2 Best Restaurants in Bordeaux and the Wine Country, France

Some say you haven't really been to Bordeaux if you haven't been to Le Chapon Fin—an epicurean indulgence, housed in one of Bordeaux's most historically esteemed establishments, where guests once included wealthy wine merchants, elite transatlantic travelers, and cultural icons such as Sarah Bernhardt and Toulouse-Lautrec. Founded in 1825, this was one of the first 33 restaurants crowned by Michelin in 1933. Reopened in 1987, guests are now served from chef Nicolas Nguyen Van Hai's refined menu in the extraordinary, original rococo grotto salle (room). Expect offerings like civet of hare (a kingly, 500-year-old dish of whole jackrabbit cut into pieces and then cooked for days in fine wine thickened with blood and liver). The wine list, not surprisingly, boasts the region's best vintages.

Cuisine de terroir is served up at this classic restaurant on one of Bordeaux's oldest streets. Like the room itself, the menu aspires to nostalgie, and it succeeds, with dried herbs hanging from the ceiling, a Provençal grandfather clock ticking off the minutes, and an antique fireplace sporting a grill that serves sizzling morsels of duck and chicken. You can also dine or shop at his épicerie, Le Comestible (No. 3), which is lined with bistro tables and jars of foie gras, cassoulet, and other regional sundries. Copies of this business-savvy chef's southwestern cuisine cookbook are sold at the épicerie.