Pasticceria La Bomboniera (La Bomboniera Pastry Shop), Trieste

Walking around Trieste, you can't help noticing a multitude of patisseries. One such, called La Bomboniera, not far from the church of Sant'Antonio a Ponte Rosso, is a fixed stop for a sweet tooth in the know. Being among the oldest pastry shops in the city, La Bomboniera, established in 1836, is a real jewel box.

Located right in the heart of downtown but far from its noise, La Bomboniera deceives you into thinking that you are in Vienna. Indeed, this typical Austro-Hungarian patisserie is very representative of middle Europe. The range of sweets offered here includes typical Trieste desserts based on Austro-Hungarian tradition, like Rigo Jansci chocolate cake, Pischinger, Sacher, Linzer, and Dobos tortes and cakes, as well as putizza cake, presnitz pastry, pinza cake, homemade chocolate eggs, Jewish marzipan desserts, "fave dei morti" almond biscuits, and white and brown chequerboard mandorlati almond biscuits… all baked in the original wood-fired oven.

The Art Nouveau-style interior is just as appealing as the elaborate menu and has remained intact for over a century, producing the impression of stopped time. All the furniture, including glass cabinets and wooden boiserie, not to mention the wood-burning oven, are original, which is really special these days.

Inside, the glass panel separating the pastry “lab” from the shop still carries a bullet hole from a gunshot fired during the so-called Trieste Riots in 1953. Ask one of the courteous staff and they'll tell you more about it.

A mix of history and confectionery in one place makes it a really nice spot to visit. Just make sure to limit your appetite for sweets, which, on this occasion, may prove a bit difficult.