Montreal Day 2: The wrecking ball waits for Ben’s
Thursday, June 7th, 2007I’m going to let you all know off the bat that I’m going to make you wait for the Schwartz’s post till the very end, but be prepared for some serious smoked meat shots, videos, and a guest appearance by someone flown in just for the occasion. Big time.
I was walking in downtown Montreal yesterday afternoon, passing by some of the once hallowed and now less cherished delis, like Dunn’s Smoked Meat and Reuben’s (whose turkey sandwich was always a favorite of mine back in the day).
I decided to pass by the site of Ben’s Deli and Restaurant, a 100 year institution that closed down last December after a slow and bitter death. At one point Ben’s was the place to go in Montreal for smoked meat, packing in hundreds like Katz’s, and making Schwartz’s, Lester’s, and others play second fiddle. The walls were lined with the photos of stars who passed through town, to the point that both Mel Brooks and Freddie Roman remember it fondly. But time did not play kindly to Ben’s and the owners let it slide well past the point of repair until it was a sad albatross of a deli. It all ended in a labour dispute that had the workers locked out, striking for such arcane things as tomatos and air conditioning. No way to go. There’s a short film coming out soon about the strike at the end. Tim Rideout made it, and you can see the short preview on his website here.
Now the building, which is an art deco classic, is slated for demolition, and the Art Deco Society of Montreal is trying to save it. It’s a worthy cause, and they will be holding a protest on June 14th at 12:00 pm, in front of Ben’s, at the corner of Metcalfe and de Maisonneuve blvd.
Photos like this is why we have to save delis. Soon the images will be all that’s left of one of the world’s most revered delis. Sad
Montreal Day 1
Tuesday, June 5th, 2007“When Dave Sax arrived at my Montreal apartment to research his book, I was pleased for two reasons. First, I knew I would have the opportunity to spend 3 or 4 days with my good friend David — always a delight. Second, I knew that I would be eating some delicious smoked meat. Though I’ve only lived in Montreal for 3 weeks, I feel that my connection to smoked meat is deep, and intense; a cow’s blood running through my veins. And in this twisted, meaty bloodline, Dave Sax is my brother.”
-Benjamin Leszcz
Thank you Ben. If it weren’t for the hospitality and floors of friends like you, this deli odyssey would go no further than my own home. A zei gezunt.
24 hrs in Montreal and already I question why I ever moved away, why my parents moved away, indeed why so many Jewish deli lovers moved away. In my opinion, Montreal is a deli town in a league of its own. It has some of the oldest, smallest, and most distinctive — and delicious — delicatessens in this world, based on its almost-mythological smoked meat. This is a product not unlike pastrami, though different in so many delicious ways. I’m not nearly done investigating, though I will say that the principal difference is that pastrami is most often made with the navel cut (a flatter, often tougher cut), while smoked meat is made with the brisket. Spicing is different, though I’ve yet to fully figure it out. Lord knows, I might never. Then there is the ubiquitous hand cutting, and the black cherry, and of course the jolie twist of la belle langue de les Quebecois.
Montreal’s deli scene is old school in the greatest sense, and I was lucky to have visited two of the great classics today: Lester’s and Wilensky’s.
Lester’s Delicatessen
My father grew up near Lester’s, in the leafy neighborhood of Outremont. He always raved about their smoked turkey, though I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t eaten there since I was a child. I’ve tragically missed out.
The smoked meat at Lester’s ranks amongst the tops in the city. When hand-sliced by the expert cutter, the paper thin slices peel away from the meat like petals from a rose. Propped atop a small disc of rye (Montreal’s sandwiches tend to be smaller than other cities, but cost far less), slathered with mustard, the sandwich dissapears in several crucial bites.
Lester’s owner Billy Berenholc says that the steam opens the pores of the meat, letting the flavour aerate and intensify. All I knew was that it was beautiful, and my lunch companion — Montreal’s preserver of history — Mr. Eiran Harris.
On a warm summer day, the patio at Lester’s mixes the best of European cafe lifestyle, with the tastiest Eastern European meats. Heaven.
One Montreal food item that falls like heaven upon my tongue is karnatzel, a dried, narrow salami that reeks of garlic and is the perfect entry to a deli meal. The Montreal way to eat it is wrapped in a mustard-painted slice of rye. Others call it a pepperoni stick, but I think karnatzel has more flavor and less of that Slim Jim peppery junk than others. I could eat it in my sleep.
Lester’s also has excellent fries, frosted Muggs of root beer, a sweet coleslaw, and the smoked turkey my dad loves. Best of all, Lester’s delivers pre-cut, ready to eat packages of their smoked meat and stellar brisket all over North America. All you have to do is boil the package, cut it open, place it on the bread et voila! As you read this, whether in Miami or Vancouver, know that you are one click away from a delicious smoked meat sandwich splattering your keyboard with delicious mustard and grease droppings. 
So what are you waiting for?
www.lestersdeli.com
www.montrealsmokedmeat.com
1057 Bernard Ouest, Outremont, QC, H2V 1V1
514-213-1313
Wilensky’s Light Lunch
Purely and simply I love Wilensky’s more than any other deli I’ve ever encountered. Perhaps it is because I was taken there as a young child by my father. Perhaps it is because we returned on every subsequent trip to Montreal, my brother and I planning our schedules so we could fit in a trip to the corner shrine at Fairmount and Clark. Mostly though, it is because of The Wilensky Special, a sandwich of such perfect simplicity, it has become the stand alone reason for Wilensky’s 75 year existence.
Wilensky’s consists of a small wooden counter and nine wooden stools, an antique soda fountain, fading newspaper and magazine clippings, and rows of old paperbacks, selling for half the price of what’s advertised on the cover. My dad used to read dirty novels there until he was booted out by the late owner, Moe Wilensky. Nogoodnick.
Moe Wilensky’s legacy is the Wilensky Special, a grilled sandwich that consists of five slices of three different types of salami, with a slice and a half of bologna on a pletzl roll. Mustard on one side. Simple. Elegant. Perfect. When done right the flat sandwich crunches into several steaming bites of slippery salami, the salty flavor brought alive by the sharp kiss of yellow mustard. I’ve had dozens over my lifetime, and pray to have dozen’s more. Thankfully, Mrs. Ruth Wilensky, and her children Asher and Sharon, as well as the late Bernard, are the most diligent breed of deli purists. Nothing at Wilensky’s has changed in three quarters of a century, and in this case, preservation equals perfection.
Washed down with a hand jerked cherry soda or chocolate egg cream, there is no greater deli snack in my knowledge. It goes down like heaven, and unless you fire down six like my friend Steve Katz did back in 1999, there is no pain in the pursuit of this treat. No deli fan has lived until they’ve eaten at Wilensky’s. Go.
Wilensky’s Light Lunch
34 Fairmount St. West
Montreal,QC
514-271-0247
By the end of the day I had sent more than $100 in Lester’s smoked meat and Wilensky’s specials to my brother in Calgary, who will probably receive his fragrant package by the time he reads this tomorrow.
Schmaltz by Southwest: Arizona, Texas, and New Orleans
Sunday, March 25th, 2007Charlotte, North Carolina
It’s been a while since my last area roundup, due partly to the fact that I have driven across the entire country in a week, and largely to the fact that the following week I spent by the beach in Florida. So sue me.
Now I’m in for my final night in the south, before heading north to DC and then back home to Toronto in time for pesach. It’s been a hell of a trip, but at this point I can barely keep my eyes open.
This dispatch covers what I found once I left Las Vegas and before I arrived in Miami. As the crow flies that is about 2500 miles, though I took the longer route, which had me driving most days for about 5-10 hours at a time.
There aren’t a lot of delicatessens along the southern US border, packed as it is with sagebrush, vast tracts of inhospitable desert, drug smugglers and illegal aliens. But in the enclaves of Phoenix, Austin, Houston, and New Orleans there was haymish tastes to be found. (more…)
LA Deli Story 2…the Podcast
Monday, March 19th, 2007Miami Beach, Fla
This is much delayed, thanks to my lack of technical knowledge about RSS and other such crap, but have a listen, it’s worth it. What you’ll find are stories about several great LA delis which rounded out my trip, and left me wondering whether LA could be the best deli town in the country.
Click here to subscribe to the podcast and listen to the latest from LA
All the factors are there (even at Factor’s):
-a strong family run tradition over 2 or 3 generations
-haymish feels and looks though still fresh and not tired
-deli happy crowds, happy to be nourished on old time classics (though with Hollywood demands…no milk…scoop out my bagel…can you do it without the onions dear?)
-most importantly it tastes great.
Below are some photos of the places you heard about in the podcast with addresses and food porn to match. (more…)
Shmear and Kasha in Las Vegas
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007Austin, TX
I was 20 miles out of Barstow when the acid kicked in.
…acid indigestion to be precise, the remnants of an In-N-Out Burger that was deciding whether to stay in or get out. The situation called for action: a fast car, desert road, and pills…tums to be exact.
Forgive my indulgence, but every writer is entitled to some form of ripping off the late, great, Hunter S. Thompson when writing about Las Vegas. And in that city of plastic fantastic sex, sin, and oversized t-shirts, the spirit of the Dr. would best be found in the delis…quietly fueling his drug crazed madness with some matzo ball soup or bialy.
This was my first time in Vegas and I was both overwhelmed and dissapointed, both with the city and its delis. I expected a trace of Sammy, Dean, and Frank but instead got NASCAR, oversized plastic cups, and a whole lot of decoration without much substance. But I won a few hands of blackjack, got a comped drink or two, and had quite a bit of deli over the course of 12 hours.
For a town founded by old time Jewish gangsters, and now boasting a growing population of new school Jewish retirees and real estate tycoons, Las Vegas is sadly lacking in a critical mass of homegrown delis. There are a few though, and they do quite well for themselves.
(more…)
LA Deli Story
Sunday, March 4th, 2007Los Angeles, California
Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there…the sun’s in my eyes and I was driving and talking with my agent on the phone while thinking up titles for the documentary treatment of the book. You look fabulous! Me, I’ve been jogging and I’m on the pastrami diet, but I’m entertaining the idea of going for lipo if that fails…just a little touch up.
Yes, LA, that’s wonderful, decadent land where there is no center, everyone has a story to tell, you live by the car, and it’s never cloudy. So far it’s been a blast, and I’ve discovered that the deli scene is thriving like nowhere else, with a tremendous offering of both quantity and quality. I’m only halfway through my research, but I’ve eaten a hell of a lot of delicious stuff and there’s more to come.
I could write about it, but that would be just so, like, New York. So instead I did what this town lives for and made a movie:
If that got the juices flowing here’s a little more info on what you saw:
Izzy’s Delicatessen
1433 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 394-1131
www.izzysdeli.com
-real nice NY style spicy pastrami and a bevy of killer soups including the matzo ball number featured here
Brent’s Delicatessen
19565 Parthenia St., Northridge CA 91324
818.886.5679
New Location:
2799 Townsgate Rd., Westlake Village CA
805.557.1882
www.brentsdeli.com
The Peskin family does killer food in the most family oriented and unpretentious joint in the Valley.
-the absolutely best cabbage soup ever, with sweet whole chunks of tomato, pepper, and tender brisket in a delicious broth
-homemade golden kishke that tastes and feels light yet crisp and warm
-wonderful blintzes
-marvelous whitefish salad…fresh, cool, and waiting to be smeared on a bagel chip
-a brisket taco…SO-Cal fusion at its finest
-great chocolate eclairs (tell Marc Hernandez to share one with you)
Art’s Delicatessen & Restaurant
12224 Ventura Boulevard
Studio City, California 91604
(818) 762-1221
www.artsdeli.com
-real haymish food from Mr. Art Ginsberg himself and family. He calls the sandwich pics on the wall “Jewish Erotica” and has a phone built into the wall by the corner booth for studio execs to take calls.
-try the outstanding eggs, lox, and onions which are stupendous due largely to the simmering vat of onions carmelizing on the stove throughout the day
Canter’s Delicatessen
419 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA
(323) 651-203
www.cantersdeli.com
A giant! A classic! An absolute madhouse where the crowds nosh 24/7 and Guns and Roses got their start. Eat, hang, or get wasted in the Kibbitz Room. Old school waitresses, retro decor, and lots of neon. A factory for characters and late night celeb sightings (I saw that kid from the OC).
-huge bowls of matzo ball soup
-overstuffed sandwiches and great Reubens
-big baked knishes
-crisp, garlicky, homemade pickles
-the most amazing baked goods including chocolate, raspberry, and poppy seed rugelach that are a sin to eat and an even bigger sin to ignore
Langer’s Delicatessen
704 S Alvarado St
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 483-8050
www.langersdeli.com
Coming up on 60 yrs in the same location with Mr. Al Langer himself at 94 still holding the place down. I could talk about the decor or the area or the great servers, but you go to Langer’s for one thing: The best f$%ing pastrami at any deli anywhere. It is sweet, savory, a bit spicy and oh so tender. Hand cutting makes all the difference, plus six decades of family owned and operated care and knowledge. You will not find a better pastrami sandwich anywhere…even that other city on the other coast.
Oh, I have to take this call…you’re the greatest.
DS
I Left my Blintz in San Francisco
Thursday, March 1st, 2007Deli Men of the Golden Gate
Los Angeles, CA
Finally out of the misery of winter and into sunny So-Cal. Just went for a run along Venice beach, with the sun, surf, and sandpipers reminding me that I’m a good few thousand miles from home. In a few hours I’m setting out for the first of many interviews at some of LA’s finest delicatessens, but for now I want to talk about my day in the city by the Bay.
San Francisco’s Jewish community has never been a heavy hitter in terms of North America. Still, it is decent sized enough to warrant a good deli scene, though like Chicago that has failed to come together over the years. The pickings are slim, though I managed to check out three places run by three different generations of deli men, all of whom warrant a visit when in the Bay Area. (more…)
Rocky Mountain Rye — Part 1— Six inches of fresh schmaltz on the slopes
Monday, February 26th, 2007Fernley, Nevada
Another 7 hour, multi-weather pattern drive through the barren desert means that vacation time is now over and I am firmly back on the deli trail. It was a wonderful week of powder skiing, blue skies, quality time with the girlfriend, hot tubs, and non-pickled foods…ahh but who wouldn’t rather be sitting in a Super 8 motel off the side of I-80, blogging on a bed while your eyes struggle to stay awake?
While Jewish delis in this part of the country lack the history found elsewhere (an old deli in Denver is three decades old), and the mystique, there’s some quality product being put out by people who care, and who cook, slice, and serve with true passion. To all Jewish skiers and deli loving snowboarders this is a blessing, knowing now that future trips to Aspen, Vail, or elsewhere need not go without the essentials…no more $15 on-hill hamburgers…from now on they can stock up in Denver before heading to the hills. (more…)
