The 1903 Bistro of Auberge du Pere Bise is quite a special experience in one of the most pristine settings one can imagine. If anyone is near Annecy, this is a must see and experience kind of place. The drive to Talloires unfolds the unique and aesthetically pleasing treat one will experience on the palate and via the olfactory senses. This is a mini empire of cuisine excellence. There are two restaurants co-located, the 1903 Bistro and the actual Auberge du Pere Bise restaurant under the young Chef Jean Sulpice, both rated two stars by Michelin. There is also a bakery located at the premises and one's appetite will be thoroughly whetted with pastry chefs walking between the restaurants and bakery as you approach and enter. You will understand this is a high end affair with well heeled and attired understated folks exiting their vehicles for valet parking. The nearby pristine Lac du Annecy and surrounding mountains along with the picturesque village of Talloires complete this picture meeting your eyes before you take a step into this calm 1903 Bistro. This was my second visit to Talloires and this time I was treating my family friends to lunch for spoiling me in the Spring of this year and so often over the decades. We had a reservation and they seated us at a large round table along the curvilinear windows that look out to the curvature of Talloires along the lake and the lake itself toward the opposite shore and mountains beyond. Oh yes, this is a special experience! My appetizer was a crudite not made of vegetables, but of a long toasted bread stick for dipping in a rich and creamy seafood type sauce. Then came my entree consisting of a local fish from the Lac du Annecy called a Fera, related to salmon and trout, on a bed of vegetables with a creamy sauce spooned over the fish by the ever attentive and refined waiter appropriate for such a place. I chose a Rose from the Provence that was fruity, floral and fragrant. I believe we consumed two bottles of that elegant Rose, which paired well with everyone's selections as well as this magnificent dessert made of grapefruit meringue and sorbet. What a cap to the experience, but wait, there's more. They complimented the table with praline tartlets that sent us into orbit and let me go home with two. That bakery is no joke! You will pay for this experience at around a hundred dollars per person, but you will never forget the experience, which does not have to end upon payment. All credit cards are accepted here, particularly if you experienced many places in France not accepting Amex. You can stroll outside and enjoy a cigar waterside, which the family indulged me as I sipped on cognac and enjoyed a Siglo VI. You can stroll around the lake if you please, which I have done. If there is any shortcoming, it is the somewhat sparse servings that often come at this price point. You leave satisfied and satiated, but your appetite will soon resurrect itself. Four and a half beautifully experienced stars! read more

See all

Absolutely stellar in every way. The 1903 bistro is exactly the same high 2 star Guide Michelin quality as the smaller restaurant on the premises. Service is commensurate with the excellent quality of food, wine list, and experience. Do not miss this restaurant and hotel in Talloires! read more

See all

My neighbors in Denver recommended Pere Bise as their favorite restaurant in France. He was in charge of the airport in Paris at the end of WWII 2, so he traveled frequently to Talliore just to enjoy the view and the food. So on a journey to France in 1989, I stopped, spent the night and had a wonderful meal. I'm sure it is better than ever. I'd love to return. What a special spot on the planet. read more

Lunch at Le 1903 (bistro). Wonderful staff- particularly MaryLou. We were greeted by a polite gentleman as we walked in for lunch. We had no reservation but got lucky and they got us a table in the shade facing the waterfront. We had our son which they welcomed too. Nice touch! We are at the Bistro after walking through the peaceful town. We spare no expense with food- and we're so happy with the creativity of the chef. Husband is vegetarian, I am not, brought our 13 yr old who also has a keen palate. They were so kind and friendly, chatted with my son and suggested excellent wine pairings for us. Not at all pretentious - rather they were inviting, friendly with polish. We had starter then the main course. I had the Pike perch white fish, wonderful on a summer day with wine. My husband had perfect egg which he marveled at the preparation- 45 min cooking at 60F. Son had Saddle of Lamb. We finished with dessert. The wine was amazing - I purchased a bottle to take back to our cottage. It is pricey- but so so worth the experience. I will definitely return for fine dining in the evening when I return to Talloires. read more

See all

I have been coming to Pere Bise since I was a child, in the late 1960s. It is a tradition of my family to eat there, the way other families have the beach in summer, the cabin on the lake, or the annual ski trip. Expect no objectivity in this review therefore; it is not possible for me. I'd like you to believe me, because I want this restaurant to do well, but there's nothing I can do to remove my profound conflict. It has gone through many changes over the years, but three things haven't changed: the setting, the atmosphere, and the commitment to the cuisine. The setting is what you can see in the pictures, spectacular hillsides, a beautiful village, the cleanest lake in Europe, and towering over all from the east, the first line of the French Alps in all all its stone fury, les Dents de Lanfon, le Lanfonnet, and the immensity of Tournette, blanketed in snow most of the year. The atmosphere, though, is hard to know until you get there. The village, the lake, the auberge, are elementally peaceful. The way the spot sits on the lake, the way the building sits on the lot, the way the guest feels in the restaurant and the rooms. It is, by origin, an "auberge," an inn, a place you are meant to find shelter on the road. From my earliest years, the Bise family, with Charlyne Bise as impeccable host, and her husband Francois, and later her daughter Sophie, as chefs, welcomed their occasional visitors as the most welcome guests, and their regular visitors as family. And by then, the restaurant already had three quarters of a century of history, won through a commitment to good food. It won fame in France in the 1950s when Francois' mother, Marguerite, became the the third woman ever to earn a Michelin three star rating ("worth a trip") and Francois won the third star again in the 1970s. The food was for the longest time the pinnacle of French old school cooking. I can still summon the flavors in my mouth now, most vividly the chicken (poularde de Bresse) bathed in tarragon sauce. I won't list all those dishes now, though, since you mostly can't order them any more. In the fall of 2016, we heard the family had decided to sell the restaurant. I raced there to have a few last meals as a souvenir, nostalgia and sadness. I was happy, therefore, to hear they had sold to an aspiring chef, Jean Sulpice, who had already earned two stars, and who would be maintaining the restaurant's identity intact, "Auberge du Pere Bise - Jean Sulpice." We returned to sample the new fare at the beginning of April. Jean and his wife, Magali, have redecorated very nicely, kept the welcoming atmosphere, and recommitted the institution to the highest standards in French cooking. Jean Sulpice' skill and creativity have re-earned the restaurant a second star. His cooking focuses on several themes, preeminent among them local ingredients, local herbs especially, mountain cooking, and freshwater fish. All are hard to do and he does them very well. The ris de veau was wonderful, the lamb tasty, the steamed fera delicate, but the dish that has stuck in my mind the most was the veloute de chataignes, parmesan et truffe noire. Effectively a warm chestnut pudding, with a few more flavors added, included toasted pieces of truffle, with the mildest possible truffle flavor. Another, not a dish but a tiny "amuse bouche," was boeuf "Montbeliarde" marine aux herbes. Merely a sliver of partially dried beef wrapped around a tuft of different herbs. The treat was the herbs, wonderful flavors. Another thing to note is the cheese tray, laden with all sorts of flavors strong and delicate both, delivering on the recent scientific discovery that cheese is more addictive than heroin. In this case, all the cheeses are local, and yet the variety is extraordinary. My advice is to order the gastronomic menu, the full monty of eight or nine courses, and get the wine pairings or at least a subset of the wine pairings to go with it. It will be an expensive evening, needless to say, but not expensive in the context of multi-star Michelin food. You will see the full range of the chef's, and the region's, poetry, and, since the volume of food served is modest in each course ... French haute cuisine is different now ... it won't flatten you. Pace yourself with the bread, but otherwise, enjoy the meal fully. To eat less than the full menu here, unless you're staying for a few days and will be going through the menu anyway, would be a false economy. Enjoy the bar too, with a really nice selection of brandies and, the local specialty, chartreuse. read more