Morteau, France

A chalet-style hotel on a hillside above the Doubs valley in Morteau, running since 1920 in the same family for four generations. Cream-colored walls, a carved wooden roof with red checkered window trim, a balcony railed in white wrought iron, and pink geraniums cascading from the terrace down to the panoramic dining room. The kitchen cooks Haut-Doubs with a light hand: Saucisse de Morteau poached over green lentils, Cancoillotte-glazed pork, Comté soufflé, trout from the Doubs river. The dining room looks over the valley and fills up on Sundays with locals driving in from the surrounding villages. A pot of Morteau and a glass of Vin Jaune here is the benchmark against which every other version of this meal gets judged.