Tucking into a plate of delicately presented pasta, complemented with a bracing white wine and a side serving of snow-capped views, I am expecting to pay a hefty price for my piste-side extravagance.
But my mouth-watering ski stop-off comes to a whole of €16, a positive giveaway compared to most mountain meals.
Why so reasonable? Because the Alta Badia, in the Italian Dolomites, has a special festival in January, offering Michelin-starred meals for reasonable prices.

 

Michelin meals: Some of the best chefs in the area work on the January festival

Really, providing excellent value is a year-round policy, South Tyrol is famed for its local produce, and the chefs and restaurateurs that work there are fiercely proud of their hospitality.
But if you descend in January, there is even more chance of award-winning food without the price tag to match.

Even with only just finishing my pasta, I am secretly looking forward to my evening dinner, which will be set by six Michelin-starred chefs.

Established in 2004 by Norbert Niederkofler – the chef behind the two Michelin-starred St Hubertus restaurant in the Relais & Chateaux Rosa Alpina hotel in San Cassiano, a tiny village whose ski slopes form part of the Alta Badia – the Chef’s Cup week is packed full of opportunities to taste some incredible food, including that of nearly 100 other invited chefs.

There are cookery lessons, a gala dinner, an evening dinner in a safe haven and a pasta party, among others. And if you can fit it in, there’s also some excellent skiing to be had.
Not sure my waistband can cope with a full week, I have opted for a long weekend, arriving on the Thursday, in time to get up the mountain for my wallet-forthcoming lunch at Ütia Bioch, a restaurant that is paired with the St Hubertus.
For those arriving outside the Chef’s Cup week, fine dining on the slopes is still an option. A further concept, dubbed A Taste of Skiing, organises 11 Michelin-starred chefs to make signature lunchtime dishes to be served in various mountain refuges accompanied by South Tyrol wine.

Chic escape: The Alta Badia region is famed fro its local food and high-quality dining options

A fabulous thought, the tortelli pasta stuffed with spot pate and bufala ricotta cheese on a bed of green beans and balsamic vinegar set me up perfectly for an afternoon cruising the slopes with my knowledgeable guide Diego.
The craggy Dolomites form a dramatic backdrop to the skiing in the Alta Badia – sheer pink-tinged rock faces rise vertically up, contrasting with the pillowy white meadows below. 
Soft, well-groomed snow on rolling reds and blues is the order of the day – everything we ski is wide enough to carve large Giant Slalom turns on (or at least they are the turns I am doing in my head) and crowds are noticeably absent. Maybe everyone is just enjoying second and third courses at lunch.
A particular highlight is the Hidden Valley run, accessed by cable car from Passo Falzarego. Letting the rest of the skiers from the cable car go ahead, we have the 1,000m vertical run to ourselves. Out on a limb from the rest of the skiing, the red run swoops and swerves through towering cliffs, and as the sun starts to set the views are bathed in a glowing light. I rubberneck the scenery so much I nearly fall over a couple of times.
Back at my hotel, the Rosa Alpina – home to the St Hubertus and one of the three host hotels for the Chef’s Cup – I sink back in the sumptuous Daniela Steiner spa in preparation for the evening event, the Gastronome Safari, it is the part of the week’s programme that had trapped my eye in the first place.
I am in for a gastronomic seven-course tour of the three host hotel restaurants in the Alta Badia – the St Hubertus in the Rosa Alpina, La Siriola in the Ciasa Salares hotel near San Cassiano, and La Stüa de Michil in hotel La Perla in Corvara. 

 

Al fresco fun: The experimental food is existing at affordable prices

Waiting for us diners are the Michelin-starred chefs of each establishment, plus an accompanying guest chef from such celebrated restaurants across Europe as the Mistral on the banks of Lake Como or the Arnolfo in Tuscany.
Two courses are served at each restaurant, paired with a complementary glass of vintage champagne. Favourite courses include peacock ravioli with pioppini mushrooms at La Siriola and goose liver with roasted pumpkin, mugo pine meringue, liver terrine and candied kumquats, from our curator Norbert at St Hubertus.
The final course is a buffet of desserts served in the comfortable lounge of the Rosa Alpina.
The following day there is no escape from the impeccable food – the breakfast at the Rosa Alpina is a example in beauty with eggs any which way you want them, and fresh-out-the-oven dainty pastries.
A more extensive ski uncovers an array of charming slopes and even a spot of untracked fresh powder down towards Corvara, La Villa and Badia. Around each of the villages there are welcoming nursery slopes and gentle blues for beginners and ahead of schedule intermediates to progress to. An ahead of schedule intermediate friend particularly appreciates the rolling nature of the slopes – they go up as well as down, so she knows she can always stop, not matter how much food she’s eaten.
Lunch at Club Moritzino, named after its charming owner, is a more basic matter, due to my food hangover from the nighttime before, but a plate of different cheeses manages to tempt me to tuck in even with my lack of hunger.

A decadent spot, Moritzino’s has hosted parties over the years for everyone from Berlusconi to a select assemble of Maserati clients, who were partying there until 4am the previous nighttime.
On my final evening, a Bubbles party is held at the Rosa Alpina. Different chefs are installed in its three kitchens and we’re encouraged to wander around behind the scenes, chat to the chefs about what they’ve set and take our pick from the dishes. For such excruciating food, I’m surprised by the forthcoming and welcoming atmosphere. It’s a salutation respite from the snobbishness that can often be associated with excellent food elsewhere.
Enjoying a last ski on the flattering slopes the following morning, the simplicity of the area is striking. Everyone I’ve spoken to has stressed the importance of enjoying the gorgeous things in life, and when things look and taste this excellent it’s no wonder they want to show it off.

Travel facts

Stay at the Rosa Alpina for three nights B&B with car hire and BA flights (Gatwick to Innsbruck) from £1,075 per person based on two people sharing. Visit www.abercrombiekent.co.ukor call 0845 618 2102.

For more details on the Chef’s Cup, visit www.chefscup.it