Save the Deli: Montreal dubbed a nirvana

By Mike Cohen

David Sax is a deli fanatic, someone whose yearning for the salted cured meats has taken him virtually around the world the last few years. The end result is a new book called Save the Deli: In Search of the Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye and the Heart of the Jewish Delicatessen. It will have its Montreal launch at Paragraph Books (2220 McGill) on Nov. 5.

Sax, whose parents are from Montreal, is a freelance Toronto journalist. He attended McGill University where he majored in history from 1998 to 2002. He says the course on the Sociology of Jews in North America, taught by Professor Morton Weinfeld, actually served as the inspiration for the book. While I enjoyed his take on the delis of New York, Chicago, L.A., Vegas, Florida, Belgium, Paris and Krakow, I must confess that I immediately skipped over to the 18 excellent pages devoted to Montreal.

“Even after all the great delicatessens I’ve visited around the world, nothing matches Montreal,” Sax writes. “It is a nirvana for deli purists. Visiting New Yorkers remark how much Montreal delis have remained stubbornly original in their décor, food preparation, and menus.”

Sax proceeds to take readers on a tour of Schwartz’s, Lesters’s,  Wilensky’s, the Snowdon Deli and Abie’s and Smoked Meat Pete’s on the West Island. There is a bit on the dearly departed Ben’s and passing mentions of Nickels, The Main and Le Roi de Smoked Meat. Not included, for some reason, are Dunn’s Famous, Famous Delly Boys, Chenoy’s and the late Brown Derby and Ben Ash. What Sax did determine is that with the exception of a few delis in predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods, every deli owner he spoke with confirmed that the majority of their clients were French Canadian. For more information about the book, log on to savethedeli.com.

Dance Spectacular: For those of you who simply cannot wait for the So You Think You Can Dance Canada (SYTYCDC) tour to hit the Bell Centre Dec. 15, the Gloria Shapiro Endowment Fund for Ovarian Cancer, a.k.a. Gloria’s Girls, have lined up two great performers. SYTYCD 2008 champion Nico Archambault and fourth place finisher Natalli Reznik will strut their stuff Nov. 8 (11 a.m.) at Club Soda. Social gal Jennifer Campbell will emcee.

Info: Mary Etzitian,  metzitian@jgh.mcgill.ca or 514-340-8222 x6787.

COHEN CHATTER: Extraordinary Côte St. Luc violinist Joseph Greenstone, who is now 90 years young, will be leading the orchestra for his 27th consecutive year at the Austrian Ball Nov. 21 at the Marriott Chateau Champlain Hotel… The “Boys of de Bullion St.,” a  group of men who grew up in the 1940s and ‘50s on the short block between Rachel and Duluth that sits three streets east of St. Laurent Blvd. (now called the Plateau), held a reunion last week at Phil Bloom’s Le Living Room in the T.M.R. Industrial sector. More than 190 people partied it up…

Congratulations to Hampstead native Jason Takefman, whom I profiled in The Suburban just over a year ago regarding his role as the then ticket manager for the Vancouver Canadians professional baseball team. Last week, at the young age of 27, he was promoted to general manager. “I have been able to learn from some great mentors here with the team,” he told me.

Item of interest? e-mail mcohen@thesuburban.com, call 514-484-1107, ext. 307 or fax 514-483-7213.