The Secret Midnight Fast-Food Feast

Historically, French families fasted all day on Christmas Eve. Upon returning from a freezing Midnight Mass, they were completely starving. This gave rise to the Réveillon—a massive, multi-course feast eaten at 1:00 AM. In the mid-1900s, this midnight tradition became so popular that Parisian restaurants, brasseries, and luxury oyster bars stayed open until dawn, creating a massive, city-wide midnight rush hour for seafood and champagne.