Un petit coin?

Friday
It’s about 1pm
I’m waiting in line at Schwartz’s
It’s windy – cold front is blowing in
The smell of smoked meat is heavy in the air
The guy panhandling outside plays a big role in the movie.
We talk for a while and I give him some money so he can quit for the day.
A lady two people back has a baseball hat with the initials “NYFD”
Are you from NY
I ask nodding at the hat

No…just had a friend who died on 9/11
I wear the hat in memory of her

A bunch of us are called in to share a table near the back
I sit next to the lady w/ the hat
Her father is across from her
There’s 3 other men at the table.

They start ordering first in French
All of them ask for a “petit coin”

What is that?
I ask
It’s not on the menu

Businessman from Boston

One day, I was sitting across from a businessman from Boston. It was his first visit to Schwartz’s In order to make conversation, I told him that I had recently visited Boston and I really liked it. He was pretty quiet so I went on to tell him that I found a street near downtown with tons of Italian restaurants. Since I didn’t have much money so I picked this small pizzeria to eat at. The unusual thing about the pizzeria was that pizza seemed to be secondary to this operation. They didn’t have napkins or knives and forks. “How can you eat pizza without napkins?”, I asked. Anyway, I later notice that people seemed to come in and out of the back room without pizza in their hands. So when I started laughing, while implying it was an Italian mafia front – I noticed the businessman from Boston wasn’t laughing. Then I noticed he looked Italian and wa even wearing a double breasted, pinstriped suit.

Bill Brownstein’s Book

Are you seen Bill Brownstein’s new book: Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen – The Story? I plan on giving myself a copy of it for Christmas.

Reviews:

“Breezy, humorous prose… a taut narrative full of eye-openers and local legend… a welcome addition to Montreal lore and a good, old fashioned read.” — Montreal Gazette

“A frequently fascinating, always entertaining examination of one of the last unexplored corner of Montreal urban folklore, told with wit and exuberance, and must-read material for all Montrealers.” — Hour

Smoked Meat at US Customs

A few years ago my wife and I were eating at Schwartz’s, seated near the rear with an 80 year old anglophone woman from Westmount and her 50ish daughter. The daughter lives in Houston, TX and always takes her mom to Schartz’s when she returns to Montreal. The older woman, upon hearing that we recently moved to Monteal (several years earlier actually), proceeded to recommend various tourist spots in the city. We pretended to be interested because she didn’t hear us tell her that we had already visited most of the places. We enjoyed hearing the pride she still has for this wonderful city.

The daughter told us that she always takes a brisket of smoked meat back to her husband in Texas. She said that the interesting part is going through customs (which you probably know is in the Montreal airport). When they ask her if she has any food, fruit or vegetables – she responds with “just a brisket of Schwartz’s smoked meat”. They always say…oh that’s ok. Have a nice flight!

Chez Schwartz – the movie

My wife and I caught a showing of “Chez Schwartz“, a film documentary by Garry Beitel at Montreal’s Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. It’s quite a challenge to pull off a full length documentary of such a small delicatessen – a must-see if you’ve enjoyed time at Schwartz’s. Of course, we he had to walk up the street (we saw it at Excentris) and have our usual: a smoked meat sandwich, fries and black cherry soda. It was pretty exciting to see some of the “stars” of the film right there behind the counter.

The film has had a very limited showing evidently, it’s not even listed on the internet movie database yet. They have a nice poster already but I can’t even find an image of it in my google search.