Bridging the Toronto-Montreal divide: Snowdon Deli and Centre St. Deli
Today is my father’s 60th birthday, and last night we feasted on the deli that I brought back from Montreal. Part of the care package included a box of poppy seed mohn cookies from Snowdon Deli (or Deli Snowdon as the language police call it). A year ago I was in Montreal and my father sent me a text message:
“David- pck up mohn cookies from snowdon they are thinner than centre st. xoxo Dad”
Allow me to explain. Montreal’s Snowdon Deli and Toronto’s Centre Street Deli are family. A bit of history:
Snowdon deli began in 1946 by brothers Abe and Joe Morantz, in the middle class Jewish neighborhood of Snowdon in Montreal. Over the years, Snowdon grew into one of the most beloved delis in the city. In a town where most delis offered the choice of either smoked meat or steak, Snowdon featured an expansive menu that ran the gamut from hot and cold deli sandwiches to excellent baked goods to appetizing and party sandwiches. It was blocks away from my grandparent’s apartment, and was a frequent fixture on all my childhood visits to Montreal. Abe’s son Ian Morantz now owns the place along with longtime counterman John Agelopoulos.
Ian Morantz, with brisket, at Snowdon Deli, in Montreal
Centre Street Deli was what happened when Cheryl Morantz, the daughter of Joe, moved to Toronto in the early 1980’s and noticed the need for a great Montreal style deli. Hundreds of thousands of Montrealers had moved to the city since the late 1960’s, fleeing economic uncertainty and political instability. Their craving for a smoked meat sandwich remained strong, and Cheryl saw the chance to do something. Her father sent out his top counterman, Sam Agelopoulos, John’s brother, to run the place with her…putting a Morantz and Agelopoulos at the helm in each city.
Sam and Cheryl at Centre Street Deli, in Toronto
Go into Centre Street deli on a Sunday and see the Montreal diaspora in action, pigging out on their hometown favorites like old fashioned, hand cut smoked meat (the best outside of Montreal), thin karnatzel salamis, mohn cookies (slightly thicker than those in Montreal), and cheese bageleh. The fries are made Montreal style as well, blanched first and then fried again, to achieve a crisp, airy brown texture. Pure heaven. So many places throughout Canada claim to be reputable Montreal style delis, but Centre Street is the only one that does it successfully. Their hand cut smoked meat is as good as the stuff five hours east. Mom never ate smoked meat, even though she grew up blocks away from Snowdon Deli. It was only when I began this blog in February that she took a trip to Centre Street with my brother and caved in. Better late than never.
Here’s a wonderful cup of matzo ball soup, slightly smaller than its Montreal cousin (below), but every bit as rich and soul stirring.
Watch as Dad demonstrates how to properly eat karnatzel, and then dives into his favorite combo: Stuffed Chicken (read about it below) and Smoked Meat (old fashioned-medium fat)
Over the years, Centre Street Deli has expanded and moved locations to accomodate demand. It is big, bright, and evocative of New York style delis, with its bright lights, checkered tiles, and funny murals on the wall.
Snowdon Deli has remained largely unchanged. It rests on the same block, atop a narrow sidewalk, next to a traffic choked road, by a sunken expressway. The Jewish shops along the street have gone, including the bakery, but the place is a temple. It is quiet and dim, the perfect ambiance for slurping back a wonderful bowl of bright matzo ball soup on a cold winter night. The long deli counter is a place to chat and joke with Ian, John and Jimmy, as well as Ian’s daughter Tobi, who has been working there full time.
The food is the draw, and Snowdon excells in every single area. In her book “Tender at the Bone”, former New York Times critic and Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichel recalled her experience at Snowdon Deli, when she was a young girl banished by her parents to a French boarding school blocks away. One day she snuck away from school and found herself at the deli, where she walked up to the counterman and inquired about the glistening pink meat she saw. Here’s her description:
“He set it on a wooden counter and began to carve, letting the rosy slices fall away from his knife in ribbons. he scooped them onto a piece of rye bread, slapped a mustard-slatered slice on top, and handed the sandwich accross the counter. The sweet, salty pile of meat was the best thing I had ever eaten.”
That’s right…the greatest food writer in America today owes it all to a smoked meat sandwich from Snowdon deli. When I interviewed Ruth Reichel in New York last fall, she still remembers it fondly, and went back to Montreal a few years back to revisit the deli.
My favorites at Deli Snowdon are the following…influenced largely by my parents.
Varenikas: think knish without the baking…a soft dough dumpling filled with mashed potato, often fried or just as easily steamed, it should always be served by a minor mountain of fried onions.
Cheese Bageleh: very Montreal and truly Snowdon. Small sweet pastries filled with a firm cheese…like a blintz meets a knish, but small enough to pop in your mouth for a few hot, heavenly bites. Best with sour cream, apple sauce, or cherry sauce.
Matzo Ball Soup: as great a deli town as Montreal is, there is a serious lack of matzo ball soup. When the mercury literally freezes, and you get back from a cold day skiing in Tremblant, it’s nice to know that is is waiting.
Stuffed chicken: I’ve never seen this anywhere but Montreal, except Centre Street. Ian Morantz said it was once minced chicken stuffed into a sewn up chicken skin. Now the casing is collagen, but it is essentially chicken balogna and is a cool, savory alternative to often blander turkey. With a ton of mustard, how can you go wrong?
Danish: need I write anything? truly? I think not.
Mohn Cookies: mohn is yiddish for poppy seeds, and these wafer thin little numbers are best accompanied by a pot of Earl Grey tea, a good friend, and lots of kibbitz. Dunk to your heart’s content, there is no finer, and yes Dad, they are thinner in Montreal.
Two cities, two delis, two families, both filled with love. Visit them both. Often.
Centre Street Deli
1136 Centre St.
Thornhill, Ontario (30 mins north of Toronto)
905-731-8037
www.centrestreetdeli.com
Snowdon Deli (aka Deli Snowdon)
5265 Decarie Blvd
Montreal, Quebec
514-488-9129
www.snowdondeli.ca
June 14th, 2007 at 11:12 am
So very delicious! What I love there (either Snowdon or Centre Street) is that someone like me, who only recently converted to eating smoked meat, always had tons of goodies to eat, from chopped liver or tongue to cheese bagelach, club roll to turkey, and eggs and onions if that was my desire. Love those mohn cookies! JS
June 19th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Eat fatty only. Never order the medium smoked meat old fashioned. It is delicious but the fatty is better. Trust me eat fat and you will be happier in life. Eat more.
June 28th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I grew up just a few blocks from Snowdon Deli. The Morantz family were my cousins. Nothing in the world every gave me the pleasure of being allowed as a 10, 11, 12 year old (the world was different then) to walk over on a Saturday night just before the hockey game, and pick up my “dinner” (read, “feast”). 2 Smoked Meat sandwiches, some of the very most dry karnatzel they had (plus Abe would always give me a “shtickel” while I was waiting), those amazing french fries, a cherry drink and, yes, a danish. Then I’d hike back to the house and gleefully munch down this meal watching the Candiens trounce their competition.
Your blog entry omitted one other important Snowdon Deli genius item: Their famous “party sandwiches”. Nothing in the world ever tasted quite the same as a moist, Snowdon Deli party sandwich - the crust-free bread sticking to the roof of your mouth as your tongue poked and the ultra-fresh tuna and mayo.
Okay, I’m “kvelling” right now. The family must -never- let this magnificent institution go the way of all things. It is a sacred trust, and they are duty-bound to support it in perpetuity. Heck, if they need the help, I’m on my way!