Cozonac is the Romanian sweet braided bread, an enriched yeast dough wound with walnut, cocoa, Turkish delight or poppyseed filling. The Easter and Christmas table centre, sold by bakeries through November and December.
Cozonac descends from the same Mediterranean-Ottoman enriched-bread tradition that produced Greek tsoureki and Bulgarian kozunak; the name shares roots with the Greek koksonaki. The braided format with multiple fillings is Romanian and southern-Slavic, and the Bucharest version centres on walnut and cocoa. Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday households still bake whole cozonac that families gift to one another.
5 editor picks for Cozonac in Bucharest, ranked by editorial score. All Bucharest signature dishes · Cozonac across every city.
Caru' cu bere ★ 4.6
lipscani · Strada Stavropoleos 5, 030107 București
The 1879 Caru' cu bere on Stavropoleos serves the soul of Bucharest dining, where mici were recorded in a 1920 chef's letter to the Academy.
Boutique du Pain ★ 4.5
universitate · Strada Academiei 28-30, 010016 București
Boutique du Pain on Academiei is the long-running French bakery and bistro near Bucharest University, with daily baguettes and viennoiserie.
Lacrimi și Sfinți ★ 4.5
lipscani · Strada Șepcari 16, Old Town, București 030116
Poet Mircea Dinescu's Lacrimi și Sfinți on Șepcari pours wines from his Cetate estate alongside modern Romanian classics in Bucharest Old Town today.
French Bakery Bucharest ★ 4.4
aviatorilor · Strada Avionului 4, 014444 București
French Bakery on Avionului is the Aviatorilor neighborhood bakery doing levain breads and a pain aux raisins regulars rate as one of the best in the city.
Luca Bakery ★ 4.1
floreasca · Calea Floreasca 169, 014459 București
Luca Bakery in Floreasca runs as a daily cozonac and pâine de casă counter, with the dense plum and walnut cozonac Bucharest workers buy on the commute.