French Chef Emmanuel Renaut ©AFP PHOTO / JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT

A restaurant tucked into the French Alps is set to be inducted into an elite exclusive club reserved for the best chefs in the world -- those with three Michelin stars.

According to the magazine Le Point, Emmanuel Renaut's restaurant Flocons de Sel in Megève, France, will be awarded the much coveted ‘Holy Grail' of the gastronomic world earning full stripes and stars in the next Michelin France 2012 guide, to be released February 27.

Renaut's admission into the highly exclusive club, anchored by chefs like Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon, would bring the total tally of three-starred restaurants in France to 26.

Despite being the birthplace of the Michelin guide and the cradle of high gastronomy, that would still keep France in second place behind Japan, which has 29 restaurants that boast three stars to their names.

Meanwhile, Renaut's fine dining restaurant is tucked snugly within the French Alps and is built around traditional Savoyard cuisine from the mountainous regions of southeastern France. On their current winter menu are dishes like Jerusalem artichoke in butter noisette sauce, with cloves and Alps truffles, and local fish from Lac Leman with leeks and lemon.

According to the LePoint exclusive, meanwhile, the 2012 edition of the Michelin France guide will also award a second star to Thierry Marx for his restaurant Le Sur Mesure at the Mandarin Oriental, and Philippe Labbé for L'Abeille at the the Shangri-La Hotel.

Flocons de Sel

1 775 route du Leutaz 

74120 MEGEVE 

Tél. +33 (0)4.50.21.49.99 

Published 18.02.2012