In short: the chapeau savoyard is a dome-shaped appliance: meat grills on top while vegetables cook in the broth all around the rim. At Le Relais de l’Abbaye, a hotel-restaurant opposite the train station in Tournus (Saône-et-Loire), it’s the house specialty, served around a hat brought back from Savoie, for two or more people.
View this post on Instagram — video posted by @lerelaisdelabbaye
What is the chapeau savoyard?
Picture a cast-iron bowler hat sitting in the middle of the table, with a brim wide enough to simmer a little soup. That’s the idea. On the domed top, you grill thin slices of meat. In the channel running around it, you pour hot broth where the vegetables cook. And that’s where the magic happens: the cooking juices slide down the dome and flavor the broth, which gets better with every round of the table.
Some models also include raclette pans under the dome. You grill, simmer and melt cheese on the same appliance, which feels a lot like a love letter to mountain cuisine. It’s a long, convivial meal: you don’t just have dinner, you settle in. Plan on a good two hours, three if someone launches into the story of their most heroic ski run.
How does a chapeau savoyard meal work?
- Preheat the appliance for about ten minutes and lightly grease the dome.
- Pour the very hot broth into the rim, without filling it to the brim.
- Everyone places their slices of meat on top: one to two minutes per side is enough.
- Meanwhile, the vegetables cook gently in the broth.
- On equipped models, melt the raclette in the pans to blanket potatoes and vegetables.
- At the end of the meal, serve the broth in a bowl: it’s often the connoisseurs’ favorite moment.
The thing that changes everything is how thin the meat is. A thick slice stays gray outside and raw inside, while a thin slice sears in a flash. Ask your butcher to slice it as for a beef fondue, but even thinner. All the quantities and the full method are in our recipe card for chapeau savoyard, grilled meat and vegetable broth.
Which meats and vegetables should you plan for?
- Meats: beef (rump steak, sirloin), chicken breast, duck breast, all in very thin slices.
- Vegetables for the broth: thinly sliced carrots, leek, white button mushrooms, onion.
- Sides: small potatoes, gherkins, a few cold sauces.
- Cheese: a raw-milk raclette if your appliance has pans. To choose, see our ranking of the best raclette cheeses.
Hosting friends who don’t eat meat? The dome handles slices of zucchini, eggplant or polenta very well, and the vegetable broth does the rest. Our vegetarian raclette has more topping ideas.
🧀 Our selection for a successful raclette
Where can you try the chapeau savoyard at Le Relais de l’Abbaye?
Le Relais de l’Abbaye has made the chapeau savoyard its house specialty, with an appliance brought back from Savoie. The set menu is shared between two or more people, which also makes it a lovely idea for a dinner for two, as long as you’re happy to share the broth. According to its Instagram account, the chapeau is served Wednesday to Sunday evenings, as well as Sunday lunchtime. No prices are published online: call before you make the trip.
| Restaurant | Le Relais de l’Abbaye, hotel-restaurant |
|---|---|
| Address | 1 avenue Pasteur, 71700 Tournus (opposite the train station) |
| Set menu | Chapeau savoyard from 2 people, Wednesday to Sunday evenings and Sunday lunchtime; price on request |
| Phone | +33 3 85 51 35 91 |
| On social media | Instagram @lerelaisdelabbaye |
Should you buy a chapeau savoyard for home?
If you love long winter dinners, yes. Chapeau savoyard appliances come in electric versions, often combined with raclette, and they take up barely more room than a classic grill. Check three things before buying: a non-stick coating on the dome, a channel deep enough to hold the broth for an hour without it all evaporating, and an adjustable thermostat. See our selection of the best grills.
👉 Our comparison: Our selection of chapeau savoyard appliances
And if there are potatoes and cheese left over the next day, which happens in every family whose eyes were bigger than the hat, head over to our day-after raclette gratin.
👉 The full step-by-step recipe: Chapeau savoyard: grilled meat and vegetable broth
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between a chapeau savoyard and a pierrade?
A pierrade cooks meat on a flat stone, with no broth. The chapeau savoyard adds the broth channel around the dome: the meat juices drip into it and flavor the vegetables, so you get two dishes in one.
What broth should you pour into the chapeau savoyard?
A lightly salted chicken or vegetable broth, already hot when you pour it in. It will reduce and pick up the meat juices during the meal, so it’s better to salt it at the end than at the start.
Can you make raclette with a chapeau savoyard?
Yes, if your model has pans under the dome. Otherwise, serve the raclette separately on a classic grill, or in the oven following our method for raclette without a grill.
Video: © Le Relais de l’Abbaye (@lerelaisdelabbaye, official account), embedded from Instagram. Information checked on 11/03/2026.
