My favorite restaurant in Bordeaux, chef/owner Jean-Pierre Xiradakis prepares authentic dishes from southwest France, specializing in roasted fowl and meats over the roaring fire that greets patrons as they come through the restaurant’s front door. We began with a rustic country paté and the wonderful cracklings of duck skin and assorted animal intestines. Although they would not be good for anyone suffering from gout, they are incredibly delicious. We then moved to scrambled eggs with oodles of chopped black truffles - one of my favorite ways to prepare truffles. Next came one of the world’s finest chicken dishes, roasted chicken from Les Landes. The Bordelais claim this is even better than the poultry from the Bresse area near Burgundy. It is prepared over an open fire and served with some of the world’s finest french fries. Cut thick and cooked in duck fat, they are wonderfully crunchy and flavorful. Accompanying everything was chunks of country bread soaked in chicken fat and lightly roasted. It makes me hungry just thinking about it!

The wines included a flight of 1961 Bordeaux. The Ducru Beaucaillou revealed considerable age as well as a flat character. It performed well for about 15 minutes, but faded quickly. The 1961 L’Arrossée, which has always been an outstanding St.-Emilion, still reveals rich, concentrated fruit with notes of roasted herbs, spice, camphor, and black fruits. One of the finest bottles I have ever had of the 1961 Mouton Rothschild was at La Tupina. It was a gloriously decadent wine offering gobs of black currant, cedar, spice box, and licorice notes. Full-bodied and rich, this was a sensational accompaniment with the exquisite bistro-styled food of La Tupina.