Bordeaux's LA TUPINA is terrific traditional food (9-4-25)

 Our last dinner in Bordeaux before returning stateside was with our friend Hugo at his favorite place in town, LA TUPINA. It is an unassuming space with some outdoor seating, and we worried hearing English spoken at first, but as we moved deeper inside this old old house with cute small rooms and very old wooden tables, it was largely locals enjoying a wonderful evening. We arrived at 8pm and the place was virtually full! We saw dishes going by and marveled at the smells and choices and we were thrilled when the exciting and different menus arrived showing the variety of the traditional local dishes going way back. Hugo mentioned that he had not had Sanguette since his mom made it when he was younger and I decided to give it a go. But first, we consulted with our server, Davide, who had a super sense of humor and went on to choose a Chateau Haut Bertineries Sauvignon Blanc (old vines) from Cite de Blaye just to the north.  It was a great wine with lots of acidity and was ideal with the Sanguette which was a thick crepe made with pork blood in the mix and scattered with pieces of duck neck inside the batter as well. WOW, this was a revelation, and I tried to finish it, but knew we had main courses coming. Hugo adored his gorgeous Foie Gras terrine and Will tried another new dish Calamars façon Pibales, which was calamari cooked in the style of "Elvers" or eels so that they were cut up into pieces and seasoned with garlic, espalette pepper and lemon. It was so flavorful and yummy and again ideal with the wine.

We moved on to a bottle of Frank Phelan 2018 red from Saint-Estephe which we had had some while back at a restaurant and this wine is a huge winner, made by the famous Bordeaux wine house of Phelan Segur, it is their second label and still tastes like a great wine for the way lower price. M=Will chose the Epaule d'Agneau & Mogettes which was a huge casserole of lamb shoulder with haricots blancs (mogettes are white string beans) and I realized that we had made a mistake by each ordering a main course. The Ris de Veau en Croute avec Duxelles de Champignons, Jus de veau arrived for Hugo and me, and there was no way I could eat even 1/2 the portion. It was a perfectly crunchy puff pastry filled with sweetbreads, a mushroom stuffing and veal jus that was divine. We couldn't even take the leftovers home as we were leaving at 630am the next morning!

Hugo was ready for dessert and ordered the Fig Tarte Flambee that was a whole production with vanilla ice cream (checkout the video) and we tasted the luscious treat as well. What a wonderful, fun place to dine and with food so very different from the ordinary, it is just that next time we shall share plates for sure, or just perhaps two appetizers!