Le Faranchin restaurant, in Villar-d'Arêne

A dining room beneath the Bec de l'Homme

Le Faranchin is a family-run three-star hotel in Villar-d'Arêne, at 1,650 m, the last village in the Romanche valley before the Col du Lautaret. Its restaurant has a bright dining room and a terrace facing the Bec de l'Homme glacier, with the La Grave cable car in view. In the kitchen chef David Amieux is in charge, working with local, seasonal produce: lamb from the area or from Sisteron, trout from Châteauroux-les-Alpes, goat's cheese from the Ferme des Molières in La Grave, and Grenoble walnuts with protected designation of origin.

What to order

At lunchtime there is a set menu with starter, main and dessert: €26 Monday to Saturday and €28 on Sunday. The à la carte formula, also three courses, costs €42, and the children's menu €12.

On the à la carte menu, for starters, a Charolais beef carpaccio, a Châteauroux trout gravlax with fennel salad or the sweetbread puff pastry with morels, the house dish, at €19. For mains, fresh trout meunière at €24, local lamb at €25, Aubrac beef tartare cut by knife, a country dish with two tourtes of potato and of cabbage and cured ham at €18, or a cheese fondue at €21. For dessert, the Ferme des Molières goat's cheese with cream or coulis, homemade profiteroles or an ice-cream coupe with genepí.

When to go and getting there

In the 2026 summer season, from 16 May to 5 October, it is open every day for lunch and dinner. In winter it opens with the hotel, from late December to early April; between 4 October and 26 December it is closed. The website recommends booking, especially in summer: by phone, by email or on its booking page.

It is on the D1091, at the entrance to Villar-d'Arêne, a few minutes by car from La Grave and from the Pont d'Arsine, where the route to the Alpe refuge begins. The hotel has parking in front.