Jewish Life SANDY BORNSTEIN PHOTO
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T THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS 26 JULY 5, 2018 A taste of smoked beef at Lester’s Deli and bagel making at St. Viateurs. Jewish Life SANDY BORNSTEIN PHOTO FOOD SECTION BOOKS POP CULTURE CLASSIFIED PARASHAH A taste of Montreal’s Jewish culinary sites SANDY BORNSTEIN Note: of the spots toured, only Chesk- Rays of sunshine warmed the out- foodies were savouring every bite. SPECIAL TO THE CJN ies bakery is kosher. side seating area where we waited for our prepared plates. Simard handed Boulangerie Cheskies Heimishe put on a pair of comfortable walk- Lester’s Deli out individually wrapped kosher for- Bakery ing shoes and grabbed a bottle of tune cookies with the Wing’s imprint. Iwater before boarding a taxi to meet Lester’s Deli, located at 1057 Bernard, From the 1880s to the start of the First We walked for a few blocks to this ko- Mélissa Simard, the founder of Round was the tour’s first stop. A bright yellow World War, many Ashkenazic Jewish sher bakery on 359 Bernard Quest. I Table Tours, for a guided tour of Mont- sign with black lettering reminds people immigrants lived alongside Chinese peered into the window and saw trays real’s Jewish culinary sites. In 2013, she that this family-run business has been immigrants in Chinatown. A few dec- of kosher desserts sorted on several was singled out as the best female entre- serving hot smoked meat sandwiches to ades ago, a Jewish businessman paid rows in glass display cases. We waited preneur by the Concours Québecois de Montreal’s Outremont neighbourhood, the company $60 to place an engage- patiently in line while local residents l’entrepreneuriat and was on the cover on the north side of Mount Royal, since ment ring inside a fortune cookie. This swarmed inside and outside the small of the business section of the Montreal 1951. Hints of an Ashkenazic Jewish episode sparked a relationship with the shop. Cheskie Lebowitz, along with Gazette in 2015. presence remain. As I entered the res- Jewish community. Eventually, the Wing his wife Malkie, began operating this Simard is not Jewish but she under- taurant, conservatively dressed women Noodles Ltd. product line was certified bakery in 2002. His brother owns a stands the connection between food with sheitels were pushing baby stroll- kosher. similar place called Schomie’s Heimshe and culture. She successfully inter- ers on the adjacent sidewalk, while sev- Since I’m a pescatarian, I was treated Bakery in Brooklyn, N.Y. twined tidbits of useful information as eral bearded men with oversized hats to sliced nova salmon that had been Our on-the-go sample was a warm, the tour group tasted a cross section and knee-length coats clustered in front smoked onsite along with a mound rectangular shaped chocolate babka. of foods and passed places of interest of a doorway a few yards away. of tuna fish and a couple of slices of This chocolate lover’s dream dessert in the neighbourhood where Eastern Once inside, I couldn’t stop staring rye bread. The other tour participants had a dark chocolate filling that was European Jews opened up restaurants at the deli signage, display cases and smacked their lips as they bit into mul- generously drizzled with another layer in the 20th century. knickknacks on the walls that took me tiple layers of moist, lean meat served of chocolate. As I devoured my deli- Black-and-white photos comple- back to the 1960s. It was hard not to in- on rye bread coated with bright yellow cious treat, Simard shared Rokhl Korn’s mented her presentation as she brought hale the smoky aroma inside the shop. mustard. The scoops of chopped liver (1898–1982) poem, A Song of Yesterday, us back and forth in time while talking The main draw is the beef brisket that is and slices of smoked salmon remained in a nearby alley close to where Korn about notable personalities such as cooked in spicy brine, then smoked and on their plates until they had wolfed once lived. She artistically compared writer Mordecai Richler; singer-song- later reheated. This hand-sliced meat is down their half-sandwiches. the “folds of the dress” in the poem to writer, poet and writer Leonard Cohen; served fresh daily. The original owner’s No one at the table was able to ex- the delicately folded dough in our indi- trade union activist, social organizer son, Billy, has infused his comedic per- plain how this tender meat compared vidual babkas. and feminist Léa Roback; social worker sonality into the running of this well- to corned beef served at American Jew- Maimie Pinzer and others. known restaurant. ish delis. However, it was clear that the CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS T JULY 5, 2018 Food 27 ADVERTORIAL CANADA DAY A CELEBRATION OF COUNTRY AND OF ITS SENIORS With Canada Day fast approaching this year, I found myself pondering how to celebrate this special day with our One Kenton Place residents in a way that recognizes the many amazing contributions they’ve made to our society and country at large. To do this, I felt I needed to go back to the times of Confederation itself, so please humour me while I start with a short history lesson. July 1st marks the anniversary of the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 which, united the three separate colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a single entity within the British Empire called Canada. Although Canada had been around pre 1867, this was the Inside Schwartz’s. SANDY BORNSTEIN PHOTO day that Canada – as we know her today – was born. A lot has changed in 151 years, and according to Canada’s “memory banks” her population has grown tenfold from St.-Viateur Bagel is better than the other. The Mont- Schwartz’s 3.2 million to just over 35 million, and for the first time since real bagels appear to be smaller and Confederation Canada is older than it is young. In 1921, only Before starting the tour, I was aware perhaps sweeter than their New By the time we reached our last res- 4% of Canada’s population were considered seniors (65+). of the ongoing debate among lo- York City cousins. Perhaps the hon- taurant on St. Laurent Boulevard, In 2016, that number had grown to 16.9 percent. In fact, cals as to which store made the best ey-infused boiling water makes the I couldn’t eat another morsel. As 2016 was also the first time in census history that there were Montreal bagels. To begin my taste Montreal bagels stand out. Simard passed out goodie bags to more people over 65 than children under 14, according to test, I pulled a tiny piece off of my everyone else, she mentioned that Statistics Canada, and by 2030 it is estimated that one in warm sesame bagel while I was leav- Wilensky’s Light Lunch Jews no longer own this notable four Canadians will be a senior citizen. ing St.-Viateur and put the rest of landmark. A few years ago, a group There is no doubt that our Canadian population is growing, the bagel inside a small bag. I walked into this corner shop of investors purchased Montreal’s both in numbers and in chronological age. While inside this shop, I watched and was affectionately greeted by famous “Hebrew delicatessen” so To think that our seniors, the 16.9 percent mentioned above, as one man cut and shaped the Sharon, the granddaughter of the that it could continue operating. have played such an integral part in shaping today’s Canadian dough on a long table while another original owners. The long narrow When the sandwiches were taken society is incredible and humbling, to say the least. Speaking man boiled the bagels and then counter with simple wooden stools out of the brown bag and un- to our residents at One Kenton Place, I can confidently say placed the partially cooked items reminded me of some of Chicago’s wrapped, I saw that the smoked meat that their combined life experience is absolutely priceless. into an open oven. When the bagels West Rogers Park neighbourhood was laced with more fat than Lester’s Our One Kenton Place heroes have defended our freedom in were done, they were heaved onto hotdog shops from my youth. version. Bits of meat fell easily from several wars, they’ve built homes and businesses, overcome another surface with an oversized While I vaguely remember the the sandwiches while everyone ate. tremendous challenges, advocated for human rights, raised families, led large organizations, contributed to Toronto’s city spatula where they were eventual- movie The Apprenticeship of Duddy Back in 1928, two brothers, Reu- landscape and skyline, invented products that are widely used ly sorted into open bins. Pedro, the Kravitz, I don’t recall the scenes ben and Maurice Schwartz, started today, helped to shape the laws of this country, and they’ve bagel roller, claimed that the shop that were shot in this iconic place. smoking meat using a 10-day meth- raised and donated more money for charitable causes than I produces 1,000 dozen bagels a day. Almost every inch of wall space is od that combined a secret formula could even count. I’m fairly certain that when Myer filled with memorabilia that pro- of dry rubbed spices. Today, people Canada Day is a good time to reflect not only on what a great Lewkowicz, a Holocaust survivor, vides a daily reminder of the shop’s continue to line up on the sidewalk country we live in, but also the incredible contributions our and Hyman Seligman opened the history.