Coq au vin at Little Bird: Gabe Rucker has captured everything good and right about French food with a ridiculously satisfying chicken stew at his just-opened jewel box of a dining room downtown. His bird is so tender the flesh falls off the bone when you point your fork in its general direction. 219 SW 6th Ave., 688-5952.

Peppery pork ball noodle soup at HA & VL: It’s the best soup in the world, and eating it is like sinking into a hot tub full of black pepper and pork fat and noodles and plump balls of mysterious pig meat. Add a spoonful each of chile paste and scorching-hot TNT vinegar and settle in for a long soak. 2738 SE 82nd Ave., No. 103, 772-0103.

Shakshuka at Tasty n Sons: A molten breakfast slurry of peppery, sausage-and-tomatoey, baked-egg-topped perfection made even better when you scoop it atop a plank of Fleur de Lis toast, this Israeli dish is quite possibly the only thing the Middle East could ever agree on. 3808 N Williams Ave., Suite C, 621-1400.

Duck wings at Ten 01: Cooked slowly in fat, then fried crisp and doused in a fishy hot sauce prepared by Ten 01 manager Damien Baker’s mom, Junko, these crunchy, sticky limbs are almost good enough to chase away the memory of Jack Yoss’ Thai pork ribs. 1001 NW Couch St., 226-3463.

Rye rolls at Castagna: These crusty, buttery, golden lumps of heaven are complimentary, but it’s worth the whole $65, four-course dinner just to slather on the pork-fat-and-chive spread and gobble the thing down. 1752 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 231-7373.