Late-Night Dining in Europe

Back at Boston College – and countless universities across the US – staple late-night snacks include pizza, chicken tenders, fries, chips, mozzarella sticks, and the like.  In Europe, however, my options are quite different.  First of all there is the kebab phenomenon.  Anyone who has studied in Europe knows what I'm talking about.  In every major European city, Turkish kebab stands remain open until 3 or 4 am, serving night-owls their meat-filled wrap topped off with a yogurt sauce.  One such kebab place is located directly next to my front door, but I try to keep my visits there to a minimum.  A kebab is hardy worth it when compared to all the amazing food one can eat in Florence.  But on special occasions, a kebab can be just what the doctor ordered. 

When I was in Scotland, I encountered one of the more creative forms of late-night dining.  At St. Andrews, there is a spot called the Toasty Bar, which is only open on Friday nights from “11pm ‘til late.”  Located ironically in the basement of a church, dozens of St. Andrews students sit in clusters of awkwardly small Sunday school chairs and wait noisily for their toasted sandwiches.  A comical sight to behold, no doubt.  The Toasty Bar offers simple sandwiches – the standard melted cheese plus the optional additions of ham, tomato, or pesto – as well as the rather daring mars bar and marshmallow toasted sandwich.  I do believe I had one of each. 

Florence has its own unique late-night food sensation, an incredibly popular choice among study abroad students like myself.  A magical place, surrounded by legend.  A place you won’t find on any map.  There is no sign out front, just a sliding glass door with frosted windows radiating a mouth-watering smell that I wish I could bottle up and bring back to America with me.  I’m talking about the Secret Bakery.  When I first heard about the Secret Bakery, the name alone was enough to convince me that I absolutely had to find it.  It took me less than a week.  Talk about ambition.  As it turns out, there are actually eight Secret Bakeries in Florence.  At this point, I have only been to two, but I’m working on finding more of them.  Here’s how it works: the Secret Bakery is open from 1-5am every night, offering fresh pastries (nutella croissants, crème-filled donuts, and the like) for one euro to eager customers who knock quietly on the unmarked door down a random sidestreet.  Supposedly, business must be conducted under-the-table due to the fact that these late-night bakeries are bound by contract with Florentine cafés to which they provide morning pastries.  When waiting for that warm pastry, keeping the noise level low is crucial because Italians who live above the Secret Bakery don’t take kindly to obnoxiously loud Americans keeping them awake in the wee hours of the morning.  I have personally witnessed a spiteful Italian dump a bucket of water out the window onto people in the street below.  Result?  A girl in tears over her now broken phone.  In my opinion, the hush-hush aspect of the Secret Bakery just makes that donut taste even sweeter.  Assuming my donut and I stay dry, that is.