Les Gourmands

A Michelin-starred classic French restaurant tucked into a small Belgian village, where duck is cooked to a careful medium rare and the desserts arrive with the kind of attention usually reserved for the main course. The wine list is the owner's personal project, and he steers you through it himself. Old-school technique is the baseline here, but the kitchen occasionally lets something Mediterranean slip in, which keeps things from feeling like a museum.

One honor, in evidence: