Where to eat and drink in Cervinia: cheese, pizza and a table to book
Generous and unfussy, with lunch on a terrace and dinner in Breuil-Cervinia. Lo Barbaboque Ristrò is the dinner to book, Metzelet Alpine Dining is the cheese night, Pizzeria Sotto zero is the family pizza, and Foyer des Guides is the ski in lunch at Valtournenche that runs on into the apres.
Cervinia eats the way the Aosta Valley does: generously and without fuss, with cheese, cured meats and pasta doing most of the work. Lunch is a long one on a terrace, and dinner is in Breuil-Cervinia itself. Valtournenche, lower down the valley, has its own tables and bars, and matters most if you are staying there.
For lunch, Foyer des Guides sits right beside the Valtournenche piste, so you ski to the table and can stay on for the village apres. Order the venison, as a fillet with blueberry sauce or as a ragu, and the children have a trampoline on the lawn. If you are staying up in Breuil-Cervinia, know how you are getting back before the second drink.
The dinner to book is Lo Barbaboque Ristrò, a clear step up from the town standard, where the staff match the wine to the plate rather than the bill. If it is full, put your name down, because they do ring back. Metzelet Alpine Dining is the Valdostana night: raclette, or a cheese fondue that comes with cold meats, bread, potatoes and pickles, in very generous portions. When the children want pizza, Pizzeria Sotto zero is the town's default, and it fills with families early in the evening, so book that too.
This is aperitivo country. Tasty, a minute from the lifts, brings snacks with every drink, and the bartender will mix more or less anything you ask for, listed or not. Les Plaisirs is the bakery for arancini, and anyone setting off early should buy them the day before. Book every dinner ahead: all three of these fill.
Mountain lunch
Venison beside the Valtournenche piste, at a table you ski straight to and can stay at for the apres, with a trampoline for the children.
Foyer des Guides
Right beside the Valtournenche piste, so it works as a ski in lunch and as the village apres afterwards. Venison is the order, either the fillet with a thick blueberry sauce or the ragu. Pasta with shaved white truffle and a cheese board if you want the long version. There is a lawn with a trampoline for children.
Dinner
The dinner to book, a Valdostana cheese night, and the pizzeria families fill early in the evening, all three in Breuil-Cervinia.
Lo Barbaboque Ristrò
Book, and if they are full they run a waiting list and actually ring you back when a table goes. Beef tartare from Alpine beef is the dish, with gnocchi, venison steak and duck breast behind it. The wine list is a real strength and the staff pair to the plate rather than to the price. A step above the town standard and worth the step.
Metzelet Alpine Dining
A Valdostana menu with genuinely wide choice, vegetarians included, in a recently rebuilt room. Raclette and the cheese fondue are the two dishes people name, and the fondue arrives with cold meats, bread, potatoes and pickles. Portions are very generous. Book, because it is busy even out of the peak weeks.
Pizzeria Sotto zero
The town's pizza default, and three separate parties went back two or three times in a single week. Several dough options, big pizzas, and a vegan one with tomato and vegetables. The calzone and the tiramisu are the other two orders. Book, because it fills fast and early evening it fills with families.
Bars
A minute from the lifts, with a very long spirits shelf, draught beer, and snacks with every drink.
Tasty Gin&Tonic Bar
A very large spirits selection and a bartender who will make almost anything, on or off the menu, plus draught beer so it is not gin only. Snacks come with the drinks as standard. It doubles as the morning cafe, croissants, coffee and bagel sandwiches, and it is a minute from the lifts.
Cafes and quick bites
Arancini, cakes and fruit tarts from a bakery a little off the main street, and worth the small detour.
Les Plaisirs
Run by an older couple with very little English, which people write about warmly. Arancini are the thing, but they are not usually out until about eleven, so buy them the day before if you want an early start. Caprese cake, fruit tarts, cannoli and strudel alongside. Slightly off the main street and worth the detour.
These are our own picks, not paid placements. Opening times and ownership change, so it is always worth checking before you set off.