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Tucking into the honey lamb stew of La Fruitière restaurant in Val d'Isère, a curious diner might well wonder how this culinary feat is possible high on the slopes of a top French ski resort.

The answer is: with the help of computers.

The restaurant is able to serve elaborate dishes for lunch - its only service - with little staff involvement, despite the complexity of its recipes, because much of the work is done at night by computer-controlled ovens.

When employees arrive at 9 a.m. with the first gondola, the confit de canard (duck) has been roasted to perfection, the veal shanks basted and the potée Savoyarde - a soup with sausages and white wine - has completed its slow simmer.

The chef remotely controls his kitchen via the Internet from his office down in the French ski resort. Since the ovens are connected by broadband, he can change his recipes at any time.

"Technology reduces the stress of making elaborate cuisine at high altitude," says the restaurant's owner, Luc Reversade, a 58-year-old former ski instructor."It really makes life much easier for everybody."

Computers also cut staff bills by 20 to 30 per cent, he says. Without them, employees would have to sleep on the premises. Instead, they ski or snowboard to the restaurant every morning.

La Fruitière sits at about 2,400 metres above sea level next to the OK piste, a run used for downhill and giant races. It serves as a training ground ahead of next February's World Ski Championships in Val d'Isère.

Once they have shaken the snow off their boots, the restaurant's table staff, many of them in their early 20s, change out of ski gear and put on white aprons.

They then zig-zag between tables on the sun-drenched terrace - on good days - or inside a restaurant decorated with old milk churns and other antiques to recreate the atmosphere of a traditional mountain dairy.

In French, La Fruitière means the place where the fruits of labour are stored.

In Val d'Isère, it is the place holidaymakers reward themselves after a morning of thigh-burning action on the slopes. The restaurant is so popular it is best to make reservations..

Top items on the menu include chicken breast with cardamom sauce, deep-fried reblochon cheese served on wooden sticks, and a cheese plate made up of local Beaufort, blue and tomme.

La Fruitière also has a cheese storage room and an underground wine cellar in which people can sit down for lunch.

Mr. Reversade's alpine cooking techniques are so striking, they have caught the attention of the French military. He gives tips to senior supply officers on how to prepare food fast and in tough conditions.

"I know how to make 80 litres of soup in 12 minutes so this is a technique the army could use," he says.

Mr. Reversade has worked as a consultant for the pubs unit of Scottish & Newcastle and for the French restaurant chain Oh Poivrier. He also sold the idea of setting up cafés inside the retail shops of U.S. sports apparel maker Quiksilver.