Iconic Deli’s Secret Gay History — and More Hot Dish
Schwartz’s in Montreal. Image by Courtesy of Schwartz’s Deli
Is there a secret gay history behind Montreal’s iconic Schwartz’s Deli? Sure sounds like it, according to one local historian.
Eiran Harris, archivist emeritus of the city’s Jewish Public Library tells MTLBlog that “we can’t rule out a romantic edge to Reuben [Schwartz, the founder] and [owner Maurice] Zbriger’s relationship. This was the 1930s after all, and homosexual relationships weren’t exactly made to be public information.”
After Zbriger purchased the deli in 1931, “he invited Reuben to live in his home. Reuben accepted, and he stayed with Zbriger for 34 years.”
Treyf Trademark
“McKosher” ain’t exactly kosher.
That’s the decision from an Australian court that ruled against a restaurateur who’d tried registering McKosher as a trademark.
One of the arguments made by Mark Glaser was that “his ancestors’ surnames include McKosher,” according to The Daily Examiner. McDonald’s lawyers, meanwhile, revealed the company will soon make “only its second logo design change since 1948 at the behest of rabbis in Jerusalem, who have asked the company to rebrand Kosher-friendly restaurants in the capital as McKosher.” Glaser’s trademark would confuse the public, they argued.
Tuna Pizza?
On the menu at Washington, DC’s just-opened All-Purpose pizzeria: Sicilian tuna mousse, described by owner Mike Friedman as “the love child of a Jewish deli and an Italian salumi maker”.
All-Purpose is launching with a gimmick: Pizza dough that ferments for three days before getting baked in a 650˚ oven. The resulting crust is crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and sturdy enough for the “New York fold hold,” says City Paper.
IDF Preps NYC Chef
Chef Dan Pelles Image by Facebook/Dan Pelles
The Jewish Journal this week gets up close and personal with the Israeli chef who works on the line at NYC’s Jean-Georges, ”one of the most illustrious and demanding kitchens in the world.”
Dan Pelles says that serving in the IDF prepared him well for the intensity of the professional kitchen. “Kitchen life and army life are very similar,” Pelles said. “There’s a known hierarchy; you have to act fast and move fast, you have to move as a unit rather than an individual.”
Mixed Review in Madison
Adamah Neighborhood Table, a Madison, Wisconsin, kosher spot, earned decidedly mixed reviews this week from the CapTimes. A Reuben on latkes came “salty and hard to eat, with the corned beef sliced too thick and the latkes leaden, no crispness at all.” And Israeli salad “was probably crunchier a few hours before it got to us.”
But critic Lindsay Christians, who reviewed the place over Passover, raved that she “wouldn’t wait for a holiday to try Adamah’s soothing, soupy shakshuka” and that she loved the gefilte fish, “lightly fried in matzo for a nice contrast between dense interior and crispy outside.”
Mensch Deli Pop-Up in Vancouver
Hot Pastrami on rye from Mensch. Image by Sean Neild @yvrbcbro
In Vancouver on May 28? Lucky you. You’ll get the chance to try the one-day pop-up that Mensch Deli is hosting at local hotspot Pidgin.
“We are going to give the reigns of our kitchen over to Nitzan so he can create authentic deli fare unlike anything in Vancouver. Expect pastrami and Reuben sandwiches, lox, hash, as well as some kugel for those of you with a sweet tooth,” reveals a Pidgin post.
Michael Kaminer is a contributing editor at the Forward.
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