredients that allow us to maintain the standard of food our guests expect while keeping our Ski Basics holidays great value.
There are a few things we particularly look forward to sourcing locally. Fresh bread comes from the local boulangerie each morning, while our house wines are supplied by a specialist wine provider and carefully chosen at the beginning of the season to complement the range of dishes served in our chalets.
Everything from dinner to your afternoon cake is then prepared fresh in the chalet.
What food can you expect in a Ski Basics chalet?
That depends on whether you choose our Classic or Plus+ catered service.
With Classic, you’ll enjoy freshly prepared three-course dinners on five evenings of your stay. A typical evening might start with tomato, caramelised onion and goat’s cheese tart tatin, followed by sage, shallot and apple stuffed pork with thyme roasted potatoes, garlic butter cabbage and a wine and mustard sauce.
On another night, you might have beetroot risotto followed by duck a l’orange with green beans and crushed new potatoes, before finishing with sticky toffee pudding.
Our Plus+ service builds on this with four-course evening dining and a slightly more elevated menu. You could find fennel tartlets with salmon mousse and smoky garlic prawns with chorizo on the menu before duck breast with potato dauphinoise, chargrilled broccoli and red wine sauce, followed by tarte tatin, chocolate truffles and a cheeseboard.
A collection of property and lifestyle images shot on location in Meribel France.
The exact menus can change, but the philosophy behind them doesn’t: interesting, carefully prepared food that you’ll genuinely look forward to coming home to.
You can compare our Classic and Plus+ catered services to see exactly what’s included with each.
What is dinner like in a Ski Basics catered chalet?
The food is only half of what makes a chalet dinner special.
Instead of getting changed and heading back out to a restaurant, you can settle around your own dining table in the chalet. Dinner is usually served at around 7.30pm or 8pm, although we’ll discuss timings with you when you arrive and can be flexible around what works best for your group.
Your chalet team will prepare and serve each course, introduce the dishes and keep your glasses topped up. They’re happy to hear about your day, share a few local tips and join in with the conversation, or simply leave you to enjoy the evening together.
Once dinner is finished, there’s no bill arriving and no table needed back for the next sitting. Stay around the table recounting the day’s adventures over another glass of wine, move over to the sofa or settle in by the fire. Your chalet is your space for the week.
Meanwhile, we’ll take care of clearing the table and tidying the kitchen.
It’s one of the simple pleasures of a catered chalet holiday and one of the reasons so many of our guests come back year after year.
Wine and drinks in our catered chalets
Good food deserves a good glass of wine alongside it. Our house wines are selected at the beginning of each season by our specialist wine supplier. Rather than pairing one particular bottle with each meal, we choose a small collection that works well across our menus, usually including around three reds and three whites, with rose joining the line-up as spring arrives.
Your host can recommend a wine to suit that evening’s dinner, or you’re very welcome to stick with whichever bottle has become your favourite.
Unlimited house wine flows freely throughout your stay with our catered service, while Plus+ guests can also help themselves to beer and soft drinks throughout their stay.
Catering for dietary requirements
Having a dietary requirement shouldn’t mean feeling like you’re getting the lesser version of dinner.
We can cater for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free diets, allergies and intolerances, as well as individual likes and dislikes. We simply ask that you give us as much notice as possible, ideally at least two weeks before you arrive, so your chalet cook can plan and order accordingly.
Where possible, we’ll adapt the main dish using suitable alternatives. Where that doesn’t work, we’ll prepare a separate dish designed to be just as considered as everyone else’s.
If you have an allergy, your chalet cook will also speak to you directly at the beginning of your stay to understand your requirements and explain how these will be managed in the chalet. Our teams follow the appropriate food safety and allergen procedures throughout food preparation and service.
Families can also opt for earlier children’s meals, so younger skiers don’t necessarily have to wait until the main dinner sitting. This is just one way we’re on hand to make a ski holiday with the children stressfree. Learn more about how our services can be tailored to suit you when skiing with the little ones over on our children page.
Homemade afternoon tea in our catered chalets
If there’s one catered chalet tradition we take particularly seriously, it’s cake. Every day, you’ll return from the mountain to find afternoon tea waiting for you. Tea and coffee are ready to make and, most importantly, there’s a freshly baked cake prepared in the chalet that day.
Think lemon drizzle, carrot cake with cream cheese icing, chocolate brownies, millionaire shortbread, flapjacks or banana and chocolate loaf.
Baking at altitude comes with its own challenges, so our chalet cooks use specially adapted recipes to keep those sponges soft and cakes just as they should be. We even hold an annual Ski Basics bake off, so there’s a healthy amount of pride involved in getting them right.
If there’s a particular cake you love, tell us. We can’t promise every request, but our team will always do their best to work a favourite into the week, particularly if you’re celebrating something special.
Then, once you’ve had time to shower, relax or make the most of the chalet spa, your host will be back later in the afternoon. Fancy a glass of fizz or warming vin chaud by the fire? Just let them know and they’ll get one ready for you.
Breakfast in a Ski Basics chalet
Of course, our food philosophy doesn’t only apply once you’ve finished skiing.
Breakfast is served every morning to make sure you’re ready for the day ahead. On five mornings, you’ll have a hot breakfast option alongside a continental spread of fresh bread, pastries, cereals, fruit, yoghurt and all the usual tea, coffee and juices.
The hot dishes change throughout the week. You could wake up to fried egg, avocado and feta on toast, French toast with yoghurt and berry compote or a mini shakshuka, while our Plus+ menus include dishes such as Eggs Benedict, blueberry pancakes and a Full English.
On the chalet team’s mornings off, we’ll lay out a continental breakfast, pastries and fresh bread so you can help yourselves before heading for the lifts.
Why food is such a big part of a catered chalet holiday
Ultimately, the Ski Basics approach to food is pretty simple. We want you to eat really well without food ever feeling fussy. We want you to come back from skiing looking forward to what’s waiting in the chalet, whether that’s a slice of homemade cake at 4pm or dinner and wine around the table a few hours later.
And we want the whole experience to feel easy. No supermarket trips. No debating who’s cooking. No washing up. No restaurant reservations five nights of the week. Just good food, good wine and the people you’ve come away with, all around your own table in the mountains.
It’s a big part of what makes a catered chalet holiday feel like a proper holiday.
Want to see what the rest of your week looks like? Read our guide to what to expect on a catered Ski Basics chalet holiday – day by day, or explore our catered chalets in Meribel and find your mountain home for the week. If you have any questions at all, simply get in touch and a member of the team will be pleased to help!