The black truffle arrives in Courchevel about three weeks before the lifts open. By mid-November, every Michelin kitchen in 1850 has placed its first standing order with the Saturday market in Aups, in the Var; by the time the slopes open the Tuber melanosporum is on every tasting menu in the village, and the kitchens are competing on the gram.
The Savoie has its own truffle, the Tuber uncinatum or Burgundy truffle, harvested in oak woods at lower altitude. It is more delicate, more affordable, and — for the chefs working with strict provenance — the only truffle that genuinely belongs on a Savoyard plate. The Périgord black gets the headlines; the Burgundy gets the local pride.
Where to Eat It
Six tables in 1850 build a whole experience around the season. Le 1947 at Cheval Blanc runs a multi-course truffle tasting through January (Yannick Alléno’s truffle-and-extraction signature). Le Sarkara at K2 Palace serves Sébastien Vauxion’s savoury-to-sweet truffle course as part of the all-dessert menu — improbable, and the most-requested seat of the season.
Le 1850 at Les Airelles serves Pierre Gagnaire’s truffle-stuffed bresse hen for two. Le Kintessence at K2 Palace offers a 14-course tasting in which truffle appears five times. BFire by Mauro Colagreco works it through the open flame; Baumanière 1850 at Le Strato shaves it tableside on a tarte fine.
The Market Trick
The kitchens that buy direct fly down to the Aups market on a Friday afternoon, sleep in Aix-en-Provence, and drive the truffles back up Saturday night. The supply chain runs in 48 hours, the truffles arrive on the table by Sunday lunch. It is, by any measure, the most extravagant grocery run in European hospitality.
