Schwartz's

3895 St. Laurent, Montreal, XX - (514) 842-4813

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Posted By Michael Stern on May 31, 2008 5:29 PM

The window of Schwartz's, a humble storefront cafe opened as a steak place in 1928 by Rumanian immigrant Reuben Schwartz, is filled smoked meat – piles of whole brick-red briskets packed with coarse, black spice. You'll likely have time to admire this meat, because the line waiting for a counter stool or chair at one of the communal tables in the 60-seat storefront nearly always stretches out the door. "Is your smoked meat corned beef or pastrami?" we asked our waiter.

"Neither. It is smoked meat," he answered, explaining that Montreal's way with brisket is to cure it a week or more, smoke it several hours, then store it in a steam box packed with spice a few hours more. The result is a pillow of beef striated with fat and fragile enough that it must be expertly hand-cut with a knife because an automatic slicer would disintegrate it. Schwartz's counter men assemble each sandwich with meat piled up so high that the bread perched precariously atop one half invariably tumbles off as you seize the other half to eat. Smoked meat retains the soft flavor of brisket; and its exact nature depends on how you order it. Schwartz's offers lean (but warns against that as too dry), medium and fatty. Medium is juicy; fatty is insanely succulent.

One thing that makes Schwartz's smoked meat sandwiches good is the bread. We have long stood on a soapbox complaining that even the best delis in New York have lowered their rye bread standards. The rye at Schwartz's is the old style with a leathery crust and muscular crumb (although, alas, seeded rye is not available). The thump of the automatic bread slicer cutting loaves sets the beat of a delicatessen melody, the libretto of which is never-ending chatter among exuberant customers.

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