“We love what we do, hence we don’t mind the work,” chirped Sandrine Deley-Favario, mistress of the house of 2-Michelin starred Auberge de Montmin, when probed about the restaurant annual closures, “Christmas and the month of February,” she replies indifferently. The inference — a mad dedication to their craft, and a whole lot of shuttling back and forth for the duo from their home in the Annecy basin during their much-anticipated month long pop-up at Mandarin Oriental Lutetia running from the 5 — 29th November, 2025.
The experience unfolds at the hotel’s Salon Saint-Germaine. It’s all a little intimidating to begin: the high ceilings stained by the flamboyant glass roof painted by Fabrice Hyber, the low-lounging furniture and actor François Cluzet casually sipping on a long drink at the next table.
A flute of Lutetia’s exclusive Taittinger cuvée calms the nerves, and then Sandrine’s sympathetic disposition does the rest of tampering the uneasiness. Within moments of being seated, we are all fired up for a showing of contemporary Savoyard cuisine, an exuberant and delicious passage through the mountains and straight into Auberge de Montmin’s 2-starred house kitchen.
We commence with a miniature bundt of savoury Gateau de Savoie studded with cured meat and onions, and then spoon hug mugs of polenta cream crowned with a verdant sorrel mousse — the romance is unexpected, it feels like a warm hug from a burly stranger with muscular arms, fresh out from bread baking duties.
Oddly specific, I know. The next dish, a mash-up of the ubiquitous onion soup and pot-au-feu is rolled out by the gracious staff, it is illuminated by a fleeting candle of marrow which beckons for the silver tray bread service.
Wine is poured swiftly, a juicy 2022 Saint Joseph from Domaine Gonon, robust, potpourri and woody spiced. Next up, petals of smoked beetroot draped lazily around a braised puck to form a sort of elegant rose; a cream of horseradish laced with parsley oil is poured table-side.
It echoes the earthiness of the root vegetable and is so good that the remnants from the sauce pitcher are left at the crime scene, encouraging diners to sponge at it with warm hunks of bread. To accompany the dish, tiny morsels of smoked arctic char garnished with lemon zest, they provide some welcome relief for the beetroot-averse husband. Fear not:he didn’t acknowledge any food intolerances at the beginning of the meal so it wasn’t ignorance on the kitchen’s part but more of my husband’s adventurous endeavour. To which he gave a seal of approval for, “not tasting so much like dirt.”
While the decor of Salon Saint Germain is soft and plush with an abundance of Italian marble and glass, this definitely doesn’t represent the warm home kitchen nestled in the Alpine pastures that the Montmin Inn is. But what the establishment lacks in rusticity, it makes up ten fold in the earnestness of its service. The front-of-house are friendly, tailored, approachable and above all, clearly educated; zinging with enthusiasm that speak of repeated food tastings and meticulous forward planning on Hotel Lutetia’s part.
They bring out a an elegant slice of Lake Geneva Arctic Char, yielding to the prick of the fork from being confit low and slow. It’s lifted by tangles of spinach leaves and a serving of rich sabayon. By right, a sauce this obscenely decadent shouldn’t work with a piece of fish so delicate, but it did.
We moved on to the main, a meaty show of milk fed veal, crispy sweetbread and textures of Jerusalem artichoke. A lopped off moss crust reveals a cacophony of baked root vegetables — salsify and chervil, otherwise exquisite if not tainted by too much glossy jus that would have been more suitable for the alpine environment. The golden touch — a millefeuille of celeriac layered with caramelised onions and grapes. Finished with a sigh and then replaced at the table with something even more magnificent — a warm chocolate cake.
This stuff is dark and brooding, flanked by a bitter cocoa sorbet punctuated with flakes of Fleur de sel. In fact, all the sweet things here are done wonderfully, including a pre-dessert of chartreuse dome that really puts the Alpine liquor on a pedestal.
Chef Florian Favario’s 3 week stint at the Saint Germain is the hotel’s 3rd chef residency this year, and is set to impress diners this Autumn. Available solely as a dinner option, it offers both a tasting menu and à la carte options for more casual late night dining.
5-course menu 175€
Wine pairing 90€ (8cl per glass)
A la carte ranging from 20 – 59€
Dates: 5 – 29 November’2025
Florian Favario POP-UP restaurant
Address: Salon Saint-Germain, 45 boulevard Raspail Paris, France
Instagram: @hotellutetia, @flofavario
