de_DELes Morainières stands high on the vineyard slopes above Jongieux, in the Avant-Pays Savoyard, with sweeping views over the vines and lake country of Savoie. Chef Michaël Arnoult and his wife Ingrid opened the restaurant in 2005 — he leading the kitchen, she overseeing hospitality — and in the Michelin Guide France 2026 it was elevated to three stars, the only new three-star of that edition, with Arnoult also named the guide’s Chef of the Year. It was a remarkable ascent for a restaurant far from any major city, reached by a winding road up through the vineyards.
Arnoult trained at the Montargis hotel school and worked in France and abroad before a formative stint at Flocons de Sel in Megève as second to Emmanuel Renaut, an experience that deepened his attachment to mountain ingredients and alpine landscapes. His cooking is closely tied to Savoie: guided by the seasons and built on close relationships with local producers, farmers and artisans, with dishes such as a crayfish tartare in jelly with mandarin and tagetes butter showcasing both precision and a strong sense of place.
The couple also runs a small guesthouse of six rooms in a converted farmhouse nearby, extending the sense of a destination retreat where guests can linger overnight among the vines. Perched above the vineyards, Les Morainières now ranks among the handful of French restaurants Michelin deems worth a special journey. It is a place shaped as much by its landscape as by its kitchen — a table where the produce of the surrounding hills, lakes and mountains is treated with the seriousness of the very best French cooking, and where the view is part of the meal.