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On the lower floor of what looks like a bland shopping mall in Brussels, there’s an anonymous sign with the name The White. The entrance looks like a dilapidated printing shop. Few people looking in from the outside would think that something interesting is happening here. They would never expect it to become one of the go-to spots for EU officials.
But in Brussels, some of the best-loved and most frequented meeting places are hidden in unexpected and unconventional locations. For insiders, this is a quintessential aspect of the city’s charm. It’s a place where curious and persistent people are rewarded.
Pick up the white. Despite its unpromising location next to a busy road and the glass Madhu Plaza Tower skyscraper, the interior is unaffected. As you enter the Scandinavian noir-style interior, you’ll feel like you’re in a hideaway. The noise of sirens from the street outside is replaced by the noise of conspiratorial chatter.
Discoveries like this are one of the ways Brussels feels so different from other world cities. Places like London, Paris, and New York tend to have more good spots and are easier to find. Here there is little point in wandering the streets in search of the most attractive appearance. You need to know where you are going in advance. Still, it’s easy to get lost.
There’s a story behind the city’s rich luxuries hidden within its plain buildings. Before becoming the center of European policy-making, Brussels was a medium-sized city in medieval Belgium. After World War II reconstruction, rapid modernization led to the destruction of historic sites and the construction of new, often ugly, buildings along the wide stretches of road.
Subsequently, the unregulated establishment of the European Commission and associated institutions led to a sudden influx of EU officials from member states. Their arrival meant the city was in dire need of a decent place to eat. But the new facilities that sprang up had to be squeezed into existing, often unattractive infrastructure.
Busy roads and nondescript blocks can make it difficult to know where these locations are. However, you may be able to make a guess by knowing which offices are nearby.
The White Restaurant, for example, is close to the European Union’s powerful competitive organization, which prefers quiet, discreet gathering places.
One of the most popular spots in the city is Dal Padrino. It’s right next to the Berlaymont building. The Berlaymont Building is the headquarters of the European Commission, built on the site of a former monastery. Dal Padrino is the epitome of a hidden gem in Brussels. If you walk along the street too quickly, you might miss an old sign. The drab exterior gives no hint of the restaurant’s cozy interior and quality food.
It has been used as a venue for many important meetings over the years. Cecilio Madero, a former senior EU official, recalls when a team from the European Commission met with a team from Washington in Dal Padrino in 2004 during the EU’s antitrust investigation into Microsoft. ” says Madero. “Otherwise, this is obviously not a lunch spot.”
Newcomers to Brussels often have to rely on people who have lived in the city for a while to get to the places favored by insiders. A friend of mine, who I’ve known since I first came here, announced that he was leaving the city for the first time in 10 years and wanted to host a farewell meal. We chose Comme chez Soi, a Brussels restaurant run by the same family for five generations. As is often the case, finding the location can prove difficult.
To get to the restaurant, we cycled through Gare du Midi, one of the main train stations, smelling of abandonment and passing a huge construction site for the new subway line. Despite careful instructions, I still end up missing the restaurant door and end up across the street.
Once inside, I realized that my friend and I were the only non-Belgians in the room. Brussels may be the world’s political capital, but it’s still the city most responsive to the needs of its residents. As a friend of mine says, to live here you have to “get rid of some of the trash, get past the ugliness, and earn your place.”
javier.espinoza@ft.com
