A seemingly permanent fixture behind her white marble countertop, Virginia Diegenant has been running one of the best poultry and rabbit butcher’s shops in the country for half a century – and the 1950s tiling and fax number still visible on her website can attest to that. It’s a savoir-faire that she inherited from her grandfather Victor, who collected chickens and rabbits from farmers in the region, and which she believed would be lost once her husband Marc Vander Steene and herself retired. But that was before they knew they could count on their son-in-law Kristof Vergauwe, who came to help them when he was 18 years old, and is still, 25 year later, getting up at four in the morning to prepare these farm-fresh chickens, guinea fowl, pigeons, turkeys, pheasants, partridges and other beautiful feathered friends. Some of the house specialties include: foie gras, quail or pigeon stuffed with veal sweetbreads, foie gras or truffles. // Casimir

The hidden gem: The formidable pâtés, including the seasonal wild duck one (€32.95/kg).