A family story, since 1978
The restaurant
The house
In the heart of Médran, at the foot of the slopes, Au Vieux Verbier has kept the same idea of hospitality for almost fifty years: generous regional cooking, served properly, under beams that have seen several generations pass.
A building with real character, with its nooks, its distinctive rooms and that old chalet atmosphere no one can recreate.
- Since 1978
- Two generations
- Closed in May, June and September
The kitchen
Over the years one thing has never changed: a taste for good ingredients. The kitchen works with fresh, seasonal produce, chosen with care and with close attention to quality and origin.
At lunchtime
In winter, generous and honest cooking rooted in the region. Comforting dishes after a morning on the slopes, and the great classics of the house: the fondue and the famous Potence.
In the evening
The mood changes and the table turns more refined: fine starters, regional meats, fresh fish and plates composed with the seasons and the day’s deliveries.
Our story
Marie-Hélène: hospitality as a calling
It all begins well before Verbier, in La Fouly, in a guest house run by a great aunt. In those days people from the Entremont valley went off to work the seasons in grand hotels, and a house was kept to that same standard. Marie-Hélène is nine when she first puts her hands to the cooking and the service. The passion for hospitality never leaves her.
After business school and a solid training in languages, she works in the grand hotels of Champex, then leaves to improve her English. Verbier is no longer far away.
Nicolas de Torrenté: from the Lausanne hotel school to Verbier
Nicolas de Torrenté graduates from the Lausanne hotel school in 1972. He has already worked in several five star hotels, but one thing is certain: Verbier is where he wants to stay.
The two of them meet in the village. Le Vieux Valais is up for handover at the time, and the opportunity is too good to miss. With one reservation: back then, in Valais families, you did not take over a business together without being married. Six months later, they marry.
1976, Le Vieux Valais. 1978, Au Vieux Verbier.
The couple first take over Le Vieux Valais, the village’s old chalet number 1. There they cut their teeth together, and turn the business around by sheer hard work.
Two winters later, word comes that Au Vieux Verbier is looking for someone to take it on: its owner had thrown herself into the restaurant adventure and already wished to hand it over. One phone call, one conversation, and it is settled: the place will be theirs.
Growing the house without spoiling it
Nicolas turns to the kitchen, Marie-Hélène takes on the welcome and the service. Together they transform the house without ever betraying its spirit. Word of mouth does the rest: within a few seasons, Au Vieux Verbier is never empty.
The Potence itself has not changed. It is still the original recipe, the one that made the reputation of the house.
Thibault and Florence: the next generation
Thibault grew up in the house. He starts at fourteen, washing up: one evening a week in the kitchen is the price of being allowed out to meet his friends. The place never let him go. At eighteen he works there for good, and in 2006 takes on a larger role in running it, alongside his father and his mother.
Today he runs the place with Florence, his partner. The pair naturally carry on from his parents: Florence front of house, in the traditional hospitality inherited from Marie-Hélène; Thibault at the helm. What they want: to keep the soul of the restaurant while giving it their own vision of cooking.
Two generations, one and the same way of welcoming people.
Ski in, ski out, in the heart of the resort
Set in Médran, at the foot of the slopes, Au Vieux Verbier enjoys a prime spot in the middle of the resort’s bustle. Skiers come down for lunch and go straight back up by cable car to the pistes.
As soon as the sun is out, the terrace is a dream spot for a meal, facing the mountain.
A family address, honest cooking and quality produce: for almost fifty years, Au Vieux Verbier has cultivated the art of welcoming people.