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Downstairs in what looks like a quiet shopping center in Brussels is an anonymous-looking sign for something called The White. The entrance resembles the facade of a dilapidated printing house. From the outside, few would have guessed that something interesting was happening here. They certainly wouldn’t expect this to be a favorite point for EU officials.
However, in Brussels, some of the most popular and frequented places to meet are hidden in unexpected and unconventional places. For insiders, this is an essential aspect of the city’s charm. It is a place that rewards the curious and the persistent.
Take the White one. Its unpromising location next to a busy road and the glass skyscraper Madou Plaza Tower has no bearing on the interior. As soon as you step inside, the Scandinavian noir-style building feels like a retreat. The sound of sirens from the street outside is replaced by the sound of conspiratorial chatter.
Discoveries like this are one of the ways Brussels feels so different from other global cities. In places like London, Paris and New York, the good spots tend to be plentiful and visible. Here there is no point in wandering the streets looking for the most attractive exteriors – you need to know in advance where you are going. Even then it’s easy to get lost.
The city’s abundance of luxury hidden within ordinary buildings has a back story. Before it was the beating heart of European politics, Brussels was a medieval Belgian city. After World War II reconstruction, it underwent rapid modernization, leading to the destruction of historic sites and the construction of often ugly new buildings alongside major roads.
Following this, the creation of the European Commission and its associated widespread institutions resulted in a sudden influx of EU officials from member states. Their arrival meant that the city was in dire need of suitable places to eat a meal. But the new institutions that arose had to fit within the existing, often uninspiring infrastructure.
Busy streets and featureless blocks can make it difficult to know where these places are. Although sometimes you can guess by knowing which offices are nearby.
Restaurant White, for example, is close to the powerful EU competition unit, a group that favors quiet and discreet meeting places.
One of the most popular spots in the city is Dal Padrino, which is located just a few steps away from the Berlaymont building – the headquarters of the European Commission built on the grounds of a former monastery. Dal Padrino illustrates the hidden gems within Brussels. Walk too fast along the road and you’re likely to miss its date sign. The dull exterior gives no hint of the restaurant’s cozy interior and quality food.
This has been the site of many crucial meetings over the years. Cecilio Madero, a former senior EU official, recalls when his team at the European Commission met with their counterparts in Washington at Dal Padrino during the EU’s antitrust investigation into Microsoft in 2004. one of those places you have to know to go to. “, says Madero. “Otherwise it’s not an obvious place for lunch.”
Newcomers to Brussels must rely on those who have lived in the city for a while if they want to find their way to places that favor insiders. A friend I’ve known since my early days here says she’s about to leave town after a decade and wants to host a farewell dinner. We choose Comme chez Soi, a Brussels institution run by five generations of the same family. As is often the case, finding the place is tricky.
To get to the restaurant, I navigate one of the main train stations, Midi, where the smell of neglect hangs in the air, and cycle past a huge construction site, making way for a new metro line. Despite careful instructions, I still manage to miss the door of the restaurant, ending up across the street.
As soon as I find my way inside, I realize that my friend and I are the only non-Belgians in the room. Brussels may be a global political center, but it’s a city that still looks after its residents best. As my friend says, to live here “you have to cut some rubbish, go through something ugly and earn your own place”.
javier.espinoza@ft.com
