Where to Eat Game This Fall? Our Recommended Restaurants

When the first frosts arrive, French cuisine returns to one of its most distinctive realms: game. Deer, roe deer, wild boar, pheasant, and even hare find their way onto chefs’ tables, where they reveal their full richness through precise cooking techniques, rich sauces, and flavor pairings often inspired by the forest floor and seasonal ingredients. But far from being limited to the great classics of game cuisine, game is now being reinvented in contemporary—and sometimes daring—dishes, always guided by respect for the product. From Alsace to Sologne, from the north to Toulouse, via the Alps and Paris, this selection invites you to discover different ways to prepare these distinctive meats.

La Table d’Olivier Nasti, Kaysersberg

In Kaysersberg, Olivier Nasti (5 toques, Chef of the Year 2023) makes game a must-try experience this fall. Every year at Le Chambard, the chef launches his Festival de la Chasse, a celebration entirely dedicated to forest produce and Alsatian hunting traditions. For several weeks, the menu at La Table d’Olivier Nasti evolves with each hunting haul, featuring special menus dedicated to hare, furred game, and game birds, before a “all-game” segment. Venison, roe deer, wild boar, pheasant, and hare are prepared with the precision and distinctive style that characterize the chef’s cuisine, featuring robust sauces, perfectly executed cooking, and a tribute to the Vosges region. The event extends beyond the restaurant itself, featuring workshops, four-handed dinners, guest chefs, and, each year, highlights centered on game culture. It’s Olivier Nasti’s way of making hunting not just a gastronomic season, but a true living heritage of his cuisine.

Chalet Flachaire, Abondance

In Abondance, in the heart of the valley of the same name, Chalet Flachaire (2 toques) offers a gastronomic experience intimately tied to its mountain setting. Led by Chef Thomas Flachaire, this up-and-coming restaurant skillfully showcases local ingredients and Alpine inspirations. Every Thursday in October and November, the restaurant makes a special exception to its usual “Menu des Cimes” in favor of the “Menu Chasse & Forêt”: a festive eight-course menu, priced at €120, that invites guests to explore the flavors of the forest and the hunting season. In this cozy little chalet with a warm atmosphere and a view of the mountains, game is woven into a culinary experience that showcases local ingredients and vegetable-based flavors, in a style that is both elegant and deeply Alpine.

Auberge du Chasseur, Grosrouvre

In Grosrouvre, in the heart of the Yvelines, the Auberge du Chasseur (1 toque) offers bistronomic cuisine where seasonal and local ingredients take center stage. At the helm, Chef Stanislas Comar creates dishes that are both hearty and contemporary in this restaurant with its chic country charm. For game lovers, this spot is especially worth the detour: the game terrine, served with cranberry jam, and the hare à la royale are among the house specialties. An approach free of unnecessary frills, which allows the game to retain its full character and fits naturally with the spirit of this village inn, where the menu changes regularly with the seasons and the day’s fresh arrivals.

Fleur de Loire, Blois

In Blois, at the gateway to the Sologne region, Christophe Hay (4 toques) celebrates the hunting season every year with a “Retour de chasse” menu, which has become a much-anticipated event for game lovers. In this region where the forest is an integral part of the local landscape, the chef crafts a multi-course meal that draws directly from the bounty of the Sologne region. Partridge, Chambord mouflon, venison, wild boar, and even hare à la royale all find their place in a cuisine that is both deeply personal and profoundly connected to the surrounding natural world. The menu evolves over the years and with each new harvest, yet it remains true to the same vision: to tell the story of Sologne through refined cuisine, where game is prepared with finesse and complemented by produce from the garden, the forest, and the local region.

© Fleur de Loire

Les Cornettes, La Chapelle-d’Abondance

In La Chapelle-d’Abondance, in the Abondance Valley, Les Cornettes (2 toques) has been carrying on a tradition of mountain cuisine deeply rooted in its local terroir for five generations. When fall arrives, the Trincaz family’s long-standing restaurant showcases game with several à la carte dishes. Among the season’s signature dishes, the rack of venison smoked with juniper from the valley, served with a berry-infused sauce, perfectly illustrates this marriage of the game’s robust flavor and the aromas of the mountains. A must-visit spot to discover hearty, authentic game cuisine that stays true to the identity of Haute-Savoie.

Le Genty Magre, Toulouse

In Toulouse, Le Genty Magre (2 toques) champions traditional French cuisine that is generous and deeply rooted in the rhythm of the seasons. Chef-owner Romain Brard updates his menu throughout the year, paying particular attention to fresh ingredients and producers handpicked by the restaurant. In the fall, when the season calls for it, game naturally takes center stage: the restaurant specifically highlights game as one of the signature ingredients marking the transition from summer to fall, alongside root vegetables and alpine produce. An unpretentious cuisine, described as rich and generous, that also gives pride of place to classic game dishes, such as the hare à la royale served here.

Auberge de l’Ill, Illhaeusern

In Illhaeusern, Alsace, the Auberge de l’Ill (5 Golden Toques) is a family-run institution where Marc Haeberlin’s cuisine has always drawn on the bounty of the Alsatian terroir. Situated along the river in this iconic Haeberlin family establishment, game naturally takes center stage when the season arrives. Here, there’s no need to overdo it: the chef favors an elegant and generous style of cooking that honors the ingredients while adding the restaurant’s signature touch.

Château de Vault-de-Lugny, Vault-de-Lugny

In Vault-de-Lugny, Burgundy, the Château de Vault-de-Lugny (2 toques) turns hunting season into a true gastronomic event. Every fall, Chef Franco Bowanee creates a game menu that showcases the great classics of the Burgundian region, featuring his hare à la royale—a recipe he has been refining for over ten years. The menu changes depending on the day’s catch and may also feature game pâté, pheasant, or eggs en meurette, in a style that blends French tradition with Mauritian influences—the chef’s signature.

L’Oiseau Blanc, Paris

In Paris, perched on the rooftop of the Peninsula, L’Oiseau Blanc (3 toques) offers, under the direction of David Bizet, a particularly elegant take on game cuisine. Each fall, the chef crafts a veritable hunting menu, conceived as a stroll through the woods and a celebration of the season’s finest ingredients. The menu, for example, features a harmonious pairing of mallard duck, Scottish grouse, smoked partridge saddle, and hare à la royale. With its spectacular view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower, L’Oiseau Blanc offers a refined hunting experience, where French tradition is reinvented in an exceptional setting.

© Laurent Fau