Want to dine like royalty? An integral part of Madrid's gastronomic offerings, the elegant Restaurante Zalacaín is famous for its sumptuous interior, excellent classic Spanish and international cuisine and formal, white-glove service. Opened by Navarrese-born chef Benjamín Urdaín in 1973 on the stylish Calle Alvarez de Baena, world leaders who have dined on the restaurant’s nouvelle Basque cuisine include King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, Spanish presidents and state ministers, Nobel Prize winners and top Spanish and foreign executives. Amid lavish private dining suites decorated with gleaming dark wood, claret hues, Villeroy & Boch china and Plata Meneses cutlery, guests dine on such signature dishes as mushroom and goose liver lasagna, lobster salad, potato soufflés and pig's trotter stuffed with mushrooms and mustard lamb. The restaurant’s spectacular wine cellar, among the most comprehensive offerings of Spanish wines in the world, contains more than 35,000 bottles. For dessert lovers, a tray of chocolate truffles, palmiers and almond biscuits arrive with coffee. The first restaurant in Spain to receive three Michelin stars (it is now rated very good quality), diners should dress to impress. Men are required to wear jackets and ties. Interesting fact: Zalacaín was named after Pio Baroja y Nessi's 19th-century novel whose hero, Zalacaín, dies defending a woman's honor.