Fodor's Expert Review Le Chapon Fin

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.